Filth, 2013.
Directed by Jon S. Baird.
Starring James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Jim Broadbent, Joanne Froggatt, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, and Iain De Caestecker.
SYNOPSIS:
A bipolar, bigoted junkie cop manipulates and hallucinates his way through the festive season in a bid to secure promotion and win back his wife and daughter.
Straight off the bat lets say this: Filth, for all its artistic gusto and terrific central performance, is not for everybody. Like American Psycho and indeed Trainspotting before it, it is certain to divide opinions. Indeed, its £3.8million gross in the UK and Scotland is healthy enough, and it’s largely positive critical acclaim suggested greatness, but like the aforementioned duo of films, there will be many who if nothing else, just won’t “get” it.
It’s a feverish, nightmare-like film that drags us through the grinder and spits us out just as quickly. Here, the comparisons to American Psycho are obvious, as well as dashes of David Lynch at his best, as director Baird takes us on a visceral, imaginative rollercoaster that tickles the (dark) funny bone and doesn’t allow us to catch breath. But like any rollercoaster, there are moments where once the initial rush has dissipated, it becomes good, not great. And that’s how Filth feels: technically brilliant and brave, but once the initial meeting of McAvoy’s Robertson sets in, it feels at times disorientating and underwhelming., though the final few moments bring the rush back somewhat.
But what keeps the attention is the performance from X-Man himself, James McAvoy. It’s a go-to response for us critics/writers/bloggers et al to band around the “career best” turn of phrase to sell it to us, but there simply isn’t any other phrase that does this performance justice. McAvoy throws himself head first into this role; gone are the sympathetic, courteous touches of Charles Xavier, replaced by vile language, drugs, drink and sex, wrapped up in a hurricane of ferocity and rage more akin to a Frank Booth or Patrick Bateman.
Throwing away the shackles of his loveable, down-to-earth persona, McAvoy transforms himself into this murky beast in a stunning piece of acting, and one that we will see replicated someday. Ably supported too by Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots and a quite remarkable Jim Broadbent cameo, Filth is a film rich in British talent that is on top form.
Superb in its execution of Welsh’s feverish novel, as well McAvoy’s outstanding turn, Filth is a truly original experience. And while it sags through its midsection and the dark excesses take a firmer hold, it’s a film that at least deserves your attention.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Scott Davis
Originally published February 10, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
