On DVD: A Few Days in September

 

 

Written and Directed By: Santiago Amigorena

Starring: Juliette Binoche, John Turturro, Sara Forestier, Tom Riley, Nick Nolte

 

There are many excellent things I can say about Argentinian Director Amigorena’s first film, which weaves from being a thriller to a romance to a coming-of-age story. For some characters, it is a story of discovering who they are. For others, it is about remembering who they once were.

 

The Movie

 

I love the clever use of a McGuffin, a film term popularized by Hitchcock which refers to a plot device used to advance a story by motivating the characters to act, but has little to do with the real story. Usually the McGuffin is a thing, such as the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, the metal case in Ronin. Sometimes it is a person, like the fictitious Kaplan in North by Northwest. In this case, there are two McGuffins; a spy named Elliott (Nick Nolte) and the ominous date of September 11, 2001.

 

The film begins on September 1st, where Elliott has asked ex co-spy Irene Montano (Juliette Binoche) to bring together his two children – David (Tom Riley), a stepson he left in America a month before, and Orlando (Sara Forestier), a daughter he abandoned a decade before. Neither knew about the other’s existence and, as they hop across Europe tracking down the elusive Elliott, the three talk of love and hate and family and America as they are forced to get to know each other better. David is charming and harmless, Irene is charming and armed, and Orlando is armed and usually hostile. The film dwells mostly on how the three interact as well as their feelings for Elliott, who has been a powerful shadow over their lives. He’s  inspired warmth and a love for poetry in his devoted stepson and hatred in the abandoned daughter, thus explaining her anger as well as her gun. Binoche is excellent as Irene, a ‘spy-teacher’ who isn’t quite mysterious but very guarded about her feelings and her past. We only have hints of her previous relationship with Elliott. She says they only worked together, but subtle moments with Irene hint of a different back story. She may briefly flirt with the young David, but sometimes we are sure she is seeing someone else in him.

 

Since this is a partly a spy thriller, there must be an element of danger. There are a few suspicious characters around each corner but the most dangerous and by far the most interesting is the wonderful John Turturro as William Pound, the ex-coworker-slash-assassin who quotes William Blake and keeps his psychiatrist on speed dial as he kills everyone who stands between him and Elliott. This may be one of those cases where the subplot is more interesting than the main story.

 

It seems that Elliott has information about the near-future events that will affect the world. We are never given specifics, although it is often implied that his information is in connection with the World Trade Center attacks. The film ends on Sept. 11, as the news of the attacks come across the radio. A decade or more from now we may see this date used more in American films, but for now it remains a mere plot device only in Europe where such attacks are more commonplace. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Elliott’s information is the McGuffin, not the date. However, as the dates are counted down as they go from city to city, it is that date that signals to us the conclusion of events and is influencing the family’s rendezvous.

 

To this reviewer, Turturro’s insane assassin was more believable than was going on with the three saner characters. Irene and David seem far too accepting of Orlando’s wish to shoot her father, going so far as to take gun away until she promises to let Elliott speak before she shoots him. Also, Irene may have sensed that chemistry was building between David and Orlando, but I never felt it even as it was happening. Perhaps Orlando is supposed to symbolize Europe’s relationship w/ America as she is torn between the powerful American father who abandoned and the young American who she refuses to treat as a brother then allies with him in a much different way.

 

In the end, I didn’t find the final relationship between Orlanndo and David believable all the eminent danger was too often ignored. This was a suspense film without enough suspense, and a romance film with little romance. Binoche and Turturro are worth seeing, but there were times I wished she would ditch the kids and go after Elliott or Pound or anyone else. Perhaps if the Elliot’s kids were younger or at least unarmed, we might care more about them. However, we have an armed daughter and a charming, mostly unconcerned son. Besides, as Irene points out to them, the assassin isn’t after them anyway. He’s after the McGuffin.

 

7/10

 

The Video

 

The video was excellent. When the language switches from English to French the subtitles are easily read. The director uses an interesting technique where Irene occasionally takes her glasses of to get a different perspective of the world. In these cases, the screen is very blurry, even when we are looking at Irene. This gives the film the feel of an impressionist painting when it happens. These moments are rare and short, and does not affect the over viewing of the film. This is shown in 1.85:1 perspective.

 

8/10

 

The Audio

 

The Dolby Digital sound is clear and crisp throughout. The street scenes are not affected by ambient noise and I do not recall any music so, if it was there, it was never intrusive.

 

8/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

The packaging was attractive, showing the faces of Turturro and a gun-wielding Binoche over a European city. The back of the package shows each of our characters, although the shot of David and Orlando is quite small. The amaray case is sturdy and stayed closed after I accidentally dropped it twice.

 

The only bonus features are a trailer for the film that would have never convinced me to watch it, and several trailers for other films from Koch Lorber.

 

6/10

 

I genuinely liked A Few Days In September, but there is too much lacking for me to praise it. If you are a fan of Binoche or Turturro, you will want to see them in this. If you see it on the shelf to rent, give it a chance. I’m not telling you to chase all over Europe for it.  If you miss this film, it isn’t the end of the world.

 

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

 

The Review

The Movie 7/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 6/10

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

 

Fred Grimm