Review of City of Ghosts

Introduction

A film that many of you might have never heard of. I certainly hadn`t, although it was a festival darling at Sundance and Toronto. But with a pretty good cast lined up (Natascha McElhone, James Caan and Gérard Depardieu) plus Matt Dillon acting, writing and directing, it would seem, on paper, to be worth checking out.

The plot involves hurricaines, insurance scams, and Cambodia (apparently the first film to do most of its principal photography their for nearly 40 years).

Video

An excellent 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which is as surprising as it is welcome, given that this isn`t a big Hollywood production. You probably don`t remember the last film to be shot in Cambodia, and neither do I, but this seems to be a good cinematic introduction for many of us, with some excellent cinematography.

There`s plenty of detail in the DVD transfer, and the colours are excellent even though they`re not the vibrant colours of the USA that we`re so used to seeing on film.

Audio

An interesting and ecelectic mix when it comes to the film`s score. Some nice themes from Tyler Bates (the composer of the score), mixed in with old blues standards (I Want A Little Girl), the French crooning of Jacques Dutronc (Et moi, et moi, et moi) as well as plenty of influences from Cambodia and the surrounding area (Choun Malai, Chan Chaya and Dengue Fever - yes, there`s a band with that name!)

Features

An interesting commentary track is the only extra of note. This features Matt Dillon for the most part, talking about writing, directing and acting in the film. He is joined from time to time by co-writer Barry Gifford, although he just pops up a few times, and they were both recorded separately as far as I can tell. The track tells you plenty about the film, the locations and how the story came about. Worth listening to.

The only other extra is a trailer.

Conclusion

Hmmm. An interesting experience, and it was watchable, but at the end I was just left with a feeling of being totally non-plussed. I liked bits of it, and there were a few intriguing ideas, but at the end of the day it just didn`t grab my interest enough.

The film trots along through its events, moving us around the world, and then around parts of Cambodia. Maybe it was this slow pace that stopped the film from being enjoyable. I liked watching Natascha McElhone, who was excellent despite not having very much to do, and Gérard Depardieu was also excellent as the strange bar/hotel owner.

A strange little film then, well presented on DVD with excellent picture, good sound and a worthwhile commentary track. Might be worth a rental if you fancy something other than a popcorn film, but be warned that you might end up dazed and confused and wondering what you just watched.