I, Anna (2012)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I, Anna tells the story of a blossoming relationship between a middle-aged divorcee and a Chief Inspector investigating a murder. The two meet near the crime scene and the detective quickly finds himself enamored with this charming woman. As our story unfolds, it soon becomes clear that Anna is not the woman that she appears to be.This movie is a slow-burner that takes a little bit of patience to get into. Once the movie picks up momentum though, it is a rather enjoyable experience. The acting of the two leads is great, I'd expect nothing less from these two. And the presence of Eddie Marsan is appreciated, he's wonderful as always. These great actors, combined with a wonderful backdrop (I really felt the London-ness of it all), a good soundtrack, and a serviceable direction by Southcombe, make this movie work on some level.The twist was something that I saw coming. The fact that we never see her daughter/granddaughter interact with anybody but Anna or that when we see Anna walking the stroller, we never get a view of the baby, made me realize that something was clearly amiss. As it becomes clear that Anna is our murderer, it was easy to tell that Anna had some type of psychological issue. I think Southcombe could have done with out the stroller-walking scene and made the twist a tad less obvious.It's not a perfect movie but as far as neo-noirs go, there are a ton of terrible ones out there that this one far surpasses. It's nice to see the noir genre get an older female femme fatale who doesn't meet the stereotype of the archetype.

Love seems to be blinding in this tepid suspense film featuring the world weary presence of Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne operating with distracted lonely hearts. While they may have an excuse director Barnaby Southcombe has none as his smoke and mirror distractions to deny the stretched out obvious story line along with a poorly edited far fetched finale that smacks of modern day DW Griffith, the dating disastrous. .Anna Welles (Rampling) readies herself for another round of a singles get together. Divorced and in her 50s she meets George and goes back to his apartment with him. He's later found dead. Detective Bernie Reid (Byrne)runs into her the next day near the scene retrieving an umbrella and again at the dating session where she does not recall meeting him (Hmmmm?). Director Southcombe direction is ambitious but with weak material as it offers up a couple of drab alibis in a surly pair of marginals that are clearly a long shot as we begin to piece together the unstable psyche of Anna. Seasoned investigator Reid should clearly know better but remains clueless and goes rogue over a woman he only thinks he knows after a few meetings. In addition to the murder Southcombe makes a statement about aging and the demeaning speed dating game as well as make victim George a justifiable homicide. Another tragedy precedes as well to cloud matters but compelling as it is it adds little to the mystery and the fact Anna is one forgetful lady that might be forgiven for a lot of things.Rampling understated look and sound of indifference usually controls the mood of most of her films. Here she is wasted, her performance for the most part catatonic. Byrne's histrionics at the end wake up a dull performance best left sleeping, while Eddie Marsan's cop associate could use some sedation. Perhaps the film's finest moment and performance is the cameo of Honor Blackman as Joan putting on her game face in a ladies room and pointedly summing up the way it is.

Charlotte Rampling stars in I, Anna from 2012, directed by her son Barnaby Southcombe, who also wrote the screenplay.It's the rather disjointed, noir-ish story of a woman, Anna (Rampling) and her relationship with a police detective Bernie Reid (Gabriel Byrne) who is searching for a killer. He becomes obsessed with Anna, who is attractive, sexy, divorced, with a daughter and granddaughter.Charlotte Rampling has always been a unique actress. She's kind of a modern-day Lauren Bacall, androgynous, a wonderful actress who has allowed herself to age like a normal human being. Here she shows her sexuality and her beauty as the audience learns more and more about her.The film skips around a lot and can be confusing at times. There is also a character, a young guy, who has no reason to be in the movie at all. Not only is his subplot not developed, we never find out how it ends.Actually we don't find out how anything ends in this film. We think that someone is going to explain everything that went on but they don't. If the photography is strange, it's also beautifully done. There's no question that Barnaby Southcombe has talent; it just needs to be developed a little more. With a better script and with all the fine actors in the film, this could have been a knockout.

I was tempted to give this 10/10 simply to compensate for the idiots who gave this film 1 and 2 out of 10. I didn't ultimately but it gives me the sh*ts when I see people unfairly rating down a film. With an average 6/10 I might not have watched this - and it was a genuinely decent film. The story is coherent and the plot competent. The way in which the central event of the film is slowly revealed is sophisticated and worked well. Both Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne are top rate leading actors and both do a good job. Rampling's performance was particularly convincing. Casting mature actors in these lead roles (without making a big thing about it) was quite believable and worked really well. The setting, the cinematography, the late-night London insomniac noir all create a compelling atmosphere. It's a genre film and, as such, isn't fabulously original, but is nonetheless well worth watching.