I may not be a big fan of film noir but I can get just as excited for a good noir film as a true fan of the genre as is the case with the upcoming film The Perfect Sleep.
Written by Anton Pardoe and directed by Jeremy Alter, the film stars a whole load of people who don’t ring any bells with me but the visuals, style and mood sure make for an appealing trailer. The basic story is that of a man who returns to the city he swore he would never return to in order to save the woman he has always loved yet can never have but the synopsis on the film’s official site is much more involved.
What I do know for sure is that this looks fantastic though I was a bit thrown by the trailer which looked like it was dubbed though the film appears to be an American production in English.
The Perfect Sleep premiered in Berlin last week and is scheduled for American release on May 1st. I can’t wait!
Thanks to Quiet Earth for the lead on the trailer.
UPDATE: I received an email from Jeremy Alter, the director of the film, clearing up a few concerns. He mentioned that the audio problem has been fixed and the updated trailer can be seen here. Also, Jeremy has clarified that the release date as listed on IMDb is incorrect. The film is currently being scored by David Vanian of the band The Damned. We’ll keep you posted with new developments!
The use of Anton Karas’ The Third Man score in the trailer is pretty amusing. Not sure how I feel about this though or what the tone of the movie is supposed to be.
Yeah, same here. I can’t tell what the tone is supposed to be. Straight up noir, comedy, drama? Maybe a mix. Either way, I’d watch it.
Funny, I think we were just talking about that Zither score on the last cinecast….
What I get from the tone of this trailer is Millers Crossing meets Les Pact Des Loupes.
Oh and another experimental noir film out there is the remake of Le Deuxieme Souffle (http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/tiff-report-le-deuxieme-souffle-review/) which stars some recognizable names like Daniel Auteuil and Monica Bellucci.
I’m not sure exactly of the definition of “experimental noir,” but I think Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (what would you call this – a comedic homage to the noir?) is bloody brilliant. I’ve seriously watched it probably 8 times now and it gets better every time.
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid is another example. The Big Lebowski is also noir stylized (The title and plot are molded after The Big Sleep)
Noir and comedy shouldn’t really go together, because it celebrates the bleakness of the human condition, but hey, there is nothing wrong with a little fun.
then again, kurt, while noir celebrates the bleakness of the human condition, they are ALWAYS peppered with humor. Bogart’s roles were a prime example of this.
“What I get from the tone of this trailer is Millers Crossing meets Les Pact Des Loupes.”
I totally disliked the martial arts in the trailer up until you mentioned this. Now I’m curious to see if it works at all here.
I remember watching Crimson Rivers a year or two ago which is a pretty decent French Thriller that suddenly breaks into a martial arts fight with Vincent Cassel. It felt so out of place. That is the feel I got from this trailer.
@murph: The snappy dialogue as our hero berates all-comers. Indeed. But movies like Dead Men, Kiss Kiss, and the Big Lebowski all play with the form – you are laughing at how the movie is put together, not a what one character said to another -, which I think, is fundamentally different. I think this Perfect Sleep is aiming for the that.
Hey John, I just picked up Crimson Rivers last night. Don’t know when I’ll get to it, but I do like me some Vincent Cassell. He makes an awesome villain (see Derailed).