Death and the Compass (1992)

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Brilliant and diligent, but quirky and unorthodox detective Erik Lonnrot (splendidly played by the late, great Peter Boyle) investigates a bizarre series of murders in a bleak and chaotic futuristic city run by a strict totalitarian government. Lonnrot uncovers a complex occult conspiracy which places him in considerable peril. Writer/director Alex ("Repo Man") Cox relates the involving, intricate and elliptical narrative with remarkably bracing'n'bravura flashy, lively and insanely stylized aplomb, bringing a real sense of potent urgency, a playfully nutty tongue-in-cheek sensibility, and a ceaseless rapid-fire breakneck momentum to the fascinatingly eccentric story. Miguel Garzon's agile, prowling, restless cinematography makes especially adroit and exciting use of lengthy unedited takes. Pray for Rain's wonky and strikingly unique, yet catchy and rousing oddball score constitutes as another significant asset. The occasional fractured jump cuts are likewise quite effective and impressive. Boyle excels in a rare juicy and substantial lead, receiving bang-up support from Christopher Eccleston as an atheist religious expert and Miguel Sandoval as Lonnrot's loyal, sympathetic superior. The jolting surprise twist ending packs one hell of a startling punch. But what truly makes this film such a joy to watch is the feverishly hyperactive wealth of infectiously funky creativity and fiercely idiosyncratic originality evident throughout. A terrifically offbeat and inspired one-of-a-kind treat.

In a post world war world, people eek out what living they can. A string of strange murders begin to occur and the local Detective Chief Inspector Lonrot(Peter Boyle) is on the job. He believes the murders are being committed by a gangster called Red Scarlach(Christopher Eccleston). Lonrot uses everything to hand to capture the killer and eventually comes face to face with him.I love Peter Boyle. I've seen him in the X-Files to "While You Were Sleeping", but if anyone was miscast in this role, it was him. "Death and the Compass" is a low budget film that uses spontaneity as it's guide. Director Alex Cox is a "fly by the seats of his pants" director. Thirty to forty years ago, Mr.Boyle may have been cast properly, but watching it I couldn't help but wonder if he was treading water because he wasn't sure where his footing was.Though Mr.Boyle seemed to be treading water, I didn't feel that about the other members of the cast. Maybe it was because the others of the cast were familiar with Cox's type of direction. What ever it was, it gave the movie a "driving on ice" feel. It'll be fine, then the brakes will lock and the car will slide to the side.Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a bad movie. It just needs to be done over.

I've been looking for 'Death and the Compass' for quite some time, as I'm an admirer of the Borges story that inspired it, and I thought it would be another piece in the puzzle of Alex Cox's frustrating career. Unfortunately I didn't manage to watch it on DVD and wasn't able to listen to Cox's commentary, one which I really could have done with! On top of that I watched it in two sittings, something I don't usually like doing. I really would like to watch it a second time as I feel my concentration was wavering. Anyway, it's yet another fascinating but flawed movie from Cox, a description which describes almost all his output since 'Repo Man', which to me is still his most completely satisfying work. Peter Boyle stars as the enigmatic detective Lonnrot(he had previously worked with Cox in the unfairly maligned 'Walker'), with Christopher Eccleston ('Shallow Grave') and Cox regular Miguel Sandoval supporting. Another comment mentioned 'Element Of Crime' as a stylistic reference point and I can see that, only on presumably a much smaller budget. Of course '...Compass' isn't anywhere near as good as Von Trier's film, but it does give you some idea of what to expect. I can't say I don't have some reservations about this movie, but if you like offbeat films that play with genre and require a bit of thought, then give this a shot. Me, I want to watch it a second time and hear what Alex Cox has to say about it before I make up my mind.

I had read a review of this film probably five or six years ago, but had never been able to find it anywhere and wondered if I ever would. I happened to catch it on cable last night by accident. I'm a huge fan of Borges and think this particular story is a masterpiece that equals Poe's greatest work in terms of pure intellectual force, profundity, and use of language and references. This movie version is fairly surreal and self-consciously stylized and does add a lot of details not in the story. But after about 10 minutes or so I started getting into this interpretation and thought that overall it was very clever and artful. Peter Boyle was an interesting (weird?) choice as Lonrott, and I thought Christopher Eccleston was excellent as Red Scharlach (including the sound effects for his voice). Most importantly, I thought this movie did capture the obliterating sense of the infinite that staggers me every time I read the story.