By popular demand, Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest will play for an additional week at Living Room! Considered one of Hitchcock’s most suspenseful films, it’s also the first title available in high definition. From its stylish title sequence to the infamous Cary Grant plane chase to the climatic finale at Mt. Rushmore, North By Northwest may be the best and most thrilling of all of Hitchcock’s films! Now you have more time to catch this great film!
The experience of the characters in True North is summed up for me by “the pail.” Imagine, 20 people secretly aboard a small fishing ship. Now, imagine 20 people secretly aboard a small fishing ship, needing to use the Loo. Even the least imaginative of you can picture 20 people sharing a two gallon plastic pail. Oh, and what about the fortunate soul who gets to empty it at the end of the day? But, make no mistake, this film isn’t a festering bucket of feces, it’s a heart wrenching thriller about desperation and second chances.
True North delves into the moral fine lines of the worlds’ illegal immigration plight. The moviegoer comes to realize that those lines are as murky as the waters of the North Sea where the movie is set. In hopes of securing some quick cash, an overzealous fishing boat captain’s son explores the opportunities afforded by smuggling. He sets out to smuggle cigarettes between Belgium and Scotland, and ends up with a hull full of Chinese immigrants unbeknownst to his father, the skipper. The good news for us is that cliches are avoided, unfortunately for the characters, so is smooth sailing. As the ship tosses amongst the sea the characters lose confidence in their decision and become increasingly conflicted as to the safest way to approach home. Worried that an empty fishing boat returning from a foreign harbor may appear suspicious, they spend precious time at sea attempting to fill their nets all the while their human cargo waits in the darkness of the belly of the ship. By the end of the film you’re not sure whether you’re seasick or just sick at the state of humanity, either way I promise you, you’ll be sick.
True North boasts excellent performances from the entirety of its small cast. Specifically, Peter Mullan and Gary Lewis’ performances were authentically rendered. Steve Hudson, the director, conveys the mise en scene with a sense of claustrophobia as the story takes place almost entirely aboard the small trawler and is expressed, majoritarily, in medium shots, which gives us some insight into the isolation these characters experience. Lastly, and perhaps most impressively, True North does a wonderful job of not limiting its focus to the moral conundrum of illegal immigration, but broadens it to include a study on morality itself.
True North, a horrifyingly relevant story, opens Friday January 8th only at Living Room Theaters.