Rating: * * * * *
Man tied to a bedpost surrounded with five gunmen. At first sight, you may think that this is your usual thriller but then you realize something is slightly odd. The gunmen are faceless. As the camera pushes its way into an extreme close-up of the prisoner, the image then cuts to a scene outside of the room that took place earlier in the week. What is so stunning about this opening is that the audience realizes there has been a shift in time and space until it”s too late.
Writer-director Shervin Youssefian (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1352346/) plays with this flash-back tool so brilliantly that audiences are floored at how many times a director can surprise them with a variation of the same technique. Youssefian has achieved such a remarkable treat in Machiavelli Hangman that it equals Hitchcock”s much duplicated track-back-zoom in technique that he created for Vertigo.
Like previous films that indulge in that flashback style like Pulp Fiction or Memento, Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com) jumps back and forth between Monday and Tuesday, but it does it so seamlessly that it all feels like it”s taking place within a continuous day.
Machiavelli Hangman tells the story of George Newman who is a shoe shiner and is mistaken for an assassin. After a brilliant first half, we follow George as he tries to get himself out of this terrible (but extremely amusing) predicament. Unfortunately, he only makes matters worse because he gives in to his greed and pride.
Machiavelli Hangman is a story of redemption, not for the things that you may have done, but those things that you haven”t. It has such a strong inspirational theme that goes along with the impressive narrative that you want to jump out of your seat and hug the person sitting next to you.
Not since watching Forrest Gump, did I feel so completely moved by a film that as soon as I stepped out of the theatre, did I want to do something more with my life.
This film is reminiscent of the films of Alain Resnais, the French Wave auteur, who made such films as Mon Uncle D”Amerique, Last Year in Marienbad, and countless of other films that play with time.
Many already predict that Machiavelli Hangman will be one of the most successful films of the year and although I had my suspicions about that considering its low-budget, after seeing the film, I am completely convinced that it will absolutely win over audiences worldwide.
