‘ll' you are the weak link. then yott do things to compensate for that. probably against
your nature and that is what I think happens in the film. The way (‘had treats (‘hristine is a means to an end. a way he cart suryiye and gain pow el‘ oyer his hoss.‘
'l'his corporate world is brilliantly captured in the sparse. impersonal ol‘l‘ice interiors seen through claustrophobic catnera angles. and in the _iargon the men lire at each other like white-collar weapons. l.aBute‘s training as a playwright comes through loud and clear in some startling dialogue.
~’l‘he template for the lilm was Restoration coinedy.‘ says the 34-year-old director. 'l loye that kind ot‘ gamesmauship. that \erhal wit. In the l‘Nlls. the tendency is Hot in light with lists but instead to tear and deyastate with words.‘
When smarmy ('had and slimy lloward t.\latt .\lallo_\) choose (‘hristine (Stacy lidwards) as their Victim. it is almost too hard to handle. She is attractiye. kind and deal. But this way l.aBute has created a character who literally cannot hear the pompous nonsense these tnen spout.
‘She was a natural dramatic foil to these
two characters] the director says. ‘So I neyer
thought. “ls this a sacred cow we‘re treading on here'.’". I neyer saw the film as a
Taking the piss: Matt Molloy and Aaron Eckhart (right) toy with the emotions of Stacy Edwards (below) in In The Company Of Men
misogynistie tale or a tale about someone who's handicapped being belittled. L'ltimately. I look at her and still find (‘hristine a solid character. She has a sense ot’ humour. a certain goodness and resilience.‘
l’or lickhart. playing ('had was a learning eurye in human behaviour. ‘Iiyerybody really wants (‘had to be better than he is. but in the end he is probably worse than most people expect.‘ he says. ‘\\'hen I meet people who haye seen the film. the response is usually
ineyitable. 'l‘hey tell me that I am a prick. or
else they want to tell me the story oi how they got dumped and how it l‘elt.~
llaying just linished shooting l.aBute‘s second mosie alongside Nastassja Kinski and Jason l’atric ‘a bleak. cynical film about relationships‘ lickhart has recently moved to l.;\ al‘ter splitting tip with his real-lite girlt‘riend. ‘I didn’t want to stay in New York where I might keep bumping into her.’ he says with a display of bruised ego. ('had certainly wouldn‘t approye.
In The Company Of Men opens at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on Fri 20 Feb and Glasgow Film Theatre on Fri 27 Feb. See review, page 29.
The screenplay is published by Faber 8. Faber at £7.99.
IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
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Peter Ross names the world’s biggest bounders.
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7998 THE “ST 15