I bought the DVD to see Julia Ormond. After watching her in 'Sabrina', I really wanted to see her other efforts. 'Captives' is a very obscure film here in the U.S. I had to do a good bit of digging on the internet to find a source for the DVD. It was worth the effort.
Julia was truly lovely in this role as 'Rachel Clifford'. The hurt and rage she felt as the betrayed wife came out in subtle ways as well as violently lashing out at her cheating husband. This made her character more sympathetic to the plight of prisoner 'Philip Chaney' who killed his cheating wife in a fit of rage.
Tim Roth made a very convincing 'Philip Chaney' in this film. He has been confined over 5 years and is horribly deprived and lonely. He is not a career criminal, but has had to adapt to the savage lifestyle of his fellow prisoners to survive. We see a scene where he is accosted by 2 prisoners in a lavatory. His instant attack and savage beating of his assailants make it clear that he is not a man to be trifled with.
The film makes clear how much survival in a prison requires great effort at reading the attitudes and motivations of those prisoners around him. 'Philip' comes to the dental clinic and encounters the new dentist 'Rachel' for the first time. He quickly sizes up her distressed mental state from subtle clues and instinctively understands that she is emotionally vulnerable. The fact that 'Rachel' is beautiful as well adds to her appeal. He takes a huge risk to pass a note to 'Rachel' asking her to come to a prisoner visitation day and see him in violation of prison rules.
Tim shows 'Philip' struggling between two conflicting motivations. The noble motivation is to build a relationship that can continue after release from prison. The low motive is to continue in the law-of-the-jungle attitude he must adopt in prison and exploit 'Rachel' for his own gratification. Eventually, he comes to care for 'Rachel' enough to sacrifice his imminent release from prison to save her life.
I must say that I found the sexual encounter in the ladies' room very disturbing. I flinched at the graphic and somewhat disgusting aspects of the scene. Thinking about it for this comment, I realize that Julia portrayed such an upstanding character in 'Sabrina' that it disturbed me to see her in such a darkly-themed film. I found myself fast-forwarding to get past this sticky situation. To an outside observer, there is always a ridiculous aspect to human behavior in such situations. Personally, I feel vaguely perverted to pay to witness actors engaging in such behavior. I wondered how the female director felt about her role in such conduct. On a spiritual level, how must such performances effect the real-life relationships of the actors?
Colin Salmon gave a truly great performance as the psychopathic killer 'Towler'. He gave off menace with such ease that one could easily sense a volcanic rage slightly below the surface. Apparently, the BBC is not as restricted by political correctness as Hollywood. They felt free to use the 'n-word' when such utterances would never occur in domestic films.
The film had a realistic ending. Such an unstable romance was bound to come to a disastrous ending. 'Rachel' is forced to shoot an assailant to protect herself. She is wise enough to continue shooting until her assailant is dead. If he survived, there was a strong possibility he would be back seeking revenge.
I watched the film again with the French language dialog. I wondered if Julia Ormond had utilized her great fluency in French to dub herself. I could not be sure, but it sounded much like her voice. Her acting abilities are just stunning!
After watching this film about 5 times, I became aware of the excellence of Colin Townes' score. He always hits the perfect notes to accentuate the mood of the moment or set the stage for further developments. He must have been paid very little for his efforts given the television movie budget for the project.
The eventual resolution of the relationship is never given. British films always seem to end about 3/4 through the story. 'Philip' has had his release set back for violating prison rules. 'Rachel' is facing criminal charges for smuggling a gun into prison and possible murder charges. Will the two lovers eventually get together? Only the BBC knows for sure!
Julia was truly lovely in this role as 'Rachel Clifford'. The hurt and rage she felt as the betrayed wife came out in subtle ways as well as violently lashing out at her cheating husband. This made her character more sympathetic to the plight of prisoner 'Philip Chaney' who killed his cheating wife in a fit of rage.
Tim Roth made a very convincing 'Philip Chaney' in this film. He has been confined over 5 years and is horribly deprived and lonely. He is not a career criminal, but has had to adapt to the savage lifestyle of his fellow prisoners to survive. We see a scene where he is accosted by 2 prisoners in a lavatory. His instant attack and savage beating of his assailants make it clear that he is not a man to be trifled with.
The film makes clear how much survival in a prison requires great effort at reading the attitudes and motivations of those prisoners around him. 'Philip' comes to the dental clinic and encounters the new dentist 'Rachel' for the first time. He quickly sizes up her distressed mental state from subtle clues and instinctively understands that she is emotionally vulnerable. The fact that 'Rachel' is beautiful as well adds to her appeal. He takes a huge risk to pass a note to 'Rachel' asking her to come to a prisoner visitation day and see him in violation of prison rules.
Tim shows 'Philip' struggling between two conflicting motivations. The noble motivation is to build a relationship that can continue after release from prison. The low motive is to continue in the law-of-the-jungle attitude he must adopt in prison and exploit 'Rachel' for his own gratification. Eventually, he comes to care for 'Rachel' enough to sacrifice his imminent release from prison to save her life.
I must say that I found the sexual encounter in the ladies' room very disturbing. I flinched at the graphic and somewhat disgusting aspects of the scene. Thinking about it for this comment, I realize that Julia portrayed such an upstanding character in 'Sabrina' that it disturbed me to see her in such a darkly-themed film. I found myself fast-forwarding to get past this sticky situation. To an outside observer, there is always a ridiculous aspect to human behavior in such situations. Personally, I feel vaguely perverted to pay to witness actors engaging in such behavior. I wondered how the female director felt about her role in such conduct. On a spiritual level, how must such performances effect the real-life relationships of the actors?
Colin Salmon gave a truly great performance as the psychopathic killer 'Towler'. He gave off menace with such ease that one could easily sense a volcanic rage slightly below the surface. Apparently, the BBC is not as restricted by political correctness as Hollywood. They felt free to use the 'n-word' when such utterances would never occur in domestic films.
The film had a realistic ending. Such an unstable romance was bound to come to a disastrous ending. 'Rachel' is forced to shoot an assailant to protect herself. She is wise enough to continue shooting until her assailant is dead. If he survived, there was a strong possibility he would be back seeking revenge.
I watched the film again with the French language dialog. I wondered if Julia Ormond had utilized her great fluency in French to dub herself. I could not be sure, but it sounded much like her voice. Her acting abilities are just stunning!
After watching this film about 5 times, I became aware of the excellence of Colin Townes' score. He always hits the perfect notes to accentuate the mood of the moment or set the stage for further developments. He must have been paid very little for his efforts given the television movie budget for the project.
The eventual resolution of the relationship is never given. British films always seem to end about 3/4 through the story. 'Philip' has had his release set back for violating prison rules. 'Rachel' is facing criminal charges for smuggling a gun into prison and possible murder charges. Will the two lovers eventually get together? Only the BBC knows for sure!