A Real-Life Scary Movie

I also watched Paul Greengrass’s The Bourne Supremacy again this weekend—another fantastic suspense film by a foreign director, albeit one working from within the American studio system. I had forgotten just how gripping and satisfying a movie it is. It has all the necessary elements for a major-studio spy film: an attractive, capably violent lead; cool gadgetry; international intrigue; exciting action sequences; deceit and corruption galore. But it never panders, always trusting its viewers to understand what’s going on, even letting things get somewhat complicated and morally ambiguous; iti’s a film that’s always willing to let the characters actually exist, rather than simply have them declare who they are. Hewing to the same documentary style that worked so well in Bloody Sunday, the shaky camera works and low-key dialog keep things understated, but that’s what makes it so effective: Greengrass understands how the little moments—the glance of a character, a choice of phrasing in a line, a quick zoom or rack focus—all add up and reel you in.

Of course, the fact that Greengrass made such a damn fine commercial thriller is especially scary this week. Even if United 93 were a total mess of a film, it would be hard to watch. But most reports suggest it’s utterly devastating, the kind of movie likely to put the word “harrowing” into retirement. I've been scared during movies, and even occassionally after them, but I’m don't think I’ve ever actually been afraid, or at least hesitant, to step into a movie theater before.