LFF 2011: Headhunters *****
Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie is the ultimate, contemporary cinematic scoundrel in director Morten Tyldum’s electric crime thriller Headhunters as Roger, the country’s most accomplished corporate headhunter. Like a young Christopher Walken in looks, temperament and acting prowess, Hennie is a truly exciting revelation to discover and took 2011’s London Film Festival by storm.
Roger has it all: luxurious lifestyle, stunning and smart wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund) and a high-flying career. But it’s not enough, and he conceals a dark alter ego. When his art dealer wife introduces him to handsome businessman Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) – a former deadly mercenary – who is in possession of an extremely valuable painting, he decides to risk it all to get his hands on it, and in doing, discovers something which makes him a hunted man.
Writers Lars Gudmestad and Ulf RybergBased have beautifully lifted Jo Nesbø’s 2008 best-selling thriller off the page, and in conjunction with Tyldm’s concise directing style, created a stylish, smart and energising thriller that gathers momentum and never lags for a second. The clinical and confident action scenes give way to self-depreciating, subtle humour, making Roger a delightful contradiction of raw emotions at any one moment.
Set up to covet Roger’s glossy magazine existence while being equally appalled by his lack of morals and resounding greed, we grow to respect his survival tactics and Hennie’s talents. The actor gradually transforms Roger from despicable hunter to the vulnerable hunted, without ever fully revealing the character’s true motivation – except the obvious, money. Tyldum makes sure we never figure out exactly how Roger ticks either, hence keeps his lead fresh and enigmatic. The director also delivers many surprises along the way to further introduce tension and thrills, including the breath-stopping crash scene and Hannibal Lecter moment that follows.
In contrast to Roger’s somewhat quirky appearance, this Scandinavian affair isn’t without its standard beauties in newcomer Lund and chiselled Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), reinforcing the cool, sophisticated Nordic appeal that fascinates us non-residents. Another charm of Scandinavian cinema is how unordered the apparent order is as we are given the opportunity to delve into the ‘organised chaos’ such a thriller enters into.
Tyldum’s highly accomplished and darkly comical thriller should be seen and savoured for its poise, pace and Hennie, as well as for its filmmaking techniques – even if its context feels a little déjà vu after the Girl With A Dragon Tattoo originals. Headhunters manages to fully engage for the full 100 minutes, which is a bold feat for any action thriller – let alone a subtitled one, probably because it also injects just the right level of humour to flesh out its lead character while following a frenetic path.
5/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
