{"id":3497,"date":"2015-04-13T11:46:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T11:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2015-04-13T11:46:42","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T11:46:42","slug":"the-face-of-an-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/thriller\/the-face-of-an-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"LFF 2014: The Face Of An Angel ***"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><!--\nP { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }\n--><\/style>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-Face-of-an-Angel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3498\" alt=\"The-Face-of-an-Angel\" src=\"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-Face-of-an-Angel.jpg\" width=\"585\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-Face-of-an-Angel.jpg 585w, https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-Face-of-an-Angel-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those expecting some sort of \u2018yet undisclosed\u2019 revelation into the murder of exchange student Meredith Kercher and the guilt of Amanda Knox will be sorely disappointed and may be further perplexed by <em>The Face of an Angel<\/em>. From director Michael Winterbottom, the film actually uses the case to demonise media behaviour around such murder trials, with lead protagonist, film director Thomas Lang (played by Daniel Br\u00fchl) acting like judge and jury. The irony is Lang is also \u2018using\u2019 the sensational goings-on around that time for inspiration into his next film project.<a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As with every Winterbottom film, there is never anything linear to grasp onto. This is a complex journey charting one man\u2019s moral compass. Lang is initially seduced by the media hype and possibility of carving something creative from the aftermath, but he soon realises \u2013 through having a daughter of his own \u2013 that something more positive must arise from such ugliness. It is this part of Lang\u2019s journey that indulges Winterbottom\u2019s arty side, as his character chases parallels with great academics to pursue a film about love \u2013 enter model-come-actress Cara Delevingne as that guiding, youth light.<\/p>\n<p>Br\u00fchl (Niki Lauda in <em>Rush<\/em>) takes on the troubled presence that is Lang, a divorcee and artist having a serious case of writer\u2019s block, with his usual serious gusto and panache, making a damaged Lang as personable as possible, but keeping empathy for him at arm\u2019s length. He is never a character to like or dislike. In fact, like the mystery of Kercher\u2019s killer, Lang remains a kind of turbulent enigma, which keeps the ambiguity of the whole film ticking over.<\/p>\n<p>Delevingne is loved by the camera lens in her modeling line of work, and as Melanie, a carefree spirit full of opportunity, this is further enhanced. Indeed, Delevingne appears to be a natural actor in the right part \u2013 this being a fitting debut, delivering an accomplish performance. As Melanie she pacifies Lang and brings him back into the light.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Face of an Angel<\/em> is a mixed bag; beautiful to look at in stunning Italian surroundings, and morose as we are dragged into the darkest enclaves of Perugia\u2019s architecture as Lang implodes, personally and professionally. It also champions some great acting, among the strands of bewildering and self-indulgent script. It is an artist\u2019s take on a murder mystery in fact, making sure love shines through as the final saviour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FilmGazer\">Follow on Twitter<\/a><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PnjYgPw_zkA\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Those expecting some sort of \u2018yet undisclosed\u2019 revelation into the murder of exchange student Meredith Kercher and the guilt of Amanda Knox will be sorely disappointed and may be further perplexed by The Face of an Angel. From director Michael Winterbottom, the film actually uses the case to demonise media behaviour around such murder trials, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/thriller\/the-face-of-an-angel\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;LFF 2014: The Face Of An Angel ***&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3214,10,6],"tags":[3313,3315,2798,3312,3314,3311],"class_list":["post-3497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bfi-lff-2014","category-drama","category-thriller","tag-amanda-knox","tag-cara-delevingne","tag-daniel-bruhl","tag-meredith-kercher","tag-michael-winterbottom","tag-the-face-of-an-angel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3500,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497\/revisions\/3500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}