@Courtesy of Tribeca Festival
Jim Sheridan wrote important, if not fundamental, pages of British cinema beginning in the late 1980s, with such award-winning films as ‘My Left Foot,’ ‘In the Name of the Father,’ and ‘The Boxer‘. Around the beginning of the new millennium, though he got kind of lost in the oblivion of those ranks of directors who had most likely failed to stay updated of the changing times of cinema. It is nonetheless indeed a pleasure to see him back, always gritty and outspoken, thanks to Re-Creation, in the Spotlight Narrative section of Tribeca Festival. The director takes the classic scheme created by Reginald Rose, Sidney Lumet and Henry Fonda in ‘12 Angry Men’ (1957) and employs it for a film that stages a trial that never existed, that of journalist Ian Bailey, accused of brutally murdering French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
‘Re-Creation’ is undoubtedly a theme-based movie, deployed and made with an idea of cinema that is perhaps even slightly dusty, but undoubtedly still effective. Not least because Sheridan strips away the underlying rhetoric of the original idea and makes the confrontation/clash between the jurors utterly of harsh cinema in which Vicky Krieps plays a role that is anything but empathetic despite being the catalytic center of the story. In short, ‘Re-Creation’ confirms Sheridan’s eagerness to continue undaunted in his committed discourse with a film that arouses interest. The director himself plays an important role in his movie, a sort of “choir” who explains the trial case and the elements that made Bailey the perfect suspect for the murder.
Again, ‘Re-Creation’ is a movie made with a personal and strong idea, and wants the audience to embrace it probably even more than question it. This formula has been the ideological spine of Jim Sheridan civil movies, and it worked magnificently, especially in In the Name of the Father, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson. ‘Re-Creation‘ is far away from that level of cinema, not even close to the movie directed by Sidney Lumet or the new take by William Friedkin in 1997, with great actors like Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. But this doesn’t mean that ‘Re-Creation’ can’t stand on its own feet. Sheridan’s movie in fact has a strange, intriguing energy: showing the story of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and Ian Bailey gives the author the chance to talk about themes he always embraced, like for example the dark sides of politics and British government during the I.R.A. years.
@Courtesy of Tribeca Festival
Another strange, almost weird quality of ‘Re-Creation’ is its spontaneity: there are a few moments in the movie that feel like they’ve been improvised, especially when it’s about showing the quarrels between the members of the jury. And here is when Vicky Krieps shows her ability to look real, even if not necessarily likable. Another strong point in this movie’s favor is Colm Meaney in Ian Bailey’s role. The actor doesn’t have a single line in ‘Re-Creation‘, and still is a powerful presence, explaining the character’s struggle just with his body language.
Jim Sheridan belongs to a generation of directors that in a specific time tried to make movies about social, historical, and civil issues. The same way that Oliver Stone or Alan Parker before he died, he’s been outdated, whether we like it or not (and we certainly don’t). There is honestly a little chance ‘Re-Creation’ will be perceived like his “comeback” movie: it’s too schematic and naive if you want. But at the same time it shows that Sheridan is still there, and he surely hasn’t given up the fight.
Rate: C+
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