"I was disgusted and wanted to take a shower with a steel brush." That was how Matthew McConaughey said he felt after reading the script for 'Killer Joe' for the first time. 'Filth', the latest Irvine Welsh adaptation, may provoke a similar response in many viewers, because it is very dark and twisted, with a main character that is homophobic, racist, sexist, misanthropic and misogynistic, rivalling and possibly surpassing Harvey Keitel in Abel Ferrara's 'Bad Lieutenant' as the most despicable on screen cop.
The cop in question is Inspector Bruce Robertson, played magnificently by James McAvoy. After having appeared in 'Welcome to the Punch' and 'Trance' earlier this year, playing two good guys, McAvoy does the opposite, taking on the role of someone steeped in depravity and corruption. Subsequently, he delivers not only his best performance of the year with 'Filth', but also the best performance of his career. Thanks to McAvoy, I ended up sympathising and empathising with Bruce, even though I shouldn't. He is strongly supported by the always- watchable likes of Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan and Shirley Henderson, while Jim Broadbent is delightfully delirious as the psychiatrist that Bruce regularly encounters in his visions.
The plot is loosely concerned with Bruce attempting to get a promotion, but in reality, this is more of a character piece than a straightforward, plot-driven work; in that respect it's superficially similar to Nicholas Winding Refn's 'Bronson'. What we get are series of vignettes (Bruce goes to Hamburg, Bruce goes to a Christmas party, etc.), a structure that can difficult to get right, but Baird does, as every vignette is good, while aspects of Bruce's complex character are explored. Additionally, 'Filth' contains something that you won't find in any other film this year – the sight of David Soul as a taxi driver, bursting into song, singing his hit 'Silver Lady'. 'Filth's boldness makes it not for everyone – its comedy is jet black and scathing, while it doesn't shy away from explicitness or the dark depths of McAvoy's character, as he engages in sex, drugs and well, filth, doing everything from upsetting children to playing incredibly mean pranks on his 'friends'. It's also one of the best films of recent months.
The cop in question is Inspector Bruce Robertson, played magnificently by James McAvoy. After having appeared in 'Welcome to the Punch' and 'Trance' earlier this year, playing two good guys, McAvoy does the opposite, taking on the role of someone steeped in depravity and corruption. Subsequently, he delivers not only his best performance of the year with 'Filth', but also the best performance of his career. Thanks to McAvoy, I ended up sympathising and empathising with Bruce, even though I shouldn't. He is strongly supported by the always- watchable likes of Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan and Shirley Henderson, while Jim Broadbent is delightfully delirious as the psychiatrist that Bruce regularly encounters in his visions.
The plot is loosely concerned with Bruce attempting to get a promotion, but in reality, this is more of a character piece than a straightforward, plot-driven work; in that respect it's superficially similar to Nicholas Winding Refn's 'Bronson'. What we get are series of vignettes (Bruce goes to Hamburg, Bruce goes to a Christmas party, etc.), a structure that can difficult to get right, but Baird does, as every vignette is good, while aspects of Bruce's complex character are explored. Additionally, 'Filth' contains something that you won't find in any other film this year – the sight of David Soul as a taxi driver, bursting into song, singing his hit 'Silver Lady'. 'Filth's boldness makes it not for everyone – its comedy is jet black and scathing, while it doesn't shy away from explicitness or the dark depths of McAvoy's character, as he engages in sex, drugs and well, filth, doing everything from upsetting children to playing incredibly mean pranks on his 'friends'. It's also one of the best films of recent months.