Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ghost Writer

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Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 03-08-2010, 12:16 PM:

This film noir drama concerns the life of a scriptwriter hired to edit and rewrite the memoirs of British Prime Minister. The latter is under increasing pressure from the press and public for his agreement with American administration policies in the invasion of Iraq.

Despite the challenges of the job and the realization that the previous ghost writer has died under mysterious circumstances, the writer is persuaded to accept the task by the huge monetary award promised. But his own ethical sense is awakened when he realizes he is not permitted to write the truth as he uncovers it through interview, but is expected to rewrite history to promote the minister's reputation.

Historical parallels are obvious, but the minister is not exactly a copy of Tony Blair, and though the character's alliance with the CIA is important to the plot, the American president and his advisors are never mentioned. (A Condalezza Rice look-a-like is glimpsed in a shot, and Hallibrton becomes Hathaway in the film, but the film is not an anti-US hatchet job.)

The real mystery is the actual motive of the prime minister in always deferring to the CIA policies despite the opposition at home and the ruin it caused to his present and future.

The film is extremely well-written and acted. The viewer feel himself in the position of the ghost writer, forced to meet ever-shortening deadlines, pressured to go against his conscience, and fearing for his life as paranoia becomes reality. No-one is really what he seems, and this becomes frightening.

This is a real, literate counterspy mystery of a kind I seldom read or view, but well worth the experience.