INTERVIEW: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Downbeat political journalist, Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi) is frustrated when he is assigned to interview famous TV star Katya (Sienna Miller), of whom he knows nothing. The interview begins badly when Katya arrives an hour late at the appointed restaurant and is offended by Peders' total ignorance of her. When they leave the restaurant, a minor accident in the taxi brings them together again - and things just go downhill from there, as they bicker and snarl at each other while revealing secrets that they never intended to.

Review by Louise Keller:
'There's always a winner and a loser,' says Sienna Miller's tv soap star Katya, who drinks raspberry martinis, is more famous for who she sleeps with than anything else, and whose mobile phone ringtone is a yapping dog. The real and the fantasy become intertwined in Interview, an intriguing two-hander in which Steve Buscemi takes on the dual role of director and actor, to Miller's bravura acting display. The film is a remake of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh's 2003 drama; Buscemi took on the directing role when Van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist in 2004. The wonderful thing about Interview is that we have no idea where it is going to lead. It's honest, conflicted and surprising, as journalist and actress battle words and emotions in a potent drama that takes us to unexpected places.

'It's odd for a journalist to be so uncurious,' are the words Katya flings at Pierre, in the restaurant where they meet, when he makes it quite clear he is totally disinterested in her and her career. She is an hour late, intent on taking phone calls and changing tables; he knows her by reputation only, has not bothered to watch her screener or read the brief. This is the beginning of an explosive evening in which questions are asked, and unfathomable territories are explored. He resembles the dead father she never knew; she reminds him of his daughter who overdosed on heroin.

There's a push-me pull-me relationship between Katya and Pierre and both Buscemi and Miller's performances are exemplary. The dialogue is both playful and violent; tongue in cheek while deadly serious. In fact there's a double edged sword throughout the 84 minute running time of Interview, which delivers cutting rewards and a gritty portrayal of the best and worst in both the acting and the journalist world.

DVD special features includes behind the scenes making of plus previews.

Published May 22, 2008