Review: The Memory of a Killer (***)

THE MEMORY OF A KILLER
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ***



Even a bad guy has his limits. In THE MEMORY OF A KILLER (DE ZAAK
ALZHEIMER), a fast-paced and intriguing thriller that was Belgium's entry
for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards, Angelo Ledda
is a hit man with self-imposed limits. With a dead-on performance by
veteran actor Jan Decleir, Angelo is a killing machine who draws the line
when he is asked to assassinate a 12-year-old girl named Bieke (Laurien Van
den Broeck). And when his employer tries to take him out by putting a
contract on him for disobeying orders, he decides to turn the tables and
starting killing everyone in the chain of command above him.



Given Angelo's skills and cunning, his self-directed revenge assignment
might have been accomplished successfully and quickly, except for one
thing -- Angelo is ill. And not just with any malady but with that of
increasing forgetfulness, which can be deduced from a direct translation of
the Dutch title, which would be THE ALZHEIMER CASE. Much like Guy Pearce's
Leonard Shelby in MEMENTO, Angelo keeps forgetting, so he writes himself
notes on his arm.



As good as Angelo's story is, one that is almost as intriguing involves Eric
Vincke (Koen De Bouw) and Freddy Verstuyft (Werner De Smedt), a detective
and his sidekick who are trying to solve the case. They want to bring
Angelo in, as well as the crime ring, which includes child prostitution,
that Angelo is trying to terminate. Eventually, Vincke becomes Angelo's
reluctant partner, as Angelo feeds Vincke clues by phone.



Less original but still interesting are the crooks run by Baron Henri
Gustave de Haeck (Jo De Meyere) with the help of corrupt cops and other
government officials.



Director Erik Van Looy uses some of the same oversaturated colorization and
fast cut editing tricks of THE CONSTANT GARDENER's Fernando Meirelles, but
Van Looy uses them judiciously to punctuate a few parts of the narrative
rather than using them in place of storytelling as Meirelles is prone to do.



As the story starts to end, it doesn't end at all. The delightfully complex
second ending is equally fun and satisfying. This is an engaging crime
drama with plenty of payoff for the viewers.



THE MEMORY OF A KILLER runs 2:05. The film is in Dutch and French with
English subtitles. It is rated R for "violence, sexuality and nudity" and
would be acceptable for most teenagers.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 2, 2005.
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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