469 The Hit

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

469 The Hit

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:38 pm

The Hit

Image

Terence Stamp is Willie, a gangster’s henchman turned “supergrass” (informer) trying to live in peaceful hiding in a remote Spanish village. Sun-dappled bliss turns to nerve-racking suspense, however, when two hit men—played by a soulless John Hurt and a youthful, loose-cannon Tim Roth—come a-calling to bring Willie back for execution. This stylish early gem from Stephen Frears boasts terrific performances from a roster of England’s best hard-boiled actors and ravishing photography of its desolate Spanish locations—a splendid backdrop for a rather sordid story.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
  • High-definition digital restoration, approved by director of photography Mike Molloy, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 2009 featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John Hurt and Tim Roth, screenwriter Peter Prince, and editor Mick Audsley
  • Interview from 1988 with actor Terence Stamp from the television show Parkinson One-to-One
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Graham Fuller
New cover by Jason Hardy

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Feature currently disabled

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: 'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation

#2 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:38 pm

Murdoch wrote:Yay! Frears in the collection!
Whoa, The Hit has a commentary and is lower tier. Excellent.

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: 466 The Hit

#3 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:05 pm

Nice to see this is finally coming out (hopefully Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and [more urgently] Insignificance aren't too far away). I hope that Frears, Hurt, and Roth will be in the room together for the commentary, even though I kind of doubt they will be.

I tracked this down on VHS some months back (it was cheap and I was growing impatient for the CC) and was disappointed, considering the talent involved. Then again, I had very high expectations for what ultimately amounts to a minor crime thriller with a dynamite cast (including noteworthy [if brief] turns from Jim Broadbent, Bill Hunter, and Fernando Rey) and fine direction. Very '80s (and I don't hold that against it), owing in large part to Clapton's score, it's a solid film, but not much more than that.

User avatar
Anthony
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:38 pm
Location: Berkeley, CA

Re: 466 The Hit

#4 Post by Anthony » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:22 am

Please excuse my ignorance, but I've never heard of this film before. Was Jonathan Glazer's film from 2000 "Sexy Beast" the remake of this film? Both plots sound very similar.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: 466 The Hit

#5 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:25 am

Anthony wrote:Please excuse my ignorance, but I've never heard of this film before. Was Jonathan Glazer's film from 2000 "Sexy Beast" the remake of this film? Both plots sound very similar.
Doubt it. Sexy Beast had the standard retired-criminal-being-brought-back-for-one-last-job plot structure. The Hit sounds quite a bit different.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: 466 The Hit

#6 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:40 pm

Cronenfly wrote:Very '80s (and I don't hold that against it), owing in large part to Clapton's score,
Clapton barely wrote a note of the score - if I remember rightly, his contribution comes right at the beginning, with the overwhelming majority being supplied by flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. (In fact, I don't think the official soundtrack album featured Clapton's contribution at all, but I got rid of it some time last century so can't check).

I haven't seen the film since it came out, so I'll reserve judgement until I see it again - but I certainly have fond memories of it.

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: 466 The Hit

#7 Post by Cronenfly » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:38 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Cronenfly wrote:Very '80s (and I don't hold that against it), owing in large part to Clapton's score,
Clapton barely wrote a note of the score - if I remember rightly, his contribution comes right at the beginning, with the overwhelming majority being supplied by flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. (In fact, I don't think the official soundtrack album featured Clapton's contribution at all, but I got rid of it some time last century so can't check).

I haven't seen the film since it came out, so I'll reserve judgement until I see it again - but I certainly have fond memories of it.
Thanks for clarifying, Michael; I was just plain mistaken. The movie obviously didn't make much of an impact when I watched it last summer for me to think Clapton figured in beyond the opening credits, but now that you mention it, Paco de Lucia indeed scored the rest of the movie (and thank goodness, too; nothing against Clapton, but his contribution [however small] badly dates the film).

User avatar
knepo
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:13 am
Location: Norway

Re: 466 The Hit

#8 Post by knepo » Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:37 pm

I think this movie is a childhood memory film, that I have been searching for a long time. Does the person they are going to execute wear a robe or something like that during most of the film?

max castle

Re: 466 The Hit

#9 Post by max castle » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:21 pm

Has anyone ever pointed out the similarities between "The Hit" and a short story by Ambrose Bierce? The story is called "Parker Adderson, Philosopher." Just curious if anyone has ever read the story and could back up the comparison.

User avatar
kaujot
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:28 pm
Location: Austin
Contact:

Re: 469 The Hit

#10 Post by kaujot » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:47 pm


User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: 469 The Hit

#11 Post by cdnchris » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:08 pm


User avatar
The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: 469 The Hit

#12 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:30 pm

Just saw it this morning, and have to say, it was far more excellent than I was expecting. The only other Frears films I've seen were Gumshoe (which was fun, but had a god awful soundtrack) and High Fidelity (which wasn't as great as I was led to believe). This film is an other story.

Very interesting characters, great cinematography, fun soundtrack, and overall, great story. Far superior than the other two I thought, in terms of how everything came together. In many ways, it reminds me of an older generation of crime films, which are less concerned with violence and the crimes themselves, but it's more interested in how the characters react with one an other and how their lives fit into that very moment of their lives. Hell, the first moment of intense violence doesn't come until an hour and ten minutes into the film. Up to that point, you don't see the robbery that got Terrance Stamp where he is or even the actual act of murder on Australian man.

Overall, superb film. I'm surprised I've never heard about it before this release. And common, Fernando Rey has a small bit part. It's worth it alone to see that!

User avatar
GringoTex
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:57 am

Re: 469 The Hit

#13 Post by GringoTex » Wed May 06, 2009 12:23 am

A sexist, pornographic mediocre film full of xenophobic flashpoints. Spain has a lower homicide rate lower than England - why do English criminals feel the need to stay off the road until night when the Spanish thugs are asleep in bed? Why is Laura del Sol treated as a psychosexual animal throughout? Why is Laura del Sol made to hide her fabulous tits at the exact point when the audience starts to root for her? Why is Fernando Rey, who speaks better English and Spanish than anybody in the film, rendered mute throughout?

I do like Tim Roth's performance, though. His multi-tooled attack on the Spaniards in the bar was about the only good thing in the film.

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

Re: 469 The Hit

#14 Post by Nothing » Wed May 06, 2009 12:53 am

Truly, Criterion should have released the entire oeuvres of Roeg, Greenaway, Russell and Jarman before touching anything by Frears (or Parker or Minghella or any of the other mendacious hacks who have helped to destroy the British film industry).

User avatar
kaujot
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:28 pm
Location: Austin
Contact:

Re: 469 The Hit

#15 Post by kaujot » Wed May 06, 2009 1:14 am

Goodness.

User avatar
Lemmy Caution
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:26 am
Location: East of Shanghai

Re: 466 The Hit

#16 Post by Lemmy Caution » Wed May 06, 2009 6:37 am

knepo wrote:I think this movie is a childhood memory film, that I have been searching for a long time. Does the person they are going to execute wear a robe or something like that during most of the film?
Not their actual target, but a chance encounter who gets in the way wears a robe throughout a tense middle sequence.
So it's probably what you are looking for.

Basically this is like a heist film (or any other criminal enterprise) where one thing after another goes wrong. It's also a battle of wits, and clash of personality, between captor and captive. (The Naked Spur is probably my favorite such film.)
Why is Laura del Sol treated as a psychosexual animal throughout?
80's, babe. Pure 80's.
This was one of the weaker aspects of the film.
I thought they were constructing a contrast between cold, calculating, rational, violent, death-laden England / warm, passionate, emotional, life-affirming Spain. Not the deepest counterpoint, but again very 80's.

The psychopathic bar brawl was entertaining, but seemed rather unlikely since he's on an important (illegal) job, and needs to remain inconspicuous. Thus it ensures that the professional killer will almost certainly knock off Roth's enthusiastic, loose-cannon amateur.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: 469 The Hit

#17 Post by MichaelB » Wed May 06, 2009 10:13 am

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Just saw it this morning, and have to say, it was far more excellent than I was expecting. The only other Frears films I've seen were Gumshoe (which was fun, but had a god awful soundtrack) and High Fidelity (which wasn't as great as I was led to believe).
I still think Frears' best work was made for the small screen between 1972 and 1982, usually to Alan Bennett scripts.

In fact, I wish Network would get round to releasing the 1978-9 six-part series of original Bennett TV plays - they presumably have the rights (they were made by LWT), and they're of more than usual interest round these parts since the directors included Frears (who did four of them) and, notoriously, Lindsay Anderson, whose The Old Crowd is one of the most gloriously confrontational bits of fuck-you auteurism ever to slip into ITV's peaktime schedules.

Hopefully since they've done a five-disc Jack Rosenthal blowout (recently snapped up for a mere £15 in a HMV sale), Network aren't completely blind to what they've got on the shelves.

User avatar
oldsheperd
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:18 pm
Location: Rio Rancho/Albuquerque

Re: 469 The Hit

#18 Post by oldsheperd » Wed May 06, 2009 10:39 am

I enjoyed this quite a bit. There are some things that are obviously questionable. I mean the fact that Roth and Hurt let Stamp roam all over the place despite being held captive is one. I disliked Laura Del Sol's character and was waiting for John Hurt to put a bullet in her head.
I did find the sly nod to Don Quixote in the windmill scene to be kind of funny.

nachoasenjo

Re: 469 The Hit

#19 Post by nachoasenjo » Tue May 12, 2009 12:22 am

I also saw it, for the first time. I had never heard of it.

I'm rather a pro-Frears guy, simply 'cause I love "The Grifters" and "Dangerous Liaisons", but he hasn't made anything really good for a long time now. I don't understand why so many people seem to like "High-Fidelity", which is just nostalgic stuff (just as the book was) but I quite liked " The Queen", definitely a clever movie.

I agree this is not a grat movie: it is classic thriller, with a strong structure, but not really surprising. Willie's saint-like behaviour and the others' reaction to it sounds like a good idea on paper, but does not really work in the film, despite Stamp's fine performance. It also takes a lot of narrative potential from the movie because it's very static. This kind of mistakes reminds me a bit of the short movies we all wanted to make when were 16.

Like Gringo Text, what I liked the most is Tim Roth's character, with its explosive, total nonsense violence, but also Hurt's relationship with Laura del Sol, pure sado with high sexual content. It's just very surprising and quite thrilling. As someone has said, in the beginning it seems as if Del Sol symbolises southern passion and Hurt northern coldness, but things get more complicated and unexplained in their pure passion. Lemmy Cuation is right: it's very 80s, and the best part of it, it reminds me of the best Lynch and Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa", but it is the best aspect of the movie, not the weakest.

I don't agree with Gringo Text. I am Spanish myself and don't see the movie as xenophobic: it carries a good deal of archetypes, in particular through Laura del Sol, but as I have tried to explain, it actually goes beyond it.

http://nachoasenjo.blogspot.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
jbeall
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
Location: Atlanta-ish

Re: 469 The Hit

#20 Post by jbeall » Thu May 21, 2009 10:49 pm

There were some wonderful natural backdrops, and I also took note of the windmills. Overall this is a pretty decent movie, but it's definitely a product of its era. I felt as if Willie's pseudo-mysticism detracted from the film, and Tim Roth's character is a tad unrealistic--the first time Willie, sitting in the back of the car, sees Myron's face, Myron can barely contain his excitement, and throughout the film Myron is hyper-eager and wears his emotions on his sleeve. It's, ahem, highly unlikely that Braddock would have chosen someone as ebullient as Myron to be his assistant even for a one-time job.

That said, despite the occasional plothole, I thought The Hit was buoyed by strong performances from Stamp and Hurt. Stamp seems to be really enjoying himself, and the sardonic looks he gives Braddock every time Myron does something stupid were very funny, and Hurt's especially good in a role that often requires him to observe the action from behind sunglasses and show his thought-processes through facial expression and gestures.

It seems as if, a la Jules in Pulp Fiction, the hitmen experience the most self-discovery in this film, esp. since Stamp's character is relatively static throughout. It felt like the film began as being about Willie, but then shifted the center of attention to Braddock, and later in the film Willie becomes a foil for Braddock, rather than the (expected) other way around. In any case, greater self-knowledge comes too late for both hitmen.

User avatar
Lemmy Caution
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:26 am
Location: East of Shanghai

Re: 469 The Hit

#21 Post by Lemmy Caution » Fri May 22, 2009 1:26 pm

jbeall wrote: It's, ahem, highly unlikely that Braddock would have chosen someone as ebullient as Myron to be his assistant even for a one-time job.
Unless of course the plan was to knock off Myron all along.
We learn that it's Myron's first job and he's such a loose cannon, that nobody would care if he was also part of the hit, which perhaps makes him a perfect fall guy as well.

Thinking back, I like how bringing the captives to the top of a hill seems remote and secretive, but then from the vantage point of a helicopter becomes obvious and foolish.

User avatar
jbeall
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
Location: Atlanta-ish

Re: 469 The Hit

#22 Post by jbeall » Fri May 22, 2009 4:14 pm

Lemmy Caution wrote:
jbeall wrote: It's, ahem, highly unlikely that Braddock would have chosen someone as ebullient as Myron to be his assistant even for a one-time job.
Unless of course the plan was to knock off Myron all along.
We learn that it's Myron's first job and he's such a loose cannon, that nobody would care if he was also part of the hit, which perhaps makes him a perfect fall guy as well.
I don't see it; Myron is simply too excitable for a low-key hitman like Braddock to even consider, even as a fall guy. For that matter, how does he go from a psychotic assault on the Basque youths to protecting Maggie?

User avatar
Person
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 3:00 pm

Re: 469 The Hit

#23 Post by Person » Sun May 24, 2009 2:33 pm

I was initially impressed by the film, but on reflection, I also wonder if it works as well as it should. Willie seems to have went from materialistic criminal to enlightened stoic within ten years of prison walls and book reading. Perhaps following the course of Willie's metanoia by twenty years would have been wiser. Having said that I do love when a character in a story attains gnosis or enlightenment of some kind and becomes fearlessly detached. Watching Hurt's character become unnerved was a hoot.

User avatar
Wood Tick
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:11 am

Re: 469 The Hit

#24 Post by Wood Tick » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:06 pm

I was hoping The Hit would be one of those gems that for whatever reason I completely missed when it was released but I'm saddened to report that, just having finished watching it, I feel as though I wasted the better part of a Sunday afternoon.

Although there were some nice stylistic touches (the dog, the killing of the gas station attendant) and the beginning was quite strong (up to the point where Braddock unhooded Willie in the car following his apprehension), the film just ran in place. Except for when they hear the report of Willie's abduction and the killing of the cop on the radio it never felt like they were being pursued.

The point upon which the film collapses is Willie's enlightened view of his fate and regarding death in general. The contemplativeness that reading a great many books can instill does not make one less fearful of death. His bit just before the execution about this having to happen in France leads you to believe that if they had made it there he would've accepted his fate like Jesus en route to Golgotha. Proceeding from this rather gaping chasm comes spiraling the film's lack of internal logic that had me asking several times: is there anything going on here at all?

John Hurt's performance had the potential of actually being intriguing, but what was his inner turmoil all about? The film doesn't offer a clue.

Following her aborted execution, did the girl go no. 1 or no. 2? Either way, wouldn't they have smelled something? More importantly, wasn't it an odd thing to include in the film to begin with? Or, having only a loose premise to start with, were they pressed to invent incidents to carry the running time to a formidable 90 minutes? The drawn out meandering scene in the apartment made me think the same... Were they thinking how many minutes can we squeeze out of this scene?

To my mind the strongest moment is the freeze frame of Braddock just before the title frame, with Eric Clapton's Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking-era guitar stylings. It seemed quite Roeg-ish to me, with Clapton standing in for Ry Cooder.

I wonder what the reasoning was for its inclusion in the Collection...

User avatar
mikkelmark
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:00 am
Location: Denmark

Re: 469 The Hit

#25 Post by mikkelmark » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:15 pm

I felt just the same as Wood Tick. Although after the first 10 minutes, i thought it was very promising, but in the end... bah.
Ofcourse the movie must have been on a small budget, but that usually just mean that theyre more inventive, which was not the case here. Also the way the characters were developed felt really strange.

Post Reply