Thorsten Sabel: Last News

Murtada Elfadl Willem Dafoe defies classification. He appears in blockbusters and arthouse films, in lead roles or as part of an ensemble. What can be counted on is that he’ll add a dash of idiosyncratic malevolence to whatever part he’s playing. Whether he’s playing Christ, Antichrist or somewhere in between, there’s always something slightly off that makes him watchable. In “Inside,” director Vasilis Katsoupis provides him with a showcase part in what is essentially a one-man show that Dafoe carries with aplomb. Dafoe’s character is an art thief named Nemo. He is first shown breaking into a high-tech Manhattan apartment. He’s connected to someone on the outside via microphone. It’s clear they hacked into the apartment’s security system. The camera slowly reveals the apartment as an expensive and impeccably designed but sterile abode. Its colors are monochromatic in a mostly bluish hue, there’s an indoor pond and plants that look plastic. The few pops of color come from the art on the walls. Nemo’s there to steal a valuable Egon Schiele portrait which he can’t immediately locate. As he looks around the vast space, inspecting the many pieces of art, the security system malfunctions. He’s trapped inside this gilded cage. Before long he realizes that his cohorts are not coming to save him. Nor is anyone else. He’s on his own.

Christopher Vourlias To set a 100-minute drama entirely inside the confines of a single apartment — and to have just a solitary character performing for the camera — might not seem like the most obvious template for an edge-of-your-seat thriller. But when that character is played by a versatile actor with the range of multi-Oscar-nominated Willem Dafoe, there’s no telling what will emerge. That’s the case with “Inside,” which premieres Feb. 20 in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Focus Features is releasing the film theatrically in the U.S. on March 17. Dafoe stars as an art thief who enters a collector’s high-tech penthouse hunting for valuable works of art, only to be trapped inside when the security system locks the apartment down. When help fails to arrive, the thief — surrounded by so many of the art works he covets and admires — must use all of his cunning and invention to survive, even as supplies dwindle and his body is pushed toward ever-more-demanding extremes.

Often lost in the shuffle of making a quality film are the crew. While a director and the cast get most of the credit, followed by the writer, below the line talent don’t often get their due. When they do, it’s mostly limited to the cinematography and the score. What about production design, however? In the case of 7500 (which we reviewed earlier in the week), both the cinematographer and the production designer are working in brilliant concert with each other, helping to deliver a unique motion picture. So, when given the opportunity, it was a no-brainer to hop on the phone with them and pick their brains.