The Ghost Writer – The master lives on

Calling Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer a thriller would be somewhat of a misnomer. Its rather a political drama, the thrills owing themselves to the thought-provoking depiction of the games people play in high places and the pressure cooker environment that its set in. This is not a film in the classic Polanski mode, where the master auteur extracts an awestruck WTFH!! from the audience. Instead, through Ghost Writer, Polanski underscores the importance of technique and insight over the oft-abused filmmaking credos of today – style and gimmickry.

Adapted from Robert Harris’ novel The Ghost, the film is centred around the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a British ex-PM. Lang has relocated to the US post-retirement and has stationed himself in an ocean-facing villa in an island off the coast of Massachussets. When his longtime aide, who is also scripting his memoirs, dies in a drowning accident, an unnamed ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) is called in to replace him. Just as he arrives at Lang’s villa to start working on the memoirs, Lang is publicly accused of war crimes by his ex-colleague (Robert Pugh). The accusation carries with it the possibility of far-reaching repercussions and draws out diverse reactions from Lang, his wife and his staff. And the ghost writer gets sucked into the vortex of intrigue and mystery.

Polanski channels his mastery of filmmaking technique to create a highly tense atmosphere in the film. The production design is intimidating, combining the New England winter that makes you beg for a fireplace; the dizziness created by the intense narrowing of the film’s canvas from London to Lang’s villa and the paranoia inhabiting the villa itself  in chilling fashion. The combination creates a unique atmosphere that’s forlorn, eerie and highly combustible. He throws in the odd red herring here and there, he unwraps the mystery slowly and cohesively and manages to maintain the tension throughout. The obsessive security checks, the vast expanse of varied topography but with the stark scarcity of humankind and the unrelenting fury of the ocean are just some of the elements that he utilizes to optimum effect to achieve the mood. Alexandre Desplat’s brooding score and Pawel Edelman’s black-hole like cinematography add more layers to the film’s texture.

Polanski and novelist-screenwriting partner Robert Harris bring a nuanced sense of realism to the film. Instead of being an eye-opener towards “what is”, the film works as an insightful depiction of “what could be”, thus ending up somewhat in a conspiracy theory mould. The strong allusions to real life characters through appearance, actions and events coupled with a well-argued take on law, justice and political hypocrisy makes for an engaging and thought-provoking watch. Though the film shows a marked tilt towards a left of centre ideology, it makes up for that bias by its reasoned and logical portrayal of its leanings. The recent spotlight on Wikileaks is quite a startling co-incidence in light of a major criticism that has been hurled at the film – that it was highly simplistic in the way it showed the truth being uncovered. Dare I say that Polanski was being unwittingly prophetic?

Polanski’s adeptness at laying bare the complexities of the human mind is at its glorious best in the way the characters of the ghost writer and Lang are charted out. The ghost is a newbie to the world of politics. Otherwise intelligent & perceptive, he’s utterly naive when it boils down to the cut-throat world of politics. He’s nquisitive (natural for a writer) and principled to a fault. Lang, on the other hand, is a passionate man who has adapted himself over the years into the rules of diplomacy. He’s charming, charismatic and not above deviousness when required, but at the same time he also has pangs of conscience eating him from within. Through these two characters and their trajectories, the film comments strongly on how megalomania (in the case of Lang) and self-righteous bravado (in the case of the ghost writer) can cloud reasonable thought and lay open one’s conscience to manipulation from all sides.

The film wouldn’t be what it is if not for its sterling performances. Ewan McGregor gets right under the skin of his character and delivers a bravura turn. Pierce Brosnan combines his characteristic sauve charm with smug arrogance and a palpable paranoia to play one of his most complex roles ever with tenacity. Olivia Williams (as Lang’s wife Ruth), Kim Cattrall (as his secretary), Robert Pugh & Tom Wilkinson bring in a near perfect meter in their performances. And Eli Wallach is delightful as ever in his cameo. Polanski manages to get the best out of his cast and it is quite clear that he’s in absolute control of the proceedings.

The film does leave a slightly bitter aftertaste with its cliched fatalistic culmination, but that for me was a small price to pay for the 2+ hours of conspiracy and claustrophobia. Although not in the league of Polanski’s masterpieces, The Ghost Writer is a solid watch. It bears all the marks of a master auteur and I can safely say that the master lives on.