Filth (2013)

Directed and written by: Jon S. Baird

Based on a novel by: Irvine Welsh

Bruce Robertson, a bigoted and corrupt Edinburgh policeman is in line for a promotion. If he wants something, there is nothing standing in his way so he screws over his colleagues and friends, while trouble at home, his past and drug habits are taking their toll on his sanity.

---

It's been over a year since I saw this film, probably even longer than I think. It is one of my favourite movies and I chose to do a 21 page analysis on it for school while we could've settled for 5-10 pages. But once you watch a movie as often as I used to watch Filth, you want to take a break. And it's good to take that break, because after a while you can appreciate the little things in the film. Like this time watching this movie I was astonished by the cinematography, especially the lighting and the colours, as if I hadn't paid attention during the first time. I had, but for some reason it all felt very new to me. It's probably the amount of movies I've watched between this and the last time I watched Filth.

There are many differences between the novel and the movie. Some of them are good, because you couldn't fit all that in the movie, and Irvine Welsh always takes his time before the actual twists come into the story. It's obvious Jon S. Baird had to tighten up Welsh's novel quite a bit considering Welsh's style and how many details he fits into a story. But if there's one thing that really bothers me, it's that the murdered Japanese man in the beginning was a black man in the book. It seems like a minor change but it isn't, and it will always, always bug me.

Of course there's obvious difference between any book and the movie - a movie gives a face to a character. And in the novel Bruce Robertson is awful, and it's hard to feel bad for him in any way, but when he's given James McAvoy's face and talent, it's harder to not feel bad for him. You know he's horrible. There's nothing about Bruce Robertson you could actually like, but it's James McAvoy's fault some viewers might feel bad for him. That's the only reason James McAvoy shouldn't play this part. McAvoy is amazing, he's truly phenomenal as Bruce Robertson, but he's also too sympathetic.

But while this film is completely awful, it's also hilarious. Just like with most of Welsh's stuff. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

After that 21 page analysis I feel like I can't do a short review anymore. If anyone is interested, I could edit that analysis a little bit and post it on here, but how many of my readers have even seen this film? 

That's why I'm not sure if I should or shouldn't.