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Previous spread: Dark City S OTHERWORLDLY @3TRANGERS This spread, L–R: %MMA *ENNIFER #ONNELLY WITH DETECTIVE
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6HZHOO KDG WR SLHFH WRJHWKHU KLV oLGHQWLW\p IURP VFUDWFK t mere mortals be without our perceptions shaping our exist
no classical British acting techniques could have prepared ences, when all of those are stripped away?
him for the challenge of building up his character on 7KH ĺQDO SLHFH RI #@QJ "HSX’s affecting ensemble is the
his own. In a masterful stroke of directorial intervention, WRUWXUHG PDQ XQGHU WKH 6WUDQJHUVp GDQJHURXV WKUDOO ZKR
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the actor, to make the character’s discoveries about his UHJDLQ KLV OLIH 3UR\DV EULQJV XS D QRZDGD\V OLWWOH NQRZQ DX
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is awash with confusion – racked with suspicion, fear and NE ,X -DQUNTR (KKMDRR E\ 'DQLHO 3DXO 6FKUHEHU o, UHPHPEHU
guilt as a result of the demons that may be hiding within reading that at the time, and being inspired by this bizarre,
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suggest the possibility of rebirth. The two leads’ dynamic this psychosis.’ ,W ZDV WKLV KLVWRULFDO ĺJXUH ZKR SURYLGHG
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posefully giving Connelly the backstory of the couple’s SOD\HG E\ .LHIHU 6XWKHUODQG oZKR YHU\ PXFK ZDQWHG WR HP
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trawl through the details of the murder conspiracy and WKH OHDGLQJ PDQ RU PRYLH VWDU SKDVH RI KLV FDUHHUp UHFRXQWV
their marital history, the seeming impossibility that they’ll 3UR\DV DGGLQJ WKDW WKH\ KDG oVSRNH>Q@ DERXW 3HWHU /RUUH LQ
ever rekindle their love imbues #@QJ "HSX with an emotional 3GD ,@KSDRD %@KBNM >-RKQ +XVWRQ @p DV D UHIHUHQFH
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$V WKH ĺOPpV VHULHV RI QLJKWV JUDGXDOO\ PDNH ZD\ IRU WKH measure. Peel back the surreal imagery and gallery of weird
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DQG (PPDpV UHODWLRQVKLS 6XVSHFWLQJ -RKQ RI EHLQJ WKH VH tional chord. In continually reshaping the city and interfer
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she knows about her husband, dissecting their marriage to doomed to never comprehend the soul or learn about our
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scenes, informed by Connelly’s background knowledge, through the shadows to uncover who he is. Ultimately, #@QJ
are compelling – the cut and thrust of the detective’s prob "HSX operates outside traditional genre conventions – and
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the lens of his wife further uncover the pain of what drove EUDFH WKH VXSHUĺFLDO WKLPEOH GHHS +ROO\ZRRG PDFKLQH
the couple apart. That’s what makes #@QJ "HSX special: its path to the big
%XW -RKQpV H[LVWHQWLDO MRXUQH\ t KLV TXHVW WR SLHFH WRJHWK screen was as twisted and bizarre as the work is itself, the
er the shards of his broken life – is hindered further by the ĺOP OHDYLQJ XV ZLWK PRUH TXHVWLRQV WKDQ DQVZHUV UHJDUGLQJ
SUHVHQFH RI HHULH ĺJXUHV VWUDQJOLQJ WKH FLW\ ZLWK D VXSHU what makes us human. To discover more, we dip back into
natural grip. With pallid skin and sunken eyes, bald heads, the darkness, searching for answers to bring to light.
black trench coats and hats, #@QJ "HSX’s chilling, other
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-NREDQ@ST (1922): creatures of the night, dwelling in a subter has appeared in Empire, Scene, The Sunday Mail and numer-
UDQHDQ ODLU UHGROHQW RI *HUPDQ H[SUHVVLRQLVP GUDZQ WR WKH ous online publications. His previous work for Metro includes
complexities of humanity though bereft of a human soul. On an examination of the Western appropriation of Asian martial
the stroke of midnight, they transform the cityscape using arts cinema as well as a feature on cultural image and iden-
their telekinetic ability to ‘tune’, bending time and struc SHSXŭHM R @MC R TRSQ@KH@M BHMDL@ m
tures, and implanting new memories and identities among
WKH SRSXODFH (DFK 6WUDQJHU KDV D FDOO VLJQ t 0U +DQG Endnotes
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6SHQFH D TXLUN\ WZLVW UHPLQLVFHQW RI 1DRDQUNHQ #NFR Movie Accident’, Los Angeles Times $SULO http://
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stand our species. Is it our memories, our cars, our houses -brandon-lee! DFFHVVHG 1RYHPEHU
and worldly possessions that shape us? What would we 2 7RGD\ WKLV ZRXOG EH NQRZQ DV SDUDQRLG VFKL]RSKUHQLD

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