Shallow Grave (1994)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.4/10   

Director:

Danny Boyle

Guionista:

John Hodge (written by)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

10 febrero 1995 (USA)

Género:

Comedia | Crimen | Drama | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

The award winning thriller that'll bury you with laughs.

Plot:

Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Interview | Transvestite | Car | Corpse

Premios:

14 wins & 1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A great little thriller who's pace covers it's weaknesses

Reparto

Kerry Fox	...	Juliet Miller
Christopher Eccleston	...	David Stephens
Ewan McGregor	...	Alex Law
Ken Stott	...	Detective Inspector McCall
Keith Allen	...	Hugo
Colin McCredie	...	Cameron
Victoria Nairn	...	Visitor
Gary Lewis	...	Visitor
Jean Marie Coffey	...	Goth
Peter Mullan	...	Andy
Leonard O'Malley	...	Tim
David Scoular	...	Cash Machine Victim
Grant Glendinning	...	Bath Victim
Victor Eadie	...	Freezer victim
Robert David MacDonald	...	Lumsden

También conocida como:

Tumba abierta (Shallow Grave) (Spain) [es]
Tumba al ras de la tierra (Argentina) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of strong grisly violence, and for some language and nudity.

Duración:

93 min

País:

UK

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

1.66 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby

Clasificación:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 | UK:18 | USA:R | South Korea:18 | France:-12 | Canada:14A

Locaciones de Filmación:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Compañía:

Channel Four Films

Trivialidades:

First cinema film of Gary Lewis.

Errores:

Continuidad: On the name plate on the door David's last name is spelled "Stevens" but in the credits it's spelled "Stephens".

Citas:

Alex Law: I'm not frightened. I'm a little terrified, maybe.

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in 100 Mile Rule (2002)

Banda de Sonido:

My Baby Just Cares for Me

A great little thriller who's pace covers it's weaknesses

Alex, David and Juliet share a flat together and are looking for a new flat mate to help fill the flat out. They see various applicants who don't fit until they meet the mysterious Hugo who is `interesting' and takes the room. Almost a week goes by and he doesn't come out of his room once, so they break down Hugo's door to find him dead with a suitcase full of money. To keep the money, they agree to destroy Hugo's body and draw straws to see who does the cutting. David ends up doing the deed but it affects him badly and he becomes increasingly erratic and paranoid. Meanwhile two criminals are dredging the underworld looking for the money.

Any film that can pose a moral question that stays with the audience is off to a good start and needs to build on it. That is the case here with the `would you keep the money' question - the answer being `yes' in terms of the characters here. The plot then sees the greed do what greed do best - feed paranoia and divisions between the characters. It's a theme that has been done before but is still well done here. The plot has weaknesses in logic and flow - David's paranoia doesn't totally go the way that seems most likely, rather the way that the film requires. Also the film doesn't build good characters. However what it does do well is turn up tension and drama very well - as the net closes and the characters start to turn on each other.

This is where the comparatively short running time helps - it keeps the whole thing from being onscreen too long to be analysed to death while you are watching it. I didn't question the weaknesses because I was caught up in the story. It has a good pace on it although it can't keep up the speed it set with it's stylish opening credits (which have been impersonated so often since). The final act is a fitting denouncement and, like I said, even if some of it doesn't totally scan the film moves along fast enough to cover it.

Despite the lack of really developed characters, the cast do really good jobs on the whole. McGregor is great - this and Trainspotting show how great it can be, just makes it harder to see him looking miserable in the Star Wars films. Fox is also very good, although she is a lot subtler than McGregor. However it is Eccleston who steals the film, even if he is required to go further than he should have in his downward spiral; contrast his character at the start and the end of the film, he did very well to gradually go from one to the other convincingly. The support cast is made up of familiar faces who don't really do that much - McCredie, Stott, Allen and Mullan.

Overall this is not without it's flaws but it works as a tight little moral thriller that is really enjoyable while watching it. And the ending will have you in the pub or on the message boards talking about it (in a good way).