‘The Ghost Writer’

Scan page 11

Roman Polanski’s film, “The Ghost Writ­ er,” is a well-told tale of a conspiracy the­ ory that is, if a viewer pauses to consider the idea, thoroughly implausible because completely unnecessary. It’s also an en­ joyable, suspenseful story.

Contradictory, yes, but since when is the unbelievable unentertaining? After all, John Grisham launched a lucrative career on the ludicrous notion that the Mafia needed to secretly control an entire law firm. When it’s no secret that attorneys are eagerly bought, why bother? Still, “The Firm” was a run­ away best-seller and its movie adapta­ tion was a worldwide box-office draw that earned into the nine figures.

“The Ghost Writer” will not enjoy a similar success, but it’s far better. The director, Roman Polanski, shows what he has learned from Alfred Hitchcock and applies the master’s film methods to good effect, maintaining a taut line of suspense throughout.

The cinematography, for instance, is essential to the storytelling. The gloomy setting—the dark, barren Cape Cod land­ scape beset by driving rain and wind— mirrors the barely revealed emotional turmoil of the central characters and complements the story’s themes.

Nonetheless, despite its other quali­ ties, what makes the film stand out is the unraveling of the plot. The conflict that initiates that plot, before it spirals into deeper and more sinister ones, seems straightforward though difficult enough. The former prime minister of England, Adam Lang (a Tony Blair double, played superbly by Pierce Brosnan), has been dictating his memoirs in an exclusive retreat on Martha’s Vineyard when his ghost writer turns up drowned.

Meanwhile, Lang has been yanked back in the news, facing accusations from the International Court of Justice (the Hague) that as prime minister he authorized war crimes against suspected terror­ ists. Now the publishers insist the book be completed within a month to capital­ ize on Lang’s notoriety. So, a new ghost (the unnamed character played by Ewan McGregor) is hired, promptly mugged and robbed after leaving the publisher’s office with what’s thought to be Lang’s manuscript, and dispatched to the U.S.

The ghost is an experienced writer, someone who can quickly churn the pot to boiling, but a political naïf, foolish enough to believe his lack of experience will be a virtue.

Not so. Inside of Lang’s fortress-like house, every character is hiding secrets and engaging in betrayal. Complicating the ghost’s mission are two significant women in Lang’s life: his brainy, powerbehind-the-throne wife and his personal assistant/secretary, who seems in many ways to be replacing an increasingly bit­ ter Ms. Lang. This level of domestic com­ plication and intrigue only adds to the larger mystery.

The most vital plot twist occurs when the ghost discovers his deceased pre­ decessor’s notes and hidden files. The meaning of this material turns out to be tantalizingly incomplete, but there’s enough information to expose some of Lang’s deceptions and to hint at deeper secrets yet unrevealed.

For the ghost, the discovery, under­ standing, and arrangement of these se­ crets into a meaningful pattern make up Only in the film’s closing minutes is the mystery revealed, but this solution merely settles one question while raising others which cannot be answered. The larger puzzle is still incomplete by the end. This satisfactory irresolution sus­ tains the film’s tone of mystery and sus­