The Nameless (1999)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Director Jaume Balaguero made a name for himself with The
Nameless, a 1999 foreign thriller that found a small but loyal
audience. The dead body of a young girl
is found so chemically burned and otherwise denatured as to make identification
impossible, but a clue that is oddly left behind and mother Claudia (Emma
Vilarasau) is totally distraught and devastated. Then, she gets a phone call, with the voice on the other ends
claims to be the daughter.
The title refers to the unidentifiable body, but then
extends to other aspects of the story.
The number one problem is the idea that the look of Music Videos somehow
works in thrillers. With a decent
screenplay by Balaguero and Ramsey Campbell, some shaky camerawork and stupid
editing sabotage what could have been a thriller that lived up to its
reputation. It is still better than
most Hollywood thrillers of late, but inserting Fiora Sigismondi/Marilyn Manson
videos is idiotic and long a cliché of bad Hollywood and student film Horror
productions. That’s a shame, because
this is not a bad film and a remake in the right hands could actually improve
it, though I liked the acting here.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image looks good,
though color poor, as cinematographers Albert Carreras and Xavi Giménez keep
skimming into yet another genre cliché.
The source is clean, though. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, not overdone, but might have been better in
DTS. Sadly, there are no extras, but The
Nameless is the kind of film you will want to see soon because someone is
going to want to talk to you about it sooner or later. Watch it to the end before someone spoils it
for you.
- Nicholas Sheffo
