Trauma (2004)

Absolute waste of time. I had the feeling the "story" was being written as each scene was shot. Dull, dismal, boring, banal, with no redeeming features. Colin Firth was a waste. Mena Suvari played the usual wide=eyed gamin role. How does an abortion such as this film EVER get released? The producers must have realised early on that it was a DUD (to be extremely polite). Or are they in fact a bunch of retards who actually thought this movie had some merit? Hopeless, awful.

Firth awakens from a coma to discover his wife is dead and he is suspected of murdering a pop idol. This is a psychological thriller that isn't always so logical. What it is do, mostly thanks to Firth, is capture the sheer terror of people perceiving you as mad. It's a difficult job to truly make us believe that both reality and fantasy are possible. As Firth's mental state begins to crumble around him the film does lose some of its footing. It gets to a point where confusion and surprise become Evans' main objective. Thankfully, it's never a dull ride, and when one looks at the emotional destruction, it can seem so much more fulfilling.

Marc Evans 'Trauma' may have been a little too much for some people to take in. I admit that it is confusing at times but what I liked about it is that it's the kind of film that's open to interpretation and there is no real right or wrong answer because many possibilities are plausible. What really happened? How much of it was a fabrication of Ben's tortured mind? Evans makes very efficient use of the budget. 'Trauma' doesn't have any lavish sets or expensive special effects which is just as well because it looks authentic the way it is. With skilled camera-work and an inventive setting that looks raw, the film manages to contain and maintain a very tense and chaotic atmosphere. Colin Firth does a stupendous job in one of his most complex roles as the tormented Ben who's endured losing his parents, Aunt Charlotte, failing art school, getting fired, a failed marriage and then is led to believe that he's responsible for his wife's death. Mena Suvari is quite likable. 'Trauma' clearly isn't made for everyone but it's definitely a movie that one will be thinking about (and perhaps discussing) after the closing credits have rolled. On an additional note, I liked and appreciated that the ants and their stunt doubles were credited during the end credits.

There's too much going on here. Marc Evans' psychological thriller is in the same bracket as noble but overburdened Britflicks like the contemporaneous Fragile in also importing an American principal (or two). Mena Suvari is alien to the feel of this picture, acting competently but in a different manner to the introverted Colin Firth. They have a different, difficult-to-qualify relationship with the camera and the audience.This shouldn't make that much of a difference though as Suvari's contribution to the film isn't crucially substantive (it's not a simple two-hander). There are other symptomatic problems though: the lighting is exquisite and the photography that follows quite excellent but wrong. Wrong? There's a sharpness and a gloss that simply doesn't sit well with the combination of realism (the acting and urbane location) and the psychological drama. It's not tender, and this despite Firth's fine efforts to make it sympathetic. I also think that the editing is very good, with some workable visuals from inside Firth's mind's eye although they get laid on a bit much.This is a funny film. It's the sort of thing that, were I a producer, I'd watch with great interest, mentally bookmarking Evans for a future, mainstream thriller-project. This film though, I wouldn't want to have to sell. 4/10