The Ghost Writer (2010) by Roman Polanski

Living in England I think it is appropriate to start my first review on Cinemaholic with an English movie, well not "so" English, let's say that it talks about "English matters", and very delicate ones.
"The Ghost Writer" is a remarkable movie by Polish director Roman Polanski, better known to the world for his unforgettable portrait of Nazi-occupied Warsaw in "The Pianist" and also widely known for his judiciary problems with the US police.
Problems that prevent him from entering the country (if not with handcuffs) and that have not allowed him to collect his own well-deserved best director Oscar for "The Pianist" back in 2003.
Yes, it is true, even oscar-winning directors cannot escape the harsh rules of the US law. But this is not our concern, not now at least.
Long life to Roman Polanski if he keeps delivering movies like this one.

"The Ghost Writer" follows the story and the struggle of the new British Prime Minister's memoires writer, aka "The Ghost", aka Ewan McGregor, while he is staying on a desert island on the US east coast together with Adam Lang, the British Prime Minister, striving to write his memoires.
His predecessor drowned in the sea before completing the oeuvre, and now it is up to the new ghost to create an affective and pleasant portrait of the prime minister.
The ambitious job starts becoming as dangerous as a cat-and-mouse game when the Prime Minister is accused of war crimes. A job that seemed as smooth as the desertic view outside the villa's windows turns into a nightmare.
Deception, betrayal, lies insinuate at every level, up to the point when we are not sure anymore who is whom.
The ghost is less naive than supposed, and much more resourceful.
As he deepens in the secrets surrounding Adam Lang, he will discover much more than expected.
Engaging, gripping, and esthetically polished, this thriller is astonishingly realistic. I defy the audience to not to think about another very famous, very controversial, very much American-friendly British Prime Minister.
I personally think that Pierce Brosnan has a too polished face to be credible as a British Prime Minister involved in CIA conspiracies, but all the other actors, starting from McGregor and Olivia Williams, the tormented first lady, do an admirable job.

A perfect example of Cinema working its magic, a movie that plunges you into a so convincing plot, it is hard to distinguish fiction from reality.
Putting aside the Olochaust and the World War II where he showed us he excells in narrating stories, Polanski perfectly narrates a story as contemporary at the today's 8pm news.
Never deceiving, never letting us down, we feel we too want to go till the end, probably even more than the ghost himself.

When did it all begin?

In the beginning it was...
...sincerely I do not remember. I must have been 10 or 11 years old or something like that...it just struck me one day...like this...out of the blue and without any warning. Anything would change for me, my perspective on life, culture and knowledge.
He was called Cinema.
Love at first sight.
I do not know if he ever loved me back, or if he even knows I exist, I just know it is fulfilling and it is all that matters.
The first time he appeared to me, he was under the name of Stanley Kubrick, this I remember well, cause I would become obsessed with his movies for a long time.
Then he was an Italian guy...a guy named Federico Fellini, I remember well his Italian charm.
Then there was another English guy...called Alfred Hitchcock...and then a French one...called François Truffaut...and then there were many, many, many more.
All lovers.
All passionate and unforgettable.
I really do not know how many I had.