This is an interesting film directed by Antonio Campos about a young man from New York who has apparently just finished a degree in neuroscience (he turns out to be a liar, so this may not be true, and in the film's last line he says to a customs official that he studies French literature), and is spending a few weeks in Paris living in the apartment of a family friend. What starts out as a story about an American student in Paris about to start his tour around Europe gradually turns into something darker as Simon, the eponymous character, meets an attractive French prostitute in a hostess bar. Simon cunningly inveigles himself into her life and soon moves into her apartment. We are not yet sure whether Simon is just a slippery character or a full-blown grifter, but at this point the plot reminded me of Jim Thompson's novels so I was gratified to learn from one interview with Campos that Thompson was indeed one of the inspirations for the film. Simon then persuades Noura (the prostitute he met at the hostess bar) to blackmail her customers with his help. So far, this is a fairly common film noir plot, but this unusual movie has much more to offer. Brady Corbet's acting as Simon is very good, Antonio Campos employs interesting visual techniques and other innovative elements, and the movie has an outstanding soundtrack. Corbet does a good job of keeping us guessing about just who, and how sinister a character, Simon really is. Is he just a bright student who opportunistically turns to blackmail to finance his holiday in Paris, or is he a professional con man who is potentially violent and dangerous? The dark and sexual themes, stalking camera (hostile strangers lurk just around the corner in Pigalle or accost Simon as he tries to pick up Parisian girls on the street), and memorable pop music score, reminded me of Blue Velvet, and it had me wondering if Simon is closer to Jeffrey Beaumont or to Frank Booth. As the suspense builds and things become ever darker, I also began to compare the film to The Comfort of Strangers, another tale of sexual attraction, perversion, deception and violence on a holiday in a picturesque European city (a film that brought together Paul Schrader, Ian McEwan, Harold Pinter and Christopher Walken... what a team!) But I digress. Antonio Campos does some really interesting things visually in this film. For example, there are strange light effects both at the very beginning of the movie and again to separate different parts of the story, like section breaks (these are accompanied by haunting songs with lyrics such as "It takes a muscle to fall in love"). I was intrigued by these light effects and Campos explains in one interview that he tried to recreate the lights you see as you press against your closed eyes with your fingers. Campos created these effects by removing the lens from a certain type of camera and filming Christmas lights which thus left only the imprint of their colours. These light effects are particularly appropriate in the film as Simon's thesis work (if he wasn't lying) involved the connection between the brain and the eye. Other interesting aspects of the movie include the bilingual script and way language is used. Simon often pretends not to understand when another character says something in French, and uses this to his advantage in his deceptions and tricks. Simon also often communicates non-verbally by an odd assortment of grunts, whimpers and yelps. Campos says that Brady Corbet actually worked out a whole system for these sounds, one for "angry Simon," another for "sad Simon," another for "anxious Simon" and so on. If you like Jim Thompson, Blue Velvet and The Comfort of Strangers, Simon Killer just might be your cup of tea.
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