«Number 37»: a lot of blood for not very much

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) - Hélène Lavoyer

Yesterday morning at NIFFF, the (very) long feature film Number 37. A thriller inspired by Rear Window which earned its director, Alfred Hitchcock, four Oscar nominations. In this version, produced by Benjamin Overmeyer and Bradley Joshua, the setting moves to South Africa, to a poor neighborhood where the only valid law is that of the most violent, or the luckiest.

Indebted to the tune of twenty-five thousand rand after a deal which cost him the use of his legs, Randal (Irshaad Ally) stays at home all day long, watching from his window as life goes on in the street. One day, his creditor pays him a visit. Randal knows that if he doesn't collect the money by the deadline, he and his partner Pam (Monique Rockman) will die.

While spying on the apartment of a group of criminals, he witnesses the murder of a crooked policeman and discovers that around one hundred thousand rand is now hidden in the apartment of Lawyer and his accomplices. He decides to threaten Lawyer with reporting him to the police if he refuses to hand over the bag. A new plan that will plunge him and Pam into some dark times.

Slowness without depth

There are several elements that make this thriller uninteresting. The first is the slowness with which the events unfold, which in fact don't unfold at all but occur after rather futile scenes that don't lead up to what's to come. now rather an image on the screen, without really adding any depth to the story.

In almost two hours of film, a certain amount of substance has to be brought to the characters, and to the environment too. In Number 37, what prevents us from entering the story is this presentation of facts that says: «this is how the story unfolded», without anything more being said about the lives of the characters, their stories, their connections.

In the end, it's only at certain points that the anticipation and anxiety associated with thrillers are revealed. Thanks to the soundtrack typical of genre films, tension mounts at moments crucial to the success of Randal's plans. But it suddenly disappears, cut short by a new scene featuring other characters.

Of course, this could easily hold its own and even amplify the anguish even further, but the story is so fragmented that there's no time to get caught up in these gory, disturbing scenes, because they're few and far between. Number 37 doesn't manage to stand out from any other thriller and doesn't make a lasting impression. Unless, that is, you'd like to see something that's not listed here, by attending the screening on Saturday, July 14.

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Write to the author : helene.lavoyer@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © NIFFF