The Oxford Murders (film)
| The Oxford Murders | |
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 American theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Álex de la Iglesia |
| Produced by | Gerardo Herrero Álvaro Augustín Mariela Besuievsky |
| Screenplay by | Jorge Guerricaechevarria Álex de la Iglesia |
| Story by | Guillermo Martínez (novel) |
| Starring | Elijah Wood John Hurt Leonor Watling Julie Cox |
| Music by | Roque Baños |
| Studio | Telecinco Cinema Tornasol Films La Fabrique de Films |
| Distributed by | E1 Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | 18 January 2008 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | Spain United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14.1 million |
The Oxford Murders is a 2008 film directed by Álex de la Iglesia. This thriller film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Argentine mathematician and writer Guillermo Martínez. The film stars Elijah Wood, John Hurt and Spanish actress Leonor Watling.
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[edit] Plot
Martin (Elijah Wood), an American student at the University of Oxford, wants Arthur Seldom (Hurt) as his thesis supervisor. He idolises Seldom and has learned all about him. He takes accommodation in Oxford at the house of Mrs. Eagleton (Anna Massey), an old friend of Seldom. Also in the house is her daughter, Beth (Julie Cox), who is her full time caregiver — which she resents bitterly — and a musician by occupation.
In a public lecture, Seldom quotes Wittgenstein's Tractatus to deny the possibility of absolute truth. Hoping to impress his idol, Martin disputes this, asserting his faith in the absolute truth of mathematics: "I believe in the number pi." Seldom humiliates him, ridiculing his arguments and making him look foolish in front of the audience. Disillusioned, Martin decides to abandon his studies and goes to his office to collect his belongings. There, he encounters his office-mate, a bitter mathematician Podorov (Burn Gorman), who also failed to become a student of Seldom's.
Martin then returns to his residence, where he finds Seldom arriving to visit Mrs. Eagleton. The two men enter the house together and find Martin's landlady murdered. Seldom tells the police that he had received a note with his friend's address marked as "the first of a series". As Seldom is an authority on logical series, he argues that a serial killer is using murder as a way to challenge his intelligence. According to Seldom, "The only perfect crime that exists is not the one that remains unsolved, but the one which is solved with the wrong culprit."[1]
Martin and Seldom discuss how easily the murder of the old lady might have been overlooked, particularly as she already suffered from terminal cancer, and Martin suggests that the murderer is committing 'imperceptible murders' - meaning that the killer is choosing victims who are already dying therefore meaning that the police would be less likely to suspect foul play.
Martin, Seldom and Lorna (Leonor Watling), a Spanish nurse with whom Martin has struck up a relationship, try to solve the mathematical clues as the murders continue. They have to contend with police suspicion, a rising body count and tensions between the three of them. There is a wide range of suspects, from the three principal characters to the mathematician and the old lady's daughter. The solution lies in the mathematical concepts, but there are many twists along the way as Martin learns the truths behind reality.
[edit] Mathematical and philosophical references
The characters debate several mathematical, physical and philosophical concepts such as logical series, Wittgenstein's rule-following paradox, Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty, Gödel's Theorem, circles, the Vesica Piscis, the possibility of perfect crime, Fermat's Last Theorem and its proof by Professor Wiles, the Taniyama conjecture, the tetraktys and the Pythagoreans. There are references, also, of the Butterfly effect.
[edit] Artistic licence
"Logic series" is not actually an established topic in mathematical logic or mathematics. Contrary to what Seldom states in his lecture at the beginning of the film, the argument of Wittgenstein's Tractatus does not actually proceed by the use of equations (with the exception of a few simple equations in Wittgenstein's introduction of the truth tables) and it is not expressed in the formal language of mathematical logic; the argument is rather a philosophical argument expressed in normal, albeit idiosyncratic, language. Professor Andrew Wiles, who solved Fermat's Last Theorem, is represented as "Professor Wilkes" of Cambridge University in the film, and Fermat's Last Theorem is represented as "Bormat's Last Theorem".
[edit] Cast
- Elijah Wood as Martin, an American student
- John Hurt as Arthur Seldom, a British authority on logical series
- Leonor Watling as Lorna, a Spanish nurse
- Julie Cox as Beth Eagleton, a musician, daughter of Mrs. Eagleton
- Dominique Pinon as Frank, father of an ill girl waiting for an organ transplant
- Burn Gorman as Yuri Ivanovich Podorov, a crank mathematician
- Jim Carter as Inspector Petersen
- Anna Massey as Mrs. Julia Eagleton, Martin's landlady and Seldom's friend
- Alex Cox as Kalman, a demented mathematician
[edit] Production
The film is a Spanish-British-French production directed by Spanish Álex de la Iglesia. Before the confirmation of Elijah Wood in the film, Mexican actor Gael García Bernal had been considered for the role of the mathematics student. There were some weeks of speculation on who would play the lead. On 26 December 2006 Tornasol Films announced that Wood was cast in the lead role. de la Iglesia commented that he convinced Wood to accept the role for the script. De la Iglesia also praised Wood: "I'm delighted to work with Elijah, who undoubtedly has the most powerful eyes in the industry and who is perfect for the part".[2]
British actor John Hurt was cast in the role of a professor of the university, who helps the young student in his quest to try to stop a series of murders.[3] Actor Michael Caine had been considered for this role.[4]
de la Iglesia described daily in his blog the peculiar situations that happened during the production of the film. The film is his first foray outside his typical black comedy genre into more dramatic fare.[5][6][7][8]
Filming began on 22 January 2007 and finished on 24 March, with locations in Oxford and the Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum of London.[9]
[edit] Release
It was picked up for UK release by Odeon Sky Filmworks, opening on 25 April 2008, and had a DVD release in the UK on 1 September 2008. However in the US, it was not picked up for release until 2010, with VOD set for 2 July 2010 and also theatres on 6 August 2010, distributed by Magnolia Pictures.[10]
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film were released on 5 October 2010.
[edit] Reception
The Oxford Murders received mostly negative reviews. David Lewis, a critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that despite the fact that "there were plenty of talented people involved", the film had a "clunky script" and was "just plain boring, from beginning to end".[11] Jonathan Holland from Variety was less critical, calling the film a "polished but verbose whodunit", though he found fault with the dialogue and the romantic subplot.[12] The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 10%.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ "Elijah wood in 'The Oxford Murders'," Hollywood Reporter. June 28, 2010; the credit for coining this clever phrase, which was highlighted in the trailer, goes to Guillermo Martinez
- ^ Blasfemando en el vórtice del universo Alex de la Iglesia's blog.
- ^ realmovienews.com pictures of Elijah Wood and John Hurt filming the movie in London.
- ^ preview of The Oxford Murders on European-films.net
- ^ De la Iglesia inicia el rodaje de 'Los crímenes de Oxford'. hoy.es
- ^ noticias
- ^ Eurimages gives coin to 'Oxford' - Entertainment News, Web Exclusive, Media - Variety
- ^ Wood joins suspects in 'Murders'
- ^ A review from Language Log
- ^ Magnolia Pictures Announces Release Plans for 'The Oxford Muders'
- ^ David Lewis, review of "The Oxford Murders", in the San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 2010.
- ^ Jonathan Holland, review of "The Oxford Murders", in Variety, January 29, 2008 (February 4 in print).
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes, "The Oxford Murders, accessed August 14, 2011.
