John Chard@John Chard
Superb slice of supernatural neo-noir.
Written and directed by Hadi Hajaig, Puritan stars Nick Moran, Georgina Rylance, Pete Hodge, David Soul and Ralph Brown. Music is by Simon Lambros and cinematography is by Peter Ellmore.
Simon Puritan (Moran) is a medium in the East End of London. Tormented by the bad cards life has dealt him, he's become a alcoholic and battles with migraine headaches. When his latest client introduces him to Ann Bridges (Rylance), it spins his life onto another plane.
Low on budget it may be, but Hadi Hajaig's movie has style and atmosphere to burn. Though set in modern London, Hajaig pitches Simon Puritan into a Gothic flavoured world. It's world where the spectres of Jack the Ripper and Aleister Crowley dwell, where architecture is by Nicholas Hawksmoore. Then the director fills this eerie backdrop with shadows and filtered light, enhancing the blood reds and the deathly blacks for maximum impact. There's the distinct whiff of the supernatural as Puritan finds himself in classic film noir territory.
The plot is deliberately labyrinthine as intriguing characters wander in to further cloud Puritan's perception. Some of the means and motives of the main players are at first glance murky, but as the makers blend genres, as Simon tries to crawl out from what is now a vortex of crime and dishonesty, it pieces together with a devilish glint in its eye. Ambiguities are one of the film's strengths, they drag us the viewers into Simon's confused state of mind, whilst simultaneously keeping us hooked into this most interesting and visually stunning picture.
Performances are only OK and the sound mix is sadly poor at times, but I'm convinced this would be better known and rated if more fans of noir could see it. 8/10