I saw Jon S. Baird's new film 'Filth' yesterday. It is based on a Irvine Welsh novel of the same name. The film stars James McAvoy, who delivers both his best performance and the best performance of 2014 thus far. I don't want to review this film. I want to talk about what it means, or at least what it means to me.
McAvoy's character, Bruce could be simply viewed as a corrupt cop and a royal ass. Part of this, is true. He is corrupt and he can be a royal ass, but this is a minor point in a much larger picture. As you may have seen in the trailers or if you've seen the film, Bruce is big on drugs, sex, manipulation and his obsessions. This is all true... Bruce is also a mentally unstable man. This is the area of the film that interested me the most.
'Filth' is essentially the tale of one man's decline into depression and madness. The film is a beautiful, heartbreaking character study of a man who appears to have untreated bipolar disorder. Bruce is a man with a good heart who has totally lost his way. The film begs a few questions. Could he get better if he chose to get help and take his medication? Another interesting aspect of the film is Bruce's past. Not only was he a mess due to his wife leaving him, he also lost his brother as a child.
Parts of the film are incredibly funny, mainly because they feel real. As outrageous as the film is, it is also hysterical. By the end of the film, those funny moments are actually heartbreaking because they are a perpetuation of this man's illness.
Baird has dropped us (the audience) into the mind of a man who can't get his issues together. In the process we laugh, gasp and, in the end, want to cry. James McAvoy makes us care deeply for a man that outwardly is filth, but because we feel like we are with him, we know he has good somewhere deep inside. The good in Bruce is what makes the film so brilliant. When Bruce shows his heart, opens up and informs us that he is a good man who needs help, we can't help but root for him.
Bruce states that the same rules apply to everyone. In reality, they don't apply to anyone, except him. Bruce created rules, obsessions and challenges because of loss, his illness and the darkness he lives in... Bruce is a broken man.
The brilliance of this film is that no one truly sees Bruce as filth except for Bruce. Bruce's rules are the the cage he has built for himself to hide from the world, to hide from his loss and it takes him deeper and deeper down a dark rabbit hole of madness.
In the end, 'Filth' is wickedly funny, dark, heartbreaking and truly a character study that is a cautionary tale about getting lost and the importance of getting help.
The film tells us that the same rules apply to all of us, and this is where 'Filth' thrives.
- George McCann
