R.I.P. John Hurt: 4 Films to Seek Out
When it comes to the subject of celebrity tributes, we're not the grieving type here at B&S. Of course, it's sad when anyone dies, but unless there's a real and personal connection, we find it somewhat frivolous to see the wave of crying emojis across social media after an actor, musician, etc. passes away. However, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging a life well lived and a legendary career in artistic pursuit; John Hurt more than fits that description. An eccentric, charismatic man, he was the consummate 'character actor': rarely the lead, but always imbuing the supporting cast with memorable and cherished roles. He found a new generation of fans with his turns in the Harry Potter and Hellboy series, and older moviegoers will always remember The Elephant Man and Alien. Here are four John Hurt movies you might have missed.
THE SHOUT (1978)
A slow-burning psychological horror/thriller, not unlike the excellent Nicolas Roeg vehicle Don't Look Now, Hurt plays a husband whose wife falls under the spell of a mysterious man who possesses, among other mental powers, an inhuman and destructive scream. While it ostensibly sounds kind of goofy, the lead performances are all incredibly convincing. In addition, an unnerving electronic/avant-garde music score comprised of more than forty different tracks winds its way throughout the film, giving an extra layer of unease to a type of movie that, yes, 'they just don't make any more'.
THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND (1983)
Based on a Robert Ludlum novel, this was as 'Cold War thriller' as you could get in the Eighties. Hurt co-stars with an impressive ensemble cast for a tense, galvanizing film. The established tropes of Soviet/Communist paranoia and government mistrust is given an additional angle: how much do you really know your friends, and who can you really believe? The Osterman Weekend also has the distinction of being the great Sam Peckinpah's last movie, ultra-violence and brooding masculinity still fully intact.
THE HIT (1984)
Filmed right before Hurt's starring turn in the iconic 1984, the sunburned nihilism in The Hit comes across like a right hook. Filmed mostly in the unforgiving highlands of Aragon, Spain, The Hit is a road movie wrapped in a crime movie with a nasty dark humor permeating the proceedings. Hurt and a young Tim Roth are hitmen escorting a gangster (the always enjoyable Terence Stamp) back to London for retribution; of course, things go sideways. The plot is simple and has been done in countless other movies, but the performances are the real selling point here.
44 INCH CHEST (2009)
Another film full of incredible talent, 44 Inch Chest is so British it could knock your teeth crooked. Hurt is Old Man Peanut, a vulgar, aging gangster that can't speak a sentence without cursing, called to aid his friend/fellow criminal (Ray Winstone) whose wife has had an affair with some young nobody. They find the guy, grab him, but the rest is not quite that easy. This is from the same writing team that did Sexy Beast, one of Blood & Spirit's favorite movies of the last twenty years, so there was no way this wouldn't make the short list.
