Neil Scott

I’m starting to think that lovefilm.com is trying to civilize me. Despite having trashy films like Enchanted and I Am Legend at the top of my list, it keeps sending me the more edifying titles like 3-Iron. Now, I loved Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter . . . Spring but I seem to have some kind of mental block when it comes to foreign films. It’s interesting — how do we know what we like? If it is based on past experience, why do I shirk from films similar to the ones I really like. Do I like things that are rich in meaning or just those that are easy to digest.

I suspect that I treat cinema as escapism, hoping that the characters depicted accord with my sense of who I am. Since watching Shooter, my internal representation of who I am appears to be most close to Mark Wahlberg. I am quite tempted by The Happening, despite knowing all the twists.

Anyhow, the central conceit of 3-iron is to have a protagonist who doesn’t speak throughout the entire film. He is a young man who lives vicariously in the home of people who are away on holiday. He performs small interventions, fixing things and washing clothes and performing quiet anthropology. It is fascinating — reminding me of Christopher Nolan’s first film, Following.

The situation changes when he goes to a house of a man whose battered wife is crying in the bedroom. She then follows the young man and is silent just like him. After this, a more traditional dramatic plot ensues during which the chap retains his silence. It is a miraculous achievment in the film and so compelling to watch.

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