The Interpreter -- October 2005

AT THE UN

One current movie worth your time and money is director Sidney Lumet’s The Interpreter, which has been out for a few months but is still playing in some theaters and is available on video or DVD. Starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, The Interpreter is the first picture ever to be filmed on United Nations premises. Kidman plays Sylvia, a youngish American woman who was raised in the fictional southern African country of Matobo. She is fluent in Ku, the native language of the country, and works at the UN as a simultaneous translator. Here’s the plot: Alone in her office at the UN one night, Sylvia overhears the details of an assassination plot. In so doing, however, she reveals herself to the conspirators, putting herself in grave danger. Penn plays Tobin, the Secret Service agent in charge of protecting Ku’s president, the person scheduled to be assassinated. Tobin and Sylvia of course meet and get to know each other.

On the Plus Side:
The film gives us fascinating views of both the UN and the activities that go on there. The action is exciting, and the principals give good performances, especially Penn. Most interestingly, the film speaks to the question of directionality in our lives. Which is better: to start off well and decline, or to start off poorly and improve? Scripture is full of examples of individuals who began well with the Lord but then went bad and moved away from him. II Chronicles 15-17, for example, recounts the reign of King Asa of Judah, who began well and made many reforms. Eventually, however, Asa ceased to depend on the Lord and relied on foreign alliances. The Lord became angry with him and afflicted him with a disease of his feet. As the author, presumably Ezra, tells us, “Yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.” In The Interpreter, the analogues of Biblical personages like Asa are political leaders who begin as reformers and bearers of light but end up corrupted.

On the Minus Side:
The plot is a little too clever and convoluted for its own good. After we’ve spent two-thirds of the movie trying to figure out what’s happening and deciding whom to root for, the film turns things upside down and telescopes the resolution of the conflict much too quickly. It reminded me of books by authors such as Jules Verne who get their characters into situations they can’t easily get them out of. Beyond this, The Interpreter is a worldly movie that extols the virtues of human efforts — i.e., works. No credit seems to be given to God at all. Instead, Sylvia espouses the viewpoint that the highest endeavor in life is to try to act morally and work for good. Without the Lord’s guidance, however, little good will ultimately be accomplished.

Bottom Line: Worth seeing, provocative in some ways.

Film Rating: PG-13
My Rating: 3 stars.