Hossein Amini

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The Two Faces of January

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film
Producer Tom Sternberg Starring
  • Kirsten Dunst
  • Oscar Isaac
  • Viggo Mortensen
    •  
    Distributor Studio Canal Production Company Working Title

    Set in the early 60s, Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst play a glamorous American couple, Chester McFarland and his wife Colette, who befriend Oscar Isaac's tour-guide-cum-scam-artist, Ryland, while on holiday in Athens.

    Quickly entangled in Chester's sinister criminal activities, Ryland soon becomes infatuated with Colette, setting him on the path to a breath-taking showdown in the streets of Istanbul.

    Reviews

    Amini gets such terrific work from the three of them, and from his enviable crew, that you have to say that he’s passed the first-feature test with flying colours. Tim Robey
    The Telegraph

    Amini makes a strong directing bow Deborah Young
    The Hollywood Reporter

    Amini skilfully sets the pace and the mood, not only paying homage to traditional film noir but to classical Greek tragedy as well, adding a final poignant note to release the tension
     Stella Papamichael
    Digital Spy     Full Review

    it has an unhurried, louche air about it that gives way to claustrophobia as it starts to get its clammy hands around your neck Dave Calhoun
    Time Out

    A superior directorial debut for a smart, literate screenwriter delivers both first-class character drama and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Angie Errigo
    Empire

    "a pleasurable throwback to the character-driven thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock...Amini directs with elegance and subtlety." Henry Fitzherbert
    Daily Express

    The Two Faces of January

    "This adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel is a crisp cruel thriller...an exceptionally handsome production"

     Wendy Ide
    The Times     Full Review

    The Two Faces Of January, film review: A slick seduction by the talented Mr Amini
     "Amini captures brilliantly that strange, queasy mix of seaminess and elegance that characterises Highsmith's crime stories" Geoffrey MacNab
    The Independent     Full Review

    "Compelling as a 1960s conman - and sizzling as a 19th-century lothario. Rising star Oscar Isaac shows he can do the lot…Moodily atmospheric thriller…First time Director Hossein Amini - does a splendid job of evoking Greece in the early sixties" Brian Viner
    The Daily Mail

    "Strong performances, attractive locations and the taut story delivers the goods" Alan Frank
    The Daily Star

    "this period thriller has a lot in common with The Talented Mr Ripley: the fluid identities; the cream linen suits; Wayfarer sunglasses and cigarettes; the mix of European grandeur and Hollywood glamour, and the way the sunny locals throw the characters' motives into relief." Laurence Phelan
    The Independent

    "This is the first feature film both penned and directed by Hossein Amini (the writer of Nicholas Winding-Refn's Drive) and he skillfully carries the audience with him all the way." Jenny McCartney
    The Sunday Telegraph

    "This directorial debut from writer Hossein Amini is...handsomely mounted...beautifully photographed by Marcel Zyskind, gorgeously dressed by Steve Noble, and well played by the central trio, whose shifting motivations and increasingly paranoid allegiances remain a matter of intrigue." Mark Kermode
    Observer

    "there is much to savour in the fabulous location work, intelligent writing and Marcel Zyskind's excuisite cinematography. Amini directs with elegance and subtlety." Matthew Bond
    Sunday Express

    "Strong performances tease out the humour from the deft dialogue, while the plotting is finely crafted." Chris Hunneysett
    Sunday People

    Mr. Amini adds embellishing details and plot layers, hints at a grave Oedipal disturbance, turns up the sexual heat and smoothly increases the narrative torque. He keeps you guessing about the twists and turns but also about the strange kinks of character Manohla Dargis
    New York Times

    Amini has a powerful acting triumvirate in Mortensen, Dunst and Isaac to help him deal with capricious nature of this particular tangled web. Betsy Sharkey
    LA Times

    Amini handles the mythological subtext of the story with seductive skill. You can’t help being drawn in. Peter Travers
    Rolling Stone

    Color it mesmerizing Rex Reed
    New York Observer

    Patricia Highsmith provides the plot and writer-director Hossein Amini supplies the culture in THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY, a gripping old-school suspenser.

     Peter Debruge
    Variety

    Screenwriter Hossein Amini makes a strong directing bow with psychological thrilled adapted from Patricia Highsmith.

     Deborah Young
    The Hollywood Reporter

    Amini excels at conveying the subtle, unspoken tensions between characters, selecting a tightrope-risky example with which to make his directorial debut and orchestrating it with aplomb Peter Debruge
    Variety

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