Music director and critic Yuji Shibasaki highlights that “Medusa Deluxe” not only pays homage to disco culture through its music but also through its visual techniques and overall spirit.
What is the relationship between the tense crime suspense and disco? This is the seventh installment of the series “The Music Selection Creates the Movie.
This article contains descriptions of the contents of the film.
INDEX
A Mystery Film Shot Almost Entirely in a Single Take
A town in northwestern England. Mosca, a star hairdresser, is found dead at a hair design contest held once a year. When the model in charge of her hair left the room, someone slaughtered her. Strangely enough, the scalp was cut off the body.
“Medusa Deluxe” is a mystery that revolves around this shocking case. Rival hair designers, models, contest organizers, and a mysterious security guard ……. Each of the characters is a suspect, filled with suspicion and hinting at some connection to Mosca’s death. As the story progresses, complex relationships and surprising facts emerge. The various points of view become convoluted, and suspicions are hurled at each other. In the tradition of labyrinthine mystery / suspense, the story unfolds in a gripping manner.
The film’s visual challenge is also noteworthy. Almost the entire film is shot in long takes, and the camera moves around the locations while following each character in real time, giving the viewer a sense of tension and realism as if he or she were present at the scene of the crime.
The meticulous and daring camerawork by Robby Ryan, cinematographer of such masterpieces as “Her Majesty’s Favorite” (2018), “Marriage Story” (2019), and “Come on, Come on” (2021), is a perfect example of the “one-shot” (including the pseudo ones) that is back in fashion these days. This is an outstanding work even among the “one-shot” cinematography that is once again in vogue.
As in the setting of the film, the hair design is also striking. Eugene Suleiman, known as one of the most creative hairstylists of his generation, has created a visual identity that makes the film uniquely individual.
The talent of director/screenwriter Thomas Hardiman in putting together these idiosyncratic productions should also be commended. He is a promising new director who has built his career in the film and television industry and makes his feature debut with this film.
