interpret this

nicole kidman is The Interpreter, and she turns in one of her better performances. sean penn definitely makes his secret service agent character very three-dimensional. the story is set in NYC, with kidman working as a translator in the UN.. she was born in a fictional african country and grew up there, before civil war led her to move out. this film is a sydney pollack special, with his regular slow yet constant paced murder thriller.

the whole plot backdrop bears a more than passing resemblance to the story of several african nations today.. the senile dictators, the strife-torn countries, the dysfunctional loyalties, and the issue i identify with the most.. the politics of skin colour - what is it really like growing up in africa and being non-black skinned.

don't dig too deep behind the sheen, this is not that intelligent a movie.. but it is definitely better than the regular hollywood fare.. worth the ticket definitely! i leave you with a closing thought, also from the film: "According to custom, if a man kills a member of your family and is captured, he is tied up and thrown into the river, and it is up to your family to save him, or let him drown. If he drowns, you will have vengeance, but you will grieve all of your days. If you save him, you will be released from your lament. Vengeance is a lazy form of grief." - what do you think?