A couple of Letterboxd reviews have talked about Domino being a sort of Redacted meets Passion, and there is definitely a bit of truth to that. Passion opens with our two main characters watching commercials on a laptop, discussing and critiquing, yet we never see what they see. Later on, one of them makes a commercial, and we see the result afterward as it is screened for corporate executives. There is a lot of that sort of thing in Domino, except in the new movie, instead of commercials, the genre is terrorist videos, which brings us back to the world of Redacted. Our two main cops in the new film are seen watching terrorist videos on a laptop, commenting on how they're shot and edited, using drones, etc. We are not watching with them, but simply watching them as they watch, the look of horror on their faces. Later on, we see the videos being made, and then the way they've been edited.

I could write a lot more about Domino, but let me end for now by saying that Domino takes place in the future: an intertitle near the start of the film tells us the date is June 10, 2020. An intertitle near the beginning of De Palma's Mission To Mars carries the date June 9, 2020. If that's not De Palma's idea of a cosmic joke, it's a split in the horizon, for sure.

"Somehow we managed to make a movie out of this completely chaotic production situation, and hopefully you'll be seeing it in your local cinemas sometime in the future." -Brian De Palma

James Slaymaker

DOMINO: A refraction of the thematic concerns of REDACTED filtered through the antiseptic, high-def DV sheen of PASSION. An exploration of modern warfare as a clash between panoptic/synoptic surveillance, based on a dichotomy between digital image monitoring devices as tools of oppression and tools of emancipation. Toxic notions of American exceptionalism pitted against idealistic ambitions towards multicultural cooperation.

****1/2 stars

This will show the world the destruction of the infidels."
"This will show the world your sacrifice."

"We're Americans. We read your emails."

Some of the most impressive shit Brian De Palma has ever shot. A continuation of the ideas and themes seeded in Redacted by way of Passion's aesthetic adventures. Definitely not the film it was originally supposed to be, but in a weird way the fragmented quality only makes it more intriguing. I pity the poor bastards who tried to market this as a straight action thriller.

****1/2 stars

CLEARLY compromised yet despite this still manages to be one of De Palma's best. Almost feel's like if an amazing director tried to make a thriller in the style of The Room, but as crazy as that sounds it fucking works. This film is pure camp combined with De Palma's masterful filmmaking. If we ever get his cut, it could truly be a perfect film.

PS: Features the greatest use of split screen in cinema.

Truly preposterous, bizarre movie. Plays as a satire/parody of political thrillers like Homeland almost because (in spite of?) the clear studio-mandated editing. Although the film was obviously compromised, the wacky plot developments reveal De Palma wildly indulging in his vintage trademarks: insane split screen POV massacre via laptop screen, a third act showdown almost told entirely in slow-motion, smoldering split diopter closeups, roaming overhead crane shots.

No star rating for this one because it’s not a finished movie. It’s agonizing to watch at times. There’s a fun rooftop chase that was pretty clearly temp tracked to the “Kidnapped” cue from NORTH BY NORTHWEST (which is amusing because the sequence is a riff on VERTIGO), but it plays like a walk-through. The bullfight finale is brilliantly conceived, but it feels like the money shots are missing. De Palma was forced to rush through principal photography due to shady behavior from his financiers, and isn’t doing press. I’m surprised he kept his name it. But if you’re a fan, it’s an interesting companion piece to REDACTED, as well as a politically radical inversion of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. What could’ve been...

**** stars

Whew. Clearly botched but still manages to be one of the most formally creative and impressive action/thrillers of the past few years. The final neon-drenched set-piece (mostly in slow motion) is truly something to behold.

****1/2 stars

90s De Palma with the political intrigue of Redacted. I’m glad this finally came out, this film is fantastic.

**** stars

holy mackerel

Only Brian De Palma would make a terrorism thriller in which he's most interested in their filmmaking methods. Hugely entertaining in spurts (mostly setpieces and high melodrama), if noticeably compromised elsewhere (transitional scenes and standard crime drama machinations). Another bombastic Pino Donaggio score layering nearly every moment and José Luis Alcaine's cinematography is a peculiar mix of buoyantly colorful and DTV-esque flatness. An I-can't-believe-he-did-this banger of an ending.

Raup's response echoes that of Austin critic Jacob Knight, who posted a two-and-a-half-star review on Letterboxd April 1st. Responding to a comment about "the 148 minute cut," Knight said, "I'm not sure where that runtime is being taken from (maybe the early test screenings that occurred before Berlinale?), but I'm definitely sure I wouldn't want to sit through almost 2.5 hours of this movie (oh, who am I kidding, if they released it, I'd watch it ASAP)." Despite feeling disappointed with Domino overall, Knight says a lot of good things about the movie in his review:

"We're Americans. We read your emails."

Ugh. This is a tough one.

De Palma has already stated in interviews that DOMINO was "underfunded", and that he spent most of his 100 days in Denmark/Holland/Spain/Italy waiting around in hotel rooms while the money men kept "lying", and even refused to pay certain crew members at the end of production. Out of those 100, he only shot for 30, and the finished product went back to the producers, who basically bungled it playing any fests and sold it to DTV distributor Saban Films, who are quietly releasing his take on Scandi Noir this May.

To be fair, the finished cut of DOMINO feels like an unfinished film, right down to the chintzy, placeholder-esque title card and lack of any cast or crew listings before we're thrown into a convoluted tale of two Copenhagen cops literally stumbling into a terrorist plot that claims one of their lives, and sends the other (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) on a quest for revenge. Along this crooked path, we also find a smarmy CIA man (Guy Pearce) who essentially uses the Euro dick's vengeance vector (FEMME FATALE's Eriq Ebouaney!) as a pawn in his own game to take down this terror cell. On paper, this actually sounds like meaty pulp that BDP could really sink his teeth into, concocting set pieces not too far removed from his pop cinema masterpiece, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

In classic De Palma fashion there are two straight up great set pieces. The first is the initial pursuit of Ebouaney's terror suspect across a rooftop, which evokes some serious VERTIGO vibes. The second is the finale at a bullfight being held at Spain's Plaza de Toros, which involves a drone, a suicide bomber dressed as a beer vendor, some binoculars, and Carice van Houten frantically searching for any way to stop an atrocity from happening. These are both wonderful fun, and when coupled with a masterful early set up scene (where we ominously descend upon a gun as two lovers embrace - BDP's own spin on Chekhov, I suppose), remind you that DOMINO could've only been made by one artist with a particular, peculiar set of fascinations. There's also a brilliant thread about how terrorist videos (both manifestos and beheading clips) play on human beings' morbid inclination toward voyeurism, that isn't fully fleshed out, but feels of a piece with the rest of his leering filmography.

Unfortunately, the rest is pretty poorly stitched together, barely running over 80 minutes (which could be a positive, depending on the viewer's own vantage point), with regular Almodovar cinematographer José Luis Alcaine's photography appearing oddly flat. Even Pino Donaggio's score - which is just as a brilliantly bombastic and beautiful as we've come to expect - can't lift the limp drama that occurs between these moments. It's a bummer, but a watchable bummer, making me hope that De Palma's book (ARE SNAKES NECESSARY?) eventually is translated into English (try as I may, I can't read French) and that someone gives him money to make PREDATOR (or anything else), ensuring that DOMINO is not the period at the end of my favorite filmmaker's sentence.

A day later, Jay Pothof, who has a small role as the son of Eriq Ebouaney's character in Domino, posted to his Instagram page a cropped frame from the movie's trailer (the full shot is below), with the message, "So so Proud...This is a still from the movie Domino, to be released very soon in the US. Director is Brian De Palma (legendary). I had the huge honor to have a role in this film. We went to Copenhagen for the taping. You can see me in the still in the upper right corner. Was a very intense scene."

"I think people often don't get me," Gholamalizad says about acting. "I am very gentle, but I am always asked for extreme roles. In the new Swedish series Stockholm Requiem I play an Israeli-Palestinian double agent whose child is murdered. I had to play a very emotional scene in Hebrew, in the middle of the night at minus ten degrees. In Brian De Palma's movie Domino, I play a suicide bomber. That is actually the film in which Mourade Zeguendi did not, on principle, want to play. I also struggled with it myself. I have no problem playing a terrorist, such roles are sometimes more interesting than good women roles. But then the story must be good. If it is only told to confirm cliches and to contribute to the heroic acts of a white protagonist, then I ask myself enormous questions. I am not afraid to play people with a color or other origin, but I want those roles to be three-dimensional and flesh and blood."

Do I hear that right, Brian De Palma? The man behind Mission: Impossible, Scarface and The Untouchables? How did you manage that?
HENRARD: “He needed an actress for a certain scene in his latest movie Domino, but he couldn't find the ideal girl. Suddenly I received a phone call a few weeks ago: 'Ella-June, we're looking for an actress and you're the perfect person. It's for a Brian De Palma movie.' At first I had to reject the offer because I was too busy, but because they insisted, I accepted it anyway. I swallowed. I was going to start filming with the Brian De Palma. I was already stressed when I thought about it. (laughs) But it was just a small roll, though. We did two nights of filming."

Has he really directed you? Or did his assistant do that?
HENRARD: “I did not expect it either, but it was De Palma himself who gave me directions on the set. After a few bloody shots I had to be brushed up. Suddenly someone from the production came to me. 'Would you like to come to Brian's tent?' she asked. I thought, 'Oh no, he thinks I'm bad.' I was also quite nervous. And nice and uncomfortable, dressed in a giant dress with a trail. So I went to his tent with a little heart. 'Hi Brian!' I squeaked. 'Come in, darling. I just want to tell you that you're doing a very good job. Thank you,' he said. When I came back out of his tent again, I thought to myself, 'Okay, little ego-boost, yes!' (laughs) It was really just very nice."

Makes it a lot more difficult, looking up at someone like that and consequently being a lot more nervous...
HENRARD: “Absolutely. And I know that nerves can hinder me very much. I am a fairly easy going type by nature, but at such moments the stress takes over. You hear, 'Ella wanted on the set.' And then he explains this and that. 'Oh, fuck, what did he say again?' I begin to stress. Anyway, it was an action scene, so there was probably a lot of adrenaline flowing through my body. As a result, the stress was not so obvious. But it was really an exciting experience."

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