Our film opens up with the camera homing in on various people who seems to be travelling from all over Europe to ultimately congregate somewhere in France, as three stretched limo's all pull up outside some huge lavish chateau in the French countryside, out of which alight a mixed bunch of nine different nationalities. At the same time, Eric Angstrom (Lambert Wilson), announces in a media conference that his publishing house has been granted the rights to publish the third book in a massively popular and best selling 'Dedalus' trilogy series. Following the international success of books one and two 'The Sting of Rebecca' and 'The Poisoned Kiss', this third title 'The Man Who Did Not Want To Die' by author Oscar Brach is keenly awaited and hotly anticipated the world over. The next step in the process is to have the heavily guarded manuscript translated in to multiple languages for a simultaneous worldwide release on the same day sometime in the first quarter of the following year.
And so arriving at the chateau there are nine translators from England, Russia, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, China and Greece. They are met and welcomed to their new hideaway home for the next two months by Rose-Marie Houeix (Sara Giraudeau), Angstrom's Assistant, who shows them the swimming pool, the ten pin bowling alley, where they'll eat with food provided by a five star chef, drink wine from the extensive cellar, and how each of the ensuite rooms is bigger than her apartment. However, each of the translators is to surrender their mobile phones, any recording devices or other technology, internet access is blocked, and there are to be no comings or goings from the chateau for the duration of their stay. They are in complete lockdown, shut off from the outside world. Their focus for the first month is to translate all four hundred or so pages of the manuscript and for the second month to review and fine tune their translations. For eleven hours a day they will work on their translations, surrounded by a stacked library full of reference books, all the while closely monitored by armed guards. They'll be done and home by Christmas.
And so the gang of nine settle down to their translation task at hand, and initially everything appears to go swimmingly. Progress is made, the group bond over dinner, and end up collectively singing 'What the World Needs Now, is Love Sweet Love', they swim, use the exercise equipment, and ten pin bowl together, while drinking wine and champagne. Then the next day, Angstrom receives a e-mail on his mobile phone stating that some undisclosed person has the first twenty pages of the manuscript which will be leaked online unless he pays up the ransom money of €5M within 24 hours. Immediately, the finger of suspicion points at one of the nine - for who else has had access to the manuscript, but how did they get it out, and who has the technology at hand to send out an e-mail of demands. Angstrom is none too pleased to say the very least, and immediately tasks his security detail to raid each room of the nine translators and turn it upside-down to uncover any clues as to the identity of the culprit. Beds and pillows are upturned and torn apart, minibar fridges are emptied all over the floor, and personal belongings are ransacked.
Needless to say, Angstrom calls the culprits bluff, and when the 24th hour clicks over, he has the team of nine stripped down to their underwear all lined up against a bookcase to see how one of the nine will send an e-mail while under such scrutiny. But under his watchful gaze, an e-mail is received saying that the next one hundred pages will now be released online and the ransom has now increased to €20M. He's furious of course and gradually the dynamic within the group begins to implode with fingers being pointed at likely suspects, nationalities are insulted, cultures questioned, the lights and heat are turned off and ultimately guns are raised and inevitably shots are fired.
The reveal comes about mid-way through in a fast forward sequence set in a police interview room, where Angstrom is asking questions of the perpetrator in an attempt to understand his/her motives. The latter half then reveals who the perpetrator is, how he/she made it work in flashback, and introduces us to the author George Fontaine (Patrick Bauchau), who publishes under the pseudonym Oscar Brach, who owns a small book store in some small coastal town in northern France. Again in flashback, we see Angstrom collecting the manuscript from Fontaine and initially the meeting is very civil, until Fontaine reveals that he is also courting other publishers and that he never signed an exclusive deal with Angstrom's publishing house anyway. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Fontaine.
We then go back to the chateau and phase two of the ransom deadline has now past, and Angstrom receives another e-mail saying that the next one hundred pages of the manuscript will be released online and the ransom has now increased to €80M. Out of desperation he orders his colleagues back at his publishing house to release the funds from his own account and to liquidate his stocks and shares to cover the ransom demand.
Fast forwarding to that same interview room with Angstrom wearing a hidden wire with the Police authorities intently listening in, the perpetrator comes clean as to his/her true identity, but very cleverly leans over to be right in Angstrom's face and places his hand on his chest so silencing the hidden microphone at that crucial moment. When he's done, he leans back in chair removing his hand just as Angstrom blurts out that he killed Fontaine, believing him to be the author, when all along it's the person sat opposite him. The Police burst in as Angstrom is straddling the perpetrator on the desk with his hands around their neck. Angstrom has got his comeuppance as a greedy manipulator of literary fortunes, and a murderer, and has lost all of his wealth in the process. And the real author walks free, job done as was his/her plan all along.
'The Translators' feels like something straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, except the usual super sleuth detective is here replaced by a somewhat nefarious publishing tycoon, and if you liked Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out' from last year, your sure to be suitably impressed by this whodunnit. The script is strong enough to keep you guessing right up until the ending with plenty of red herrings, twists, turns and jumps forwards and backwards in time to maintain the interest and make the 105 minute running time never leaving you wanting. For its reported fairly meagre US$10M budget, the production values are solid. The international cast give strong and convincing performances, albeit that some their back stories are barely touched upon which given the twelve principle characters here is hardly surprising really, but its a tough ask to become invested in a character when you know so little about them. This is a tense thrilling ride that goes off course just a little in the second act but reclaims that lost ground in the final act when the big reveal, the motives, and the back story all come together.
'The Translators' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
