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Ronin (1998)

Rating: 6 out of 10

John Frankenheimer’s long-awaited comeback into the world of the challenging thriller (in the tradition of his successful 52 Pick-Up (1986), The French Connection II (1975) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962)) does, in many ways, live up to its expectations. Certainly, Ronin’s plot demands that the audience make a concerted departure from reality in order to ignore the unfeasibility of the protagonists’ situation. Regardless, Frankenheimer, editor Antony Gibbs and Robert Fraisse, the film’s cinematographer, have created a stylish, adrenaline-pumping action thriller.

The film’s title refers to a label placed on masterless Samurai warriors from Japan’s feudal age, and the film contains a number of references to man’s universal warrior tradition. A clash between Sam (Robert DeNiro) and Seamus (Jonathan Pryce), for example, takes place in an ancient arena that recalls both the Roman gladiators of old and Bruce Lee’s conflict of ideology with Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon (1973). The film’s key players are a collection of modern-day warriors of virtue. The unique skills that each individual brings to the group are as diverse as their countries of origin, though most share the bond of having graduated a high-grade national intelligence agency. And so establishes the potential internal battle of intellects and elite talents that is eventually revealed in just one sequence – that in which DeNiro out-wits Larry (Skip Sudduth), the armoury expert. Still, the raw intelligence and dedication to duty that each member exudes is sufficient at many points to raise the film’s intensity into the realm of unpredictable fragility.

Undoubtedly the film’s most affecting sequence involves an injured DeNiro in a Rambo-esque primal emergency medical practice. With a bullet imbedded in his side, De Niro is forced at one point to use a mirror to guide his trusted companion Vincent (Jean Reno) through the process of removing the teflon-coated shrapnel, while under no anaesthesia. In one of the film’s most stylish moments, the operation concludes with DeNiro appraising the bullet before coolly remarking "Do you think you can stitch it up be yourself? Good. I’d like to pass out now."

It could easily be argued that De Niro’s character would be unlikely to pass out in the presence of any other member of the group, though he shares an intangible bond with Vincent – one which is consumated visually when Reno ascends the same flight of stairs at the film’s finale that De Niro descended at its beginning. This parallel essentally suggests that while the pair’s destinations vary, they both wander the same path. Similar to Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, De Niro’s Sam is essentially a poetic vindicator. He is this group’s Ronin.

While the plot involving the pursuit of a mysterious suitcase (ala Pulp Fiction (1994)) may act as a vehicle to connect a series of maniacal hyper-kinetic action set pieces, Frankenheimer does deliver when it counts. The film’s two main car chase sequences, as clichéd a concept as it sounds, represent two of the most visceral, heart-pounding action sequences ever filmed. The second chase in particular, which takes in a great deal of the European urban landscape, is a five-minute heart-stopper including multiple crashes, side-swipes, kamikaze runs down the wrong side of the road and failures to indicate, all culminating in a gun shot that catalyses the explosion of a fuel tank. Frankenheimer has treated this dubious element with a genuine flair and originality that breathes new life into the process. The second chase also brought a large degree of unfavorable attention to the film prior to its release due to its chillingly familiar portrayal of a high-speed chase through a Parisian tunnel in which the lead car almost collides with the center beams. The sequence was, though, reportedly filmed before the Diana tragedy.

An element that raises Ronin above the average action thriller is its dynamic, yet controlled cinematography and staging. Fraisse has juxtaposed hyper-real action sequences against deceptively affecting social realist staging. Apart from the film’s tremendously emotional background score, which is dominated by the bass register, Ronin’s stylistic elements infer a coldness and a simplicity typical of great social realist constructions. Lacking the expressionistic lighting, slow motion and over-the-top performances typical of Hollywood action, Ronin maintains a tone that is cool, subdued and grey, giving its mise-en-scene a gritty, European urban quality to complement its romantic setting.

Stylistically, narratively and formally, Ronin stands as one of Frankenheimer’s greatest efforts of this decade, redeeming his disastrous The Island of Dr Moreau (1996). And while flawed in its lack of a multi-layered, twisting plot that is the hallmark of the thriller genre, a determined attention to detail, and a gritty, stylish mise-en-scene framing a solid cast elevates Ronin to an action success.

Review written by Joshua Smith, 1998.

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