Filmmaker Jonathan Glazer is on his own journey. He started with commercials and music videos, but even among the artists that came out of that background his were unique. (Karma Police, Rabbit in Your Headlights, Virtual Insanity) All his movies are from this century, but he’s only made four starting with Sexy Beast. At a time when crime films were “post-Tarantino” and British crime films already had Guy Ritchie’s spin, Glazer made something that fit those molds in terms of marketing but very much had an original voice. Arresting visuals, starting with a scene of a boulder rolling downhill into a swimming pool, standout needle drops (“Peaches”), and eventually stellar performances by Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and Ben Kingsley. It didn’t have the shocking bloody violence of recent crime films, but instead had a verbal violence, including harsh language that actually felt harsh. The heist isn’t the point, it’s the tension of getting a retired crook to come out for one last job. Everything about Sexy Beast was vaguely familiar yet totally new.
Of course, Glazer has a Producing partner (James Wilson) and he’s worked with Composer Peter Raeburn on everything except The Zone of Interest, but his main working (and personal) relationship is with Rachael Penfold, who heads up the Visual Effects Department on all of his films. In 2004, Penfold co-founded London visual effects studio One of Us alongside Dominic Parker and Tom Debenham. The company won Special, Visual & Graphics Effects at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards for their work on Season 2 of The Witcher. Some of their recent work includes The Matrix Revolutions and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
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