Felicia's Journey (DVD)

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I treated myself recently to a double feature of two separate Artisan releases, both low-key affairs about serial killers, "Felicia's Journey" and "The Minus Man." They make fascinating comparison viewing. Both films present the idea that evil may lurk in the most innocuous surroundings, that just under the placid surface of every community lies the face of horror. It's an idea that has been done before, notably in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet"; but of the two films I watched, it's "Felicia's Journey" that I'm sure I'll remember the longest. It projects a coldly composed, alarming, yet singularly humorous quality that few thrillers even attempt.

Its screenwriter and director is Atom Egoyan, who did "The Sweet Hereafter" so effectively. He is obviously a filmmaker who is more interested in what goes on inside a character's head than what the character actually does. So this is not a conventional action thriller. Like "The Minus Man," it is a subtle, psychological thriller.

Bob Hoskins stars, an actor who is capable of playing everything from broad comedy ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "The Super Mario Brothers") to heavy drama ("The Long Good Friday," "Mona Lisa"). Here, he is called upon to play Hilditch, the catering manager of a cafeteria for a large, English industrial factory. Hilditch takes great pride in his work. He cares that the workers are provided real, palatable food. He appears to be a kind, generous man, always soft spoken and elegantly dressed. Our first clue that he may be something other than what he seems is that he lives in a large country estate, clearly well above his means. Then we notice his hobby, his obsession with food, and his constantly watching video tapes of a fifties cooking show hosted by a woman named Gala. He has a whole room full of boxes upon boxes of the woman's brand of old electric mixers. In a kind of weird homage to "Psycho," Gala turns out to have been his mother, a woman who never showed him any serious affection in life, and now after her death a woman who continues to cook with her son every night via tape.

Into Hilditch's life steps Felicia, a young, seventeen-year-old Irish girl (Elaine Cassidy) who has come to England looking for her boyfriend, who has supposedly gone there looking for work. She is pregnant with his child, and he has left no forwarding address. In the course of events, Felicia and Hilditch meet and strike up a friendship, Hilditch offering to help the girl find her lover. At this point, we learn the disturbing truth about Hilditch. Over the years he has struck up friendships with many young girls, young troubled girls, all of whom subsequently disappeared.

Hilditch is a quiet, gentle monster. Unlike the main character in "The Minus Man," Hilditch's actions are accounted for by multiple clues and motivations provided by writer-director Egoyan. We see that Hilditch collects stuff, tapes, photographs, record albums, and young women. We see that he is lonely--very, very lonely; that he makes friends with women as troubled as he is; and that when they want to leave, well, he just can't allow that.