Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Embalmer (2002)
Director: Matteo Garrone
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Odd, sporadically engrossing and finally almost appealing, this little film is about a young man who gets a job working with a diminutive, strangely charming taxidermist, only to discover that he does jobs for the Mob and can be very possessive, especially when the apprentice finds himself a girlfriend. It's intermittently amusing and unsettling, but the narrative can get wayward and the direction heavy-handed, with flashy shots hard to fathom in terms of precise relevance or import. However, the spirited performances by a charismatic cast make it watchable.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Matteo Garrone
Producer: Domenico Procacci
Cast: Ernesto Mahieux, Valerio Foglia Manzillo, Elisabetta Rocchetti full cast
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now