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The Oxford Murders (film)
Encyclopedia
The Oxford Murders is a 2008 film directed by Álex de la Iglesia
. This thriller film is adapted from the novel of the same name
by the Argentine
mathematician
and writer Guillermo Martínez
. The film stars Elijah Wood
, John Hurt
and the Spanish actress Leonor Watling
.
It is 1993. Wood
plays Martin, an American student at the University of Oxford
who wants Arthur Seldom (Hurt
) as his thesis supervisor. He idolises Seldom and has learned all about him. He takes rooms in Oxford at the house of an old lady, Mrs. Eagleton (Anna Massey
), who is an old friend of Seldom. Also in the house is the old lady's daughter, Beth (Julie Cox
), who is her full time caregiver — which she resents bitterly — and a musician by occupation.
In a public lecture, Seldom quotes Wittgenstein's
Tractatus
to deny the possibility of absolute truth. Hoping to impress his idol, Martin disputes this, asserting his faith in the absolute truth of mathematics: "I believe in the number pi
." Seldom humiliates him, ridiculing his arguments and making him look foolish in front of the audience. Disillusioned, Martin decides to abandon his studies and goes to his office to collect his belongings. There, he encounters his office-mate, a bitter mathematician Podorov (Burn Gorman
), who also failed to become a student of Seldom's.
Martin then returns to his residence, where he finds Seldom arriving to visit Mrs. Eagleton. The two men enter the house together and find Martin's landlady murdered. Seldom tells the police that he had received a note with his friend's address marked as "the first of a series". As Seldom is an authority on logical series, he argues that a serial killer is using murder as a way to challenge his intelligence. According to Seldon, "The only perfect crime that exists is not the one that remains unsolved, but the one which is solved with the wrong culprit."
Martin and Seldom discuss how easily the murder of the old lady might have been overlooked, particularly as she already suffered from terminal cancer, and Martin suggests that the murderer is committing 'imperceptible murders' - meaning that the killer is choosing victims who are already dying therefore meaning that the police would be less likely to suspect foul play.
Martin, Seldom and Lorna (Leonor Watling
), a Spanish nurse with whom Martin has struck up a relationship, try to solve
the mathematical clues as the murders continue. They have to contend with police suspicion, a rising body count and tensions between the three of them. There is a wide range of suspects, from the three principal characters to the mathematician and the old lady's daughter. The solution lies in the mathematical concepts, but there are many twists along the way as Martin learns the truths behind reality.
, circle
s, the Vesica Piscis
, the possibility of perfect crime
, Fermat's Last Theorem
and its proof by Professor Wiles
, the Taniyama conjecture, the tetraktys and the Pythagoreans. There are references, also, of the Butterfly effect
.
or mathematics
. Contrary to what Seldom states in his lecture at the beginning of the film, the argument of Wittgenstein's Tractatus
does not actually proceed by the use of equations (with the exception of a few simple equations in Wittgenstein's introduction of the truth tables) and it is not expressed in the formal language of mathematical logic; the argument is rather a philosophical argument expressed in normal, albeit idiosyncratic, language. Professor Andrew Wiles
, who solved Fermat's Last Theorem, is represented as "Professor Wilkes" of Cambridge University in the film, and Fermat's Last Theorem is represented as "Bormat's Last Theorem".
The film is a Spanish-British-French production directed by Spanish Álex de la Iglesia
. Before the confirmation of Elijah Wood
in the film, the Mexican actor Gael García Bernal
had been considered for the role of the mathematics student. There were some weeks of speculation on who would play the lead. On 26 December 2006 Tornasol Films announced that Wood was cast in the lead role. The director Alex de la Iglesia
commented that he convinced Wood to accept the role for the script. De la Iglesia also praised Wood: "I'm delighted to work with Elijah, who undoubtedly has the most powerful eyes in the industry and who is perfect for the part".
British actor John Hurt
was cast in the role of a professor of the university, who helps the young student in his quest to try to stop a series of murders. Actor Michael Caine
had been considered for this role.
De la Iglesia described daily in his blog the peculiar situations that happened during the production of the film. The film is his first foray outside his typical black comedy genre into more dramatic fare.
Filming began on 22 January 2007 and finished on 24 March, with locations in Oxford
and the Cast Courts
of the Victoria and Albert Museum
of London.
, opening on 25 April 2008, and had a DVD release in the UK on 1 September 2008. However in the US, it was not picked up for release until 2010, with VOD
set for 2 July 2010 and also theatres on 6 August 2010, distributed by Magnolia Pictures
.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film were released on October 5, 2010.
, wrote that despite the fact that "there were plenty of talented people involved", the film had a "clunky script" and was "just plain boring, from beginning to end". Jonathan Holland from Variety
was less critical, calling the film a "polished but verbose whodunit", though he found fault with the dialogue and the romantic subplot. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a rating of 10%.
Álex de la Iglesia
Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, film producer and former comic book artist.Most of De La Iglesia's films reached cult status due to their weird sense of humour.- Biography :...
. This thriller film is adapted from the novel of the same name
The Oxford Murders (novel)
The Oxford Murders is a novel by the Argentine author Guillermo Martínez, first published in 2003. There is a 2005 translation by Sonia Soto....
by the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and writer Guillermo Martínez
Guillermo Martínez
Guillermo Martínez is an Argentine novelist and short story writer.Martínez was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. He gained a PhD in mathematical logic at the University of Buenos Aires....
. The film stars Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
, John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
and the Spanish actress Leonor Watling
Leonor Watling
Leonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling is an award-winning Spanish film actress and singer.-Early life:Watling was born in Madrid, Spain to a Spanish father and a British mother, and has three siblings, with whom she speaks English. Her father died when she was a teenager.When she was a child, she...
.
Plot
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
plays Martin, an American student at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
who wants Arthur Seldom (Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
) as his thesis supervisor. He idolises Seldom and has learned all about him. He takes rooms in Oxford at the house of an old lady, Mrs. Eagleton (Anna Massey
Anna Massey
Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
), who is an old friend of Seldom. Also in the house is the old lady's daughter, Beth (Julie Cox
Julie Cox
Julie Cox is an English-Scottish actress perhaps best known for her role as Princess Irulan in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 Dune miniseries and its 2003 follow-up, Children of Dune....
), who is her full time caregiver — which she resents bitterly — and a musician by occupation.
In a public lecture, Seldom quotes Wittgenstein's
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
Tractatus
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length philosophical work published by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. It was an ambitious project: to identify the relationship between language and reality and to define the limits of science...
to deny the possibility of absolute truth. Hoping to impress his idol, Martin disputes this, asserting his faith in the absolute truth of mathematics: "I believe in the number pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
." Seldom humiliates him, ridiculing his arguments and making him look foolish in front of the audience. Disillusioned, Martin decides to abandon his studies and goes to his office to collect his belongings. There, he encounters his office-mate, a bitter mathematician Podorov (Burn Gorman
Burn Gorman
Burn Hugh Gorman is an American-born English actor and musician. Burn is best known for his roles as Owen Harper in Torchwood and as William Guppy in Bleak House.-Personal life:...
), who also failed to become a student of Seldom's.
Martin then returns to his residence, where he finds Seldom arriving to visit Mrs. Eagleton. The two men enter the house together and find Martin's landlady murdered. Seldom tells the police that he had received a note with his friend's address marked as "the first of a series". As Seldom is an authority on logical series, he argues that a serial killer is using murder as a way to challenge his intelligence. According to Seldon, "The only perfect crime that exists is not the one that remains unsolved, but the one which is solved with the wrong culprit."
Martin and Seldom discuss how easily the murder of the old lady might have been overlooked, particularly as she already suffered from terminal cancer, and Martin suggests that the murderer is committing 'imperceptible murders' - meaning that the killer is choosing victims who are already dying therefore meaning that the police would be less likely to suspect foul play.
Martin, Seldom and Lorna (Leonor Watling
Leonor Watling
Leonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling is an award-winning Spanish film actress and singer.-Early life:Watling was born in Madrid, Spain to a Spanish father and a British mother, and has three siblings, with whom she speaks English. Her father died when she was a teenager.When she was a child, she...
), a Spanish nurse with whom Martin has struck up a relationship, try to solve
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
the mathematical clues as the murders continue. They have to contend with police suspicion, a rising body count and tensions between the three of them. There is a wide range of suspects, from the three principal characters to the mathematician and the old lady's daughter. The solution lies in the mathematical concepts, but there are many twists along the way as Martin learns the truths behind reality.
Mathematical and philosophical references
The characters debate several mathematical, physical and philosophical concepts such as logical series, Wittgenstein's rule-following paradox, Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty, Gödel's TheoremGödel's theorem
Gödel's theorem may refer to:*Gödel's incompleteness theorems*Gödel's completeness theorem*Gödel's speedup theorem...
, circle
Circle
A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius....
s, the Vesica Piscis
Vesica piscis
The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the "bladder of a fish" in Latin...
, the possibility of perfect crime
Perfect crime
Perfect crime is a colloquial term used in law and fiction to characterize crimes that are undetected, unattributed to a perpetrator, or else unsolved as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator....
, Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two....
and its proof by Professor Wiles
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, specializing in number theory...
, the Taniyama conjecture, the tetraktys and the Pythagoreans. There are references, also, of the Butterfly effect
Butterfly effect
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state...
.
Artistic licence
"Logic series" is not actually an established topic in mathematical logicMathematical logic
Mathematical logic is a subfield of mathematics with close connections to foundations of mathematics, theoretical computer science and philosophical logic. The field includes both the mathematical study of logic and the applications of formal logic to other areas of mathematics...
or mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Contrary to what Seldom states in his lecture at the beginning of the film, the argument of Wittgenstein's Tractatus
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length philosophical work published by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. It was an ambitious project: to identify the relationship between language and reality and to define the limits of science...
does not actually proceed by the use of equations (with the exception of a few simple equations in Wittgenstein's introduction of the truth tables) and it is not expressed in the formal language of mathematical logic; the argument is rather a philosophical argument expressed in normal, albeit idiosyncratic, language. Professor Andrew Wiles
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, specializing in number theory...
, who solved Fermat's Last Theorem, is represented as "Professor Wilkes" of Cambridge University in the film, and Fermat's Last Theorem is represented as "Bormat's Last Theorem".
Cast
- Elijah WoodElijah WoodElijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
as Martin, an American student - John HurtJohn HurtJohn Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
as Arthur Seldom, a British authority on logical series - Leonor WatlingLeonor WatlingLeonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling is an award-winning Spanish film actress and singer.-Early life:Watling was born in Madrid, Spain to a Spanish father and a British mother, and has three siblings, with whom she speaks English. Her father died when she was a teenager.When she was a child, she...
as Lorna, a Spanish nurse - Julie CoxJulie CoxJulie Cox is an English-Scottish actress perhaps best known for her role as Princess Irulan in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 Dune miniseries and its 2003 follow-up, Children of Dune....
as Beth Eagleton, a musician, daughter of Mrs. Eagleton - Dominique PinonDominique PinonDominique Pinon is a French actor whose most famous roles have been in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Jacques Beineix. In the theatre, he has appeared in the plays of Gildas Bourdet, Jorge Lavelli and Valère Novarina...
as Frank, father of an ill girl waiting for an organ transplantOrgan transplantOrgan transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be... - Burn GormanBurn GormanBurn Hugh Gorman is an American-born English actor and musician. Burn is best known for his roles as Owen Harper in Torchwood and as William Guppy in Bleak House.-Personal life:...
as Yuri Ivanovich Podorov, a crank mathematician - Jim Carter as Inspector Petersen
- Anna MasseyAnna MasseyAnna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
as Mrs. Julia Eagleton, Martin's landlady and Seldom's friend - Alex CoxAlex CoxAlexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
as Kalman, a demented mathematician
Production
Álex de la Iglesia
Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, film producer and former comic book artist.Most of De La Iglesia's films reached cult status due to their weird sense of humour.- Biography :...
. Before the confirmation of Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
in the film, the Mexican actor Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
had been considered for the role of the mathematics student. There were some weeks of speculation on who would play the lead. On 26 December 2006 Tornasol Films announced that Wood was cast in the lead role. The director Alex de la Iglesia
Álex de la Iglesia
Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, film producer and former comic book artist.Most of De La Iglesia's films reached cult status due to their weird sense of humour.- Biography :...
commented that he convinced Wood to accept the role for the script. De la Iglesia also praised Wood: "I'm delighted to work with Elijah, who undoubtedly has the most powerful eyes in the industry and who is perfect for the part".
British actor John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
was cast in the role of a professor of the university, who helps the young student in his quest to try to stop a series of murders. Actor Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
had been considered for this role.
De la Iglesia described daily in his blog the peculiar situations that happened during the production of the film. The film is his first foray outside his typical black comedy genre into more dramatic fare.
Filming began on 22 January 2007 and finished on 24 March, with locations in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and the Cast Courts
Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum)
The Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, comprise two large halls. Unusually for a museum, the Cast Courts house a collection not of originals, but copies. Here are to be found reproductions of some of the most famous sculptures in the world...
of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
of London.
Release
It was picked up for UK release by Odeon Sky FilmworksOdeon Sky Filmworks
Odeon Sky Filmworks is a joint venture between Odeon Cinemas and British Sky Broadcasting designed to bring film titles to UK audiences in cinemas and at home....
, opening on 25 April 2008, and had a DVD release in the UK on 1 September 2008. However in the US, it was not picked up for release until 2010, with VOD
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
set for 2 July 2010 and also theatres on 6 August 2010, distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....
.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film were released on October 5, 2010.
Reception
The Oxford Murders received mostly negative reviews. David Lewis, a critic for the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, wrote that despite the fact that "there were plenty of talented people involved", the film had a "clunky script" and was "just plain boring, from beginning to end". Jonathan Holland from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
was less critical, calling the film a "polished but verbose whodunit", though he found fault with the dialogue and the romantic subplot. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a rating of 10%.