‘Malcolm’: The greatest heist movie you’ve never seen
Those who love a good heist movie know how intense the genre can be. While the aesthetic frameworks of heist movies have inevitably changed over the years, from the silent era to film noir to contemporary blockbusters, the magical essence of the experience has remained the same. If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of heist flicks either but trust me when I say this: you’ve never seen anything like Malcolm before.
Directed by Nadia Tass, Malcolm is an incredibly sincere film about the titular character (played by Colin Friels), who is probably one of the most endearing creations in film history. Malcolm is an autistic tram operator who is completely obsessed with the world of trams and other contraptions. Unfortunately, he gets fired when his boss discovers that he built a special tram for himself.
While heist movies are usually about the glitz and glamour of crime and capital, Malcolm is about something else. It’s about the quiet moments in life that are made interesting by the things we manage to create. For Malcolm, those things are the various gadgets which dictate the rhythm of his life and help translate the magic of his imagination to the real world.
During a conversation with Senses of Cinema, Tass opened up about the fantastic performance by Friels: “He was the only one that could really do Malcolm. I was so emotionally involved in the character, because he was based on my brother. I tried to be objective, but did I succeed? I don’t know. I was just thrilled with what Colin was able to do with the character.”
The riveting on-screen chemistry of the three primary characters – Malcolm along with his outlaw of a boarder Frank as well as his girlfriend Judith – is what makes the film work so well. Together, they plan the heist of the century by weaponising Malcolm’s greatest strength – his unique ability to create innovative devices that are effective in their utility but also childlike in their design.
Malcolm’s heist scene is among the greatest of the genre, combining the tension of a Michael Mann thriller with the elegant sense of humour of a Jacques Tati film. You’ll find yourself smiling ear to ear while watching the trio’s exploits, desperately hoping that the ruthless banality of the world doesn’t get them in the end.
While talking about the legacy of the film, Tass added: “There was a screening of Malcolm that was organised by the tram operator, and there were so many people who had never seen it. So to just stand at the back of the theatre and have these younger people who’d never seen it absolutely connect with it and gain so much joy from the film at the end of it, that’s where it’s at as a filmmaker. That’s my true intention.”
When people ask me to show them a film that represents everything I love about cinema, I immediately think of Malcolm. It’s unlike anything else within the genre, also proving to be a rare example of a heist flick where crime does pay! To top it all, it has an overwhelmingly delightful score by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I mean, how can you not fall in love with it?
