PLAY DIRTY

In many respects De Toths final, great film, Play Dirty, can be seen as a crystallisation of his work. The underlying dystopian cynicism and bleakness of the directors work pushes explicitly toward the films surface. The clear moral distinction between Germans and Allies found in countless war films is here reconfigured as merely a question of affectations of style. Play Dirty has a purity of purpose, offering a distillation of themes, character types, philosophies and actions. De Toths characters often wonder how long they will have to do penance for the mistakes and choices they have made. After completing their mission, the surviving members of the team, disguised in Italian uniforms, are carelessly gunned down by an arriving British soldier. In this moment, one can finally stare directly at the spare, blunt, muted anti-romanticism that clouds much of de Toths cinema. (Adrian Danks)