The Oxford Murders (2008)

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols. |

Plot Keywords:

Student | Oxford | Murder | Teacher Student Relationship | Unrequited Love

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Martin
John Hurt	...	Arthur Seldom
Leonor Watling	...	Lorna
Julie Cox	...	Beth
Burn Gorman	...	Podorov
Anna Massey	...	Mrs. Eagleton
Jim Carter	...	Inspector Petersen
Alan David	...	Mr. Higgins
Dominique Pinon	...	Frank
Tim Wallers	...	Defence Lawyer
James Weber-Brown	...	Doctor
Ian East	...	Howard Green
Charlotte Asprey	...	Mrs. Howard Green
Alex Cox	...	Kalman
Tom Frederic	...	Ludwig Wittgenstein

Also Known As:

Crimes à Oxford (France)
Los crímenes de Oxford (Spain: Castilian title)
Oxford Crimes (Spain) (working title)
Los crímenes de Oxford (Argentina) (Peru) [es]
Akolouthia fonon stin Oxfordi (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
I akolouthia tis Oxfordis (Greece) [el]
Oxford Murders (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Oxford cinayetleri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Oxfordin murhat (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Spain | UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:13 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | Germany:16 | Finland:K-13 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Eurimages

Trivia:

The "Bormat's Last Theorem" that is solved in the movie is clearly a reference to Fermat's Last Theorem. Like Bormat's theorem in the movie, Fermat's theorem was widely considered to be (one of) the most difficult problems of the last 300 years. It was solved fairly recently (in 1995 by Andrew Wiles). It was solved using elliptic curves, and the proof was first demonstrated at Cambridge. Like the proof of Bormat's theorem in the movie, the proving of Fermat's was a very big deal in the world of number theory.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: (At 20:00) John Hurt's character walks down Broad Street past Blackwells when the camera pans to what should be Holywell Street. Elijah Wood's character comes with his bike however from New College Lane (see the Bridge of Sighs in the background) and he turns left into Cattle Street. Somewhere during the pan a cut has been made which suggests different geography. A few seconds later another false geographical suggestion is made when Wood emerges with his bike from behind the blue van.

Soundtrack:

Ricercar A 3

Distracting but nothing special.

I recently moved to Oxford and being Spanish well, I was curious to watch this film. First of all I will say Alex de la Iglesia is not among my top-5 favourite Spanish filmmakers. Probably is not even among the first 10 but anyway the title, the plot and the location intrigued me enough to give it a try.

There are some thrillers which the plot is flat and the final twist is good. There're others (most of them) in which 3/4 of the movie is OK but the end is either predictable or incredible or flat. And there others in which everything is flat. That's the case of this film. Is an old fashion movie, nothing new, nothing spectacular, no great acting, final twist is a bit predictable and in average with the rest of the movie.

I don't think any of the actors were convinced about the script cause their acting is so sober and flat. Maybe with the exception of Leonor Watling.

Among the good points of the movie... well, Oxford is a nice city. The Oxford Crimes is not pretentious at all so even when is not incredible is distracting, good for a weekday at home or watch it after lunch. 5/10