A Few Faces and The Talented Mr. Isaac in Two Faces of January

Sandra Miska

If movie capers set in foreign lands populated by pretty people are your thing, be sure to check out The Two Faces of January, adapted from the 1964 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. In this thriller, set in 1962, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen play a married American couple, Colette and Chester Macfarland, who visit Greece and befriend a tour guide/con artist named Rydal played by Oscar Isaac. After Chester kills a police detective looking for Rydal in self-defense, the trio is forced to go on the run.

The Two Faces of January is the directorial debut of Hossein Amini, the acclaimed screenwriter of English period piece The Wings of the Dove and the austere thriller  Drive.  According to Variety, he first became interested in adapting the novel over a decade ago, but it wasn’t until the late Anthony Minghella – director of the film version of another Highsmith novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley – helped him obtain the rights, did his dream come true.

During a screening of The Two Faces of January at the Regal at L.A. Live, Amini told the audience that Highsmith and Mortensen proved to be a perfect match. “I love the cruelty in her writing. Viggo really embraces the ugly side of characters… not a lot of stars do.”

Mortensen told The Guardian that the crew was allowed to film inside the Parthenon, a rare privilege, since normally visitors are only allowed to walk around its perimeter. To prepare for his role, Mortensen studied Greek and was very much in awe of his surroundings in Athens, Crete and Istanbul. “It’s a very interesting period. What it was like then to be an American tourist in Europe is very different to what it is now.”

Golden Globe Award-nominee Oscar Isaac, best known for playing the title role in Inside Llewyn Davis, previously worked with “Hoss” on Drive.  “…That was a really great experience because we had to completely remake the character together, and he was so open to it all, and such a gentleman,” Isaac told Digital Spy. “And when he showed me this script, the characters were so dark and complicated and you never knew what their motivations were, and that’s what I thrive on.”

Isaac’s Rydal finds a father figure in Mortensen’s Chester, but the relationship between the men is a bit more complex. “Viggo is a very, very beautiful man, so there’s always gonna’ be erotic tension whenever he’s in the room,” Isaac explained to Digital Spy.  “Rydal’s father has passed away, and it was clearly not a good relationship, he didn’t go home for the funeral. So suddenly he sees this man, Chester, and he represents everything he wants to be and also everything he hates, everything he wants to kill in himself. So, that creates a whole well of emotions that are tapped at different moments.”  Moviegoers can also expect some sexy moments between Isaac and Dunst.

The Two Faces of January will be released in select theaters on September 26th.