Suture [Blu-ray/DVD] [2 Discs]

Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel Scott McGehee

Overview

Shot in black-and-white, this neo-noir begins at its end, by asking the question: how is it we come to know who we are? Involving an unusual identity play, the film goes about answering its opening question through a fascinating meditation on race. When Vincent (played by white actor Michael Harris) reunites with his estranged and unknown half-brother Clay (played by black actor Dennis Haysbert), the film quickly establishes an interior logic whereby the two men appear identical within the boundaries of the film. Further complicating matters, when Vincent's botched attempt to murder Clay and pass off the body as his own leaves Clay with amnesia and in need of reconstructive plastic surgery, Clay emerges and assumes the identity of Vincent. Having his African-American lead join Clay's white, upwardly mobile world, director David Siegel plays on stereotypes with great success, calling into question not simply how we come to know who we are but how we come to know what we see.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/05/2016
UPC:	0760137864790
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	NR
Source:	Arrow Video
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	25,106

Special Features

Audio commentary wtih writer-directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee, moderated by Steven Soderbergh; Laceratons: The Making of Suture, a new documentary containing interviews with Siegel, McGhee, actors Dennis Haysbert, Mel Harris and Sab Shimono, cinematographer Greg Gardiner, composer Cary Berger, editor Lauren Zuckerman and production desigher Kelly McGhee; Deleted scenes ; Birds Past, Siegel & McGehee's first short film, about two young San Franciscans who journey to Bodega Bay along the path set by Tippi Hedren in Hitchcock's classic, The Birds.; US theatrical trailer; European theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dennis Haysbert	Clay Arlington
Mel Harris	Renee Descartes,Vincent Towers
Sab Shimono	Dr. Max Shinoda
Dina Merrill	Alice Jameson
David Graf	Lt. Weismann
Fran Ryan	Mrs. Lucerne
John Ingle	Sidney Callahan
Sandy Gibbons	Dr. Fuller
Mark DeMichele	Det. Joe
Sandra Lafferty	Nurse Stevens
Capri Darling	Soprano
Carol Kiernan	Ticket Agent
Laura Groppe	Sportswoman
Mel Coleman	Sportsman
Sally Dennison	Actor
Patrick Rush	Actor
Sam Smiley	Doctor
Mary Scheer	Witness
Cary Berger	Composer

Technical Credits

Scott McGehee

David Siegel

Scott McGehee	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
David Siegel	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Steven Soderbergh	Executive Producer
Michele Halberstadt	Producer
Sally Dennison	Casting
Patrick Rush	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Suture feels like a collaboration between Patricia Highsmith and Alfred Hitchcock, filtered through Jean-Paul Sartre and Chris Marker. While the filmmakers would probably take that as a compliment, many viewers may be turned off by the pretentious trappings of an otherwise old-fashioned identity-switch story. Suture certainly has a fabulous look. The black-and-white cinematography helps sell the theme of the fluidity of personal identity, as does the casting of a white actor and a black actor as look-alike half brothers. The fault in the screenplay is that Suture puts forth as text what Hitchcock and Highsmith in Strangers on a Train kept as subtext. Not for a minute do these characters seem like real people, and the film ends up playing more like a Philosophy 101 lecture than as a satisfying thriller. This same problem would occur again in the next film made by co-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel, The Deep End. The duo have a great eye, and they get good work from actors, but Suture leaves the viewer with the feeling that it is something less than the sum of its parts.