Death and the Compass (1995)

17% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(369 ratings)

Death and the Compass is a loose adaptation of a Jorge Luis Borges short story from eccentric British writer-director Alex Cox (Repo Man). Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), disheveled and haunted by the past, narrates the story of the last great case of a famous detective, Lonnrot (Peter Boyle). In a… More Death and the Compass is a loose adaptation of a Jorge Luis Borges short story from eccentric British writer-director Alex Cox (Repo Man). Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), disheveled and haunted by the past, narrates the story of the last great case of a famous detective, Lonnrot (Peter Boyle). In a vaguely futuristic unnamed metropolis (most of the film was shot in Mexico City), Lonnrot investigates the case of a murdered rabbi, who was a Kabala scholar. Treviranus, Lonnrot's commander, quite rationally believes the murder was a botched robbery, and the work of the insane masked local crime lord Red Scarlach. But Lonnrot finds the last words the rabbi wrote, "The first letter of the name has been spoken," and thinks there was a more complex, kabalistic motive to the crime. Lonnrot asks a journalist, Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), to help him unravel the mystery. Soon, another murder and a disappearance lend credence to Lonnrot's mystical theory, and the clever detective believes he can predict and prevent the next crime. As the disgraced Treviranus tells the story, his jealousy and resentment of Lonnrot's powers of deduction and his popularity with the public become evident. After making El Patrullero (Highway Patrolman), Cox was commissioned by the BBC to do a short Borges adaptation for television. He later got additional funding (partly for directing The Winner, which he later disavowed after the producers made changes without his consent) to expand Death and the Compass into a feature. He added all the scenes of Treviranus' narration, and an elaborate scene in which he himself plays a blind detective cut down by Red Scarlach. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Alex Cox
Written By: Alex Cox
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Dec 31, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Mar 22, 2005

Critic Reviews

Ken Eisner, Variety
A bleary-eyed fever dream lumbered with impenetrable literary references, Death and the Compass quickly loses its way and expires long before its 90 minutes are up.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
When he [Director Alex Cox] overreaches and trips up...the thud is resounding.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Probably the kind of film for cultists who coo over Peter Greenaway films.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
The director of Repo Man takes an Argentinian short story by Jorge Luis Borges and brings it to the screen with his curious style.
Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
Please take notes because you will be tested as the end of the movie.

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Featured Audience Ratings

El Hombre I

As a fan of Jorge Luis Borges, I was interested in seeing this film set in a totalitarian future about a private detective who discovers a bizarre pattern in a series of recent serial murders. Alex Cox uses heavy symbolism and expanded a 55-minute television production, which is… More
As a fan of Jorge Luis Borges, I was interested in seeing this film set in a totalitarian future about a private detective who discovers a bizarre pattern in a series of recent serial murders. Alex Cox uses heavy symbolism and expanded a 55-minute television production, which is fairly evident, as several long stretches of the movie are devoted to showy and distracting camera angles, moody smoke-lit settings and several vague discussions about the nature of man and how fate binds our actions and blah blah blah... <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&current=death_and_the_compass.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/death_and_the_compass.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Walter M

Despite its florid visuals and a game cast, "Death and the Compass" is nothing more than an empty exercise about the nature of power as triangulated between a bureaucrat, detective and a criminal. The central question is who really has the most power? The responsible one?… More
Despite its florid visuals and a game cast, "Death and the Compass" is nothing more than an empty exercise about the nature of power as triangulated between a bureaucrat, detective and a criminal. The central question is who really has the most power? The responsible one? The worker? Or the one who subverts the system in the shadows? Written and directed by Alex Cox, "Death and the Compass" is told from the viewpoint of Treviranus(Miguel Sandoval), the former commissioner of detectives. What he is so bitter about is the positive attention one of his detectives, Erik Lonnrot(Peter Boyle, with a rare chance to stretch his legs in the lead), got in his time. As Treviranus puts it, wasn't he the one who solved the crimes while Lonnrot went off on his wild goose chases, ignoring boring street crimes in the bargain? Take the case of a murder which Treviranus thinks is only the fallout from a routine diamond smuggling ring gone wrong while Lonnrot suspects something much more sinister, getting research assistance from Alonso Zunz(Christopher Eccleston), a young journalist.