Keyser Söze

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Keyser Söze (pronounced /ˈkaɪzɚ ˈsoʊzeɪ/^{[citation needed]}) is a fictional character in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects, written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. Söze is an underworld kingpin whose ruthlessness and influence have a legendary, even mythical status among law enforcement agents and criminals alike. The character has become a common cultural reference point due to his role in the film's famous twist ending.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Background 2 Film revelations 3 Cultural impact 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Background

The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

Söze's past is unknown, but the story told by Verbal Kint has Söze beginning his criminal career in Turkey as a low-level drug dealer. The entity that is Keyser Söze is truly born, however, when rival smugglers working for the Hungarian mob invade his house while he is away, raping his wife and holding his children hostage. When Söze arrives they kill one of the children to show him their resolve. They then threaten to kill his wife and remaining children if he does not surrender his business to them. Rather than give in to their demands, and to prevent his loved ones from having to live with the memory of what has happened, he murders his family and all but one of the Hungarians, whom he spares knowing that the survivor would tell the mafia what has transpired.

After burying his family, Söze goes after the mob, killing dozens of people, including the mobsters' families, friends, and even people who owe them money, as well as destroying their homes and businesses. He then goes "underground", never again doing business in person and remaining invisible even to his henchmen, who almost never know whom they are working for. One of the most famous lines from the movie, spoken by Kint is: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist." This is a paraphrased quote from a story by Baudelaire, ^[1] but neither McQuarrie nor Singer realised this at the time, and they "borrowed it from people who were quoting Baudelaire themselves." ^[2] When Söze does commit crimes, it is always in disguise and under a fake name, leaving no one the wiser.

Söze's ruthlessness is legendary, having enemies and disloyal henchmen brutally murdered, along with everyone they hold dear, for the slightest infractions. Over the years his criminal empire, centered around the drug trade, flourishes, as does his legend; he becomes "a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night", and on a par with the Devil in the world of crime.

[edit] Film revelations

The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

The film The Usual Suspects consists mostly of flashbacks narrated by con artist Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), a petty criminal with cerebral palsy affecting one leg and one arm. Verbal has been granted near-total immunity from prosecution provided he assists investigators, including Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri), and reveals all details of his involvement with a group of notorious criminals assumed responsible for the destruction of a ship and the murder of nearly everyone aboard.

While Verbal is telling his story, Kujan learns the name Keyser Söze from FBI agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito), including Söze's reputation as a shadowy criminal mastermind, and demands Verbal tell him what he knows. Apparently deeply distraught, Verbal describes how he and a small group of career criminals are blackmailed by Söze, through Söze's South African lawyer Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite), into destroying a large drug shipment belonging to Söze's Hungarian rivals. All but Verbal and one Hungarian are killed during the attack. Baer believes there were no drugs and the true purpose of the attack was to eliminate a passenger on the ship that had seen and could identify Söze. Kujan confronts Verbal with the theory that Söze is, in fact, one of the criminals that Verbal had worked with: a corrupt former police officer and professional thief named Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne). Kujan's ongoing investigation of Keaton is what involved him in the case initially.

In the final scenes of the movie, it is suggested that Verbal's story is an elaborate concoction, made up of strung-together details culled from a crowded bulletin board in the office where the interrogation took place. The filmic methods used to persuade the audience of this included a buzzing montage of voices from the movie, effectively cut and pasted with pictures and text from the board, as well as the "KOBAYASHI" manufacturer's logo printed on the bottom of Kujan's coffee cup. The surviving Hungarian, severely burned and hospitalized, describes to a sketch artist a man he saw during the attack that he believes is Keyser Söze. The sketch, which appears to be a near-perfect drawing of Verbal, is faxed to the police station too late. Verbal has already walked out on bail, his cerebral palsy limp suddenly fading. He uses a gold cigarette lighter similar to one Söze was seen with at the beginning of the film to light a cigarette with a steady hand, and climbs into a car driven by the character he has referred to throughout as Kobayashi. As they drive away, Kujan desperately looks around the crowded streets for Verbal having realized, too late, Verbal's true identity.

[edit] Cultural impact

On his 1999 review of Fight Club, film critic Roger Ebert commented, "A lot of recent films seem unsatisfied unless they can add final scenes that redefine the reality of everything that has gone before; call it the Keyser Söze syndrome."^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Keyser Söze at the Internet Movie Database