The good-looking, self-confident male never does well in a Losey film. Don Giovanni is hurled down into Hell as Donna Anna has her revenge. Who can forget the handsome face of William (Michael York) as his girlfriend’s (another Anna as it happens) pointed heel stabs down into his face as she escapes from the smashed car in Accident. James Fox in The Servant, Alan Bates in The Go-Between – no, the men do not come out well in a Losey film, and the better-looking they are, the further they fall.

Sorry? Excuse me a moment. Oh, I see. Wrong Losey. They told me to knock out a few words about how the male character is beaten by the female lead in the latest Losey film, and I naturally assumed that they meant Joseph Losey. That image of the elegant heel in the bloodied face seemed just right. I saw Accident shortly after it came out in 1967 and it sticks in the mind somewhat. If I had stopped to think, I would have realised that it was unlikely that a man born in 1909 was still directing films anyway.

Back to the beginning. The good-looking, self-confident male never does well in a Losey film. From the moment the cameras roll in the the latest Ralph Losey thriller, it is clear that the arrogance of the male character will be defeated by the cool self-asurance of the female lawyer who is pitted against him as they argue about preservation and search efforts. Its title, Animation Showing How Not to Cooperate in an eDiscovery Conference may lack the snappiness of the other Losey’s film names, but you can’t have everything.

The male lawyers’ reiterated line “Take it or leave it” makes the lady (she’s bound to be called Anna as well) angry. She doesn’t settle for trivial revenge like Hell fires or stamping on his face – she is off to the judge.

Full marks to Ralph Losey for his latest animated way of making eDiscovery accessible.

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