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'{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}} {{Infobox character | name = Keyser Söze | image =<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Verbalkint.jpg|frameless|center|Keyser Soze]] --> | caption = | first = ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' | cause = | creator = [[Christopher McQuarrie]] | portrayer = [[Kevin Spacey]]<br>Scott B. Morgan (flashback)<ref>{{cite book|last=Mottram|first=James|title=The Sundance Kids: How the Mavericks Took Back Hollywood|year=2006|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]], Inc.|location=NY|isbn=0865479674|page=116|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dNgIU-dg2KEC&lpg=PA115&pg=PA116|edition=1st American paperback}}</ref> | alias = Roger "Verbal" Kint | gender = Male | occupation = Drug lord, con artist | nationality = Turkish }} '''Keyser Söze''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aɪ|z|ər|_|ˈ|s|oʊ|z|eɪ}} {{respell|KY|zər}} {{respell|SOH|zay}}) is a fictional character in the 1995 film ''[[The Usual Suspects]],'' written by [[Christopher McQuarrie]] and directed by [[Bryan Singer]]. According to petty con artist Roger "Verbal" Kint ([[Kevin Spacey]]), Söze is a crime lord whose ruthlessness and influence have acquired a legendary, even mythical, status among police and criminals alike. The character has placed in numerous "best villain" lists over the years. ==Concept and creation== Director [[Bryan Singer]] and writer [[Christopher McQuarrie]] originally conceived of ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' as five felons meeting in a police line-up. Eventually, a powerful underworld figure responsible for their meeting was added to the plot. McQuarrie combined this plot with another idea of his based on the true story of [[John List]], who murdered his family and started a new life. The name was based on one of McQuarrie's supervisors, though the last name was changed. McQuarrie settled on Söze after finding it in a Turkish dictionary; it means "to talk too much".<ref>{{cite book|first1=George|last1=Anastasia|first2=Glen|last2=MacNow|title=The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Gangster Films of All Time|year=2011|publisher=[[Running Press]]|location=Philadelphia|isbn=9780762443703|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kY5tHAksa7kC&lpg=PA56&pg=PA56|accessdate=17 July 2013}}</ref> ==Fictional history== ''The Usual Suspects'' consists mostly of flashbacks narrated by Roger "Verbal" Kint ([[Kevin Spacey]]), a [[con artist]] with [[cerebral palsy]]. Verbal has been granted [[immunity from prosecution]] provided he assists investigators, including Customs Agent David Kujan ([[Chazz Palminteri]]) and reveals all details of his involvement with a group of career criminals who are assumed to be responsible for the destruction of a freighter ship and the murder of nearly everyone on board. While Kint is telling his story, Kujan learns the name Keyser Söze from FBI agent Jack Baer ([[Giancarlo Esposito]]) and demands Kint tell him what he knows. According to Kint, Keyser Söze began his criminal career as a petty drug dealer in his native Turkey. His legendary persona is born when rival Hungarian smugglers invade his house while he is away, rape his wife, and hold his children hostage; when Söze arrives, they kill one of his children and demand that he give his business to them. Instead, Söze kills his own family and all but one of the Hungarians, who he knows will tell the Mafia what has happened. Once his family is buried, Söze goes after the mob and kills dozens of people, including the mobsters' families, friends, and even people who owe them money. He then goes underground, never again doing business in person. Söze's ruthlessness is legendary; Kint describes him as having had enemies and disloyal henchmen brutally murdered, along with everyone they hold dear, for the slightest infractions, as well as personally murdering anyone who can identify him. Even his own henchmen often don't know for whom they work. Over the years, his criminal empire flourishes, as does his legend; remarking on Söze's mythical nature, Kint says, "The greatest trick [[the Devil]] ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." This statement paraphrases a line in a story by [[Charles Baudelaire]],<ref>Baudelaire, [http://baudelaire.litteratura.com/?rub=oeuvre&srub=pop&id=167# ''Le Joueur Généreux''], where the Devil recounts to a gambler that he has even heard a preacher (''plus subtil que ses confrères'') cry: "Mes chers frères, n'oubliez jamais, quand vous entendrez vanter le progrès des lumières, que la plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas!" [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_Joueur_généreux French text on Wikisource]</ref> as translated from the original French. Neither McQuarrie nor Singer realized this at the time and they "borrowed it from people who were quoting Baudelaire themselves."<ref>{{cite web|last=DuPont|first=Alexandra|title=The Usual Suspects: Special Edition|url=http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/u/usualsuspects_se.shtml|work=DVD Journal|accessdate=17 July 2013}}</ref> Kint describes how he and his cohorts are blackmailed by Söze, through Söze's lawyer Kobayashi ([[Pete Postlethwaite]]), into destroying a large drug shipment belonging to Söze's Argentinian rivals. All but Kint and a Hungarian are killed in the attack. Baer believes there were no drugs and the true purpose of the attack was to eliminate a passenger on the ship who could identify Söze. Kujan confronts Kint with the theory that Söze is one of the four other criminals that Verbal had worked with: a corrupt former police officer and professional thief named Dean Keaton ([[Gabriel Byrne]]). Kujan's investigation of Keaton is what involved him in the case. In the final sequence of the movie, it is revealed that the story that Kint had told Kujan is a fabrication, made up of strung-together details culled from a crowded bulletin board in the messy office of the police detective where Kujan had conducted Kint's interrogation. The surviving Hungarian, severely burned and in a hospital, describes Keyser Söze to a sketch artist: the drawing faxed in to the police station closely resembles Kint. Kujan realizes the fabrication and proceeds to pursue Kint, who has already walked out on bail, his limp and the paralysis of his left hand both suddenly gone. He enters a car, driven by "Kobayashi". As the two drive away, Kujan desperately looks around the crowded streets for him. ==Analysis== In an interview with ''[[Metro Silicon Valley]]'', [[Pete Postlethwaite]] quoted Bryan Singer as saying that all the characters are Keyser Söze. When asked point blank whether his character is Keyser Söze, Postlethwaite said, "Who knows? Nobody knows. That's what's good about ''The Usual Suspects''."<ref>{{cite journal|last=von Busack|first=Richard|title=Unusual Suspect|journal=[[Metro Silicon Valley]]|date=May 29, 1997|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.29.97/brassed-off2-9722.html|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> Spacey has also been evasive about his character's true identity. In an interview with ''[[Total Film]]'', he said, "That's for the audience to decide. My job is to show up and do a part – I don't own the audience's imagination."<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Total Film Interview – Kevin Spacey|journal=[[Total Film]]|date=December 1, 2004|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-total-film-interview-kevin-spacey|accessdate=10 July 2013|author=Total Film Staff}}</ref> Bryan Enk, writing for [[UGO]], states that the myth-making story of Keyser Söze's origins is a classic ghost story that would be right at home in horror fiction.<ref>{{cite web|last=Enk|first=Bryan|title=The Usual Suspects: The Legend of Keyser Soze|url=http://www.ugo.com/therush/the-usual-suspects-the-legend-of-keyser-soze|work=[[UGO]]|accessdate=10 July 2013|date=October 1, 2009}}</ref> ''[[Forbes]]'' used the character in a study of what it takes to succeed in business. After positing different hypothetical situations, journalist Russ Alan Prince asked what Keyser Söze would do.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Prince|first=Russ Alan|title=What Would You Do To Become A Billionaire? What Would Keyser Söze Do?|journal=[[Forbes]]|date=June 1, 2013|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/russalanprince/2013/06/01/what-would-you-do-to-become-a-billionaire-what-would-keyser-soze-do/|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> Wayne Wilson explicitly compares Söze to Satan and assigns to him demonic motives. Wilson states that Söze allows himself to be caught just to prove his superiority over the police; this compromises his ultimate goal of anonymity, but Söze can't resist the urge to show off and create mischief.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LBIjsk-2ok4C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA251|title=The Psychopath in Film |last=Wilson |first=Wayne |year=1999 |publisher=[[University Press of America]] |pages=251–255 |ISBN=0-7618-1317-9}}</ref> Hanna M. Roisman compares Kint to [[Odysseus]], capable of adapting both his personality and his tales to his current audience. Throughout his tale, Kint adapts his confession to Kujan's revealed biases. Roisman draws direct parallels to Odysseus' tales to the [[Phaeacians]]: like Odysseus, Kint allows his audience to define him and his narrative. Appealing to Kujan's arrogance, Kint allows himself to be outwitted, humiliated, and broken by his interrogator; Kint further invents a mythical villain that he credulously believes in and gives Kujan the privileged perspective of the skeptic. Kint thus creates a neo-noir thriller inside of a neo-noir thriller and demonstrates the artificiality of storytelling.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roisman|first=Hanna M.|title=Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema|year=2001|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford|isbn=9780195351569|pages=51–54, 63–68|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3kp8fQWWgBkC&lpg=PP1&pg=RA2-PA2|editor-first=Martin M.|editor-last=Winkler|accessdate=17 July 2013|chapter=Verbal Odysseus: Narrative Strategy in ''The Odyssey'' and ''The Usual Suspects''}}</ref> Benjamin Widiss identifies [[Post-structuralism|post-structural]] elements to the film, such as the lack of a clear protagonist throughout much of the film. This extends to ambiguity over Kint's role as author or reader, and whether he's Kint pretending to be Keyser Söze or the reverse.<ref>{{cite book|last=Widiss|first=Benjamin|title=Obscure invitations The Persistence of the Author in Twentieth-Century American Literature|year=2011|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|location=Palo Alto|isbn=0804773238|pages=156–157|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h_sY757E13EC&lpg=PA150&pg=PA150|accessdate=17 July 2013|chapter=''Seven'' and ''The Usual Suspects''}}</ref> ==Reception and legacy== [[A. O. Scott]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called him the "perfect postmodern sociopath",<ref>{{cite news|last=Scott|first=A. O.|title=Bad Times on Wall Street, Boom Times for Kevin Spacey|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/bad-times-on-wall-street-boom-times-for-kevin-spacey.html?_r=0|accessdate=10 July 2013|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=October 21, 2011|authorlink=A. O. Scott}}</ref> and Quentin Curtis of ''[[The Independent]]'' described him as "the most compelling creation in recent American film".<ref>{{cite news|last=Curtis|first=Quentin|title=Confused? You Will Be|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-critics-cinema-confused-you-will-be-1598236.html|accessdate=10 July 2013|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=August 27, 1995}}</ref> Jason Bailey of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' identified the role as turning Kevin Spacey from a character actor to a star.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bailey|first=Jason|title=Keyser Söze's Big Break: The Roles That Made Character Actors Into Stars|journal=[[The Atlantic]]|date=October 17, 2012|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/keyser-s-zes-big-break-the-roles-that-made-character-actors-into-stars/263753/#slide7|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> Kevin Spacey was awarded the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for his performance.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grimes|first=William|title=Gibson Best Director for 'Braveheart,' Best Film|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/26/movies/gibson-best-director-for-braveheart-best-film.html|accessdate=17 July 2013|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=March 26, 1996}}</ref> The character placed 48th in the [[American Film Institute]]'s "[[AFI's 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains]]" in June 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/handv100.pdf?docID=246 |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains |format=PDF |accessdate=March 19, 2010 |publisher=[[American Film Institute]]}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' placed him at #10 on their list of most memorably named film characters<ref>{{cite journal|title=Top 10 Memorable Movie-Character Names|journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=January 22, 2012|url=http://entertainment.time.com/2012/01/23/top-10-memorable-movie-character-names/|accessdate=10 July 2013|author=Time Staff}}</ref> and #5 in best pop culture gangsters.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Webley|first=Kayla|title=Top 10 Pop-Culture Gangsters|journal=[[Time (magazine)]]|date=September 17, 2010|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2020083_2020085_2020081,00.html|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' ranked the character #37 in their list of the 100 greatest characters of the past twenty years,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Vary|first=Adam B.|title=The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years: Here's our full list!|journal=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=June 1, 2010|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/06/01/100-greatest-characters-of-last-20-years-full-list/|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> #6 in most vile villains,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harris|first=Annika|title=50 Most Vile Movie Villains: 6. Keyser Söze|journal=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=July 19, 2012|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20311937_20509776_20988525,00.html|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> and #12 in the best heroes and villains.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Good Guys vs. Bad Guys: Who Wins?|journal=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=Jun 7, 2010|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20389040_20390153_20789738,00.html|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> [[Ask Men]] ranked him #6 in their list of top ten film villains.<ref>{{cite web|last=Simpson|first=Matthew|title=Top 10: Movie Villains|url=http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/61_top_10_list.html|work=[[Ask Men]]|accessdate=10 July 2013}}</ref> ''Total Film'' ranked him #37 in their best villains <ref>{{cite news|title=Top Heroes and Villains Named in Movie List|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/goodies-baddies-get-sorted/story-e6frfmq9-1111114966889|accessdate=10 July 2013|newspaper=News.com.au|date=November 26, 2007|author=BANG Showbiz}}</ref> and #40 in best characters overall.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Total Film Top 100 Movie Characters Of All Time – 50 to 26|date=September 28, 2007|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-total-film-top-100-movie-characters-of-all-time-50-to-26|accessdate=10 July 2013|author=TotalFilm Staff}}</ref> [[MSN]] ranked him #4 in their list of the 13 most menacing villains.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hunter|first=Melissa|title=Hollywood's 13 Most Menacing Villains|url=http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/movies/galleries/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=24851055&page=4|work=[[MSN]]|accessdate=10 July 2013|date=July 12, 2010}}</ref> ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' ranked him #69 in their "100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll.<ref>{{cite news | title=The 100 Greatest Movie Characters | publisher=Empire | url=http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=69 | accessdate=2008-12-02}}</ref> ===In popular culture=== <!-- Entries without a citation will be deleted. --> Since the release of the film, the name "Keyser Söze" has gained two popular uses in Western culture, both as a description of a legendary figure, usually of underworld crime, or as a shorthand reference to being fooled into believing in a person who does not exist. In 2001, ''Time'' referred to [[Osama bin Laden]] as "a geopolitical Keyser Söze, an omnipresent menace whose very name invokes perils far beyond his capability".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Karon|first=Tony|title=Bin Laden Rides Again: Myth vs. Reality|journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=June 20, 2001|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,131866,00.html|accessdate=17 July 2013}}</ref> In his 1999 review of ''[[Fight Club (film)|Fight Club]]'', which was generally negative, 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."<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=Fight Club|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991015/REVIEWS/910150302|accessdate=17 July 2013|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|date=October 15, 1999}}</ref> ===In sporting culture=== Between 2013-2014 Raj Marfatia, an Australasian amateur mixed martial artist specializing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Gracie Style)<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu</ref>, particularly grappling and submission based fighting established himself as the premier undefeated competitor in the light-heavy weight class. With 39 amateur fights, 34 by submission, 3 by technical knockout and 2 by knockout he became famous for his unassuming yet technically brutal assaults during competition. In an event prior to qualifications for the 2013 Pan Pacific Titles, he met both of his previous teachers and mentors, who at the time were several belts his senior. In what is now considered one of the most brutal and devastating examples of submission fighting in amateur mixed martial arts, he crippled both with rolling knee bars and Peruvian Neckties. Both opponents needing surgical intervention, post-event. The outcome not only shocked the fraternity of MMA by the severity of the injuries, but the nature in which they were inflicted. It was later established that both his mentors insisted that he enter the ring with no reservations, and realize his true potential as a competitive fighter, without any inhibitions. He left both events in silence and refused to be interviewed other than by officials. Since these two devastating incidents, his presence at tournament fighting is considered ominous. Typically arriving and registering late and without visibly acknowledging his opponents, he has since gone on to remain the premier fighter in his weight division. He held the Australian record for the fastest submission by rear naked choke that left his competitor unconscious in less than 23 seconds. He has a tally of more than 15 submissions by arm bar, 10 by triangle choke and 3 by Kimura. Destructively, he has managed to eliminate his opposition over the course of just 2 years. The name coined by his peers, "Kaiser Söze" arrived through his detached mob-style brutality in the ring, not unlike the mythological character who became etched into mainstream knowledge by his role in the film "The Usual Suspects" (1995). Kaiser Söze was prepared to kill his own family before his foes could use them against him. Raj Marfatia effectively crippled both his teachers and mentors with surgical precision and mob-like brutality, creating an equally powerful statement to his opposition and with an undefeated record, established himself as the premier light-heavyweight mixed martial artist fighter in Australasia. Royler Gracie<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royler_Gracie</ref> an original member of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gracie Foundation and MMA legend, after training and witnessing Raj's technical precision, strength and devastating speed to counter, said "Nascido para lutar," which quite simply means "born to fight." He has hospitalized many other competitors and training partners since and notably created an equally menacing reputation. He had participated in several other styles including Russian Cambo<ref></ref>. He remains undefeated and with an almost mythological status, his appeal to the sport has been widely acclaimed by local and overseas MMA experts. Approached by several popular international mixed martial arts organizations including Strikeforce<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikeforce_%28mixed_martial_arts%29</ref> and Ultimate Fighting Competition<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship</ref>, it is reported that he refused a lucrative six-figure contract and chose to disappear from the spotlight, further increasing the already well-established mystique of his career so far. There has been speculation and conjecture whether a return the sport is eminent although he failed to appear in the 2014 Pan Pacific Titles. ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{IMDb character|0028665}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Soze, Keyser}} [[Category:Fictional con artists]] [[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1995]] [[Category:Fictional drug dealers]] [[Category:Fictional mass murderers]] [[Category:Fictional mobsters]] [[Category:Fictional Turkish people]] [[Category:Characters in thriller films]]'