Post by petrolino on May 19, 2018 0:29:16 GMT
In 'The Machinist', dedicated union man Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is suffering strange hallucinations that are threatening to compromise safety regulations at the factory plant he works at. Pale, emaciated, physically weak and lacking focus, Trevor has no appetite for anything other than cigarettes, he hasn't slept properly for months and his sex life has taken a nosedive. The arrival of a new machinist sparks a higher level of paranoia that could prove to be fatal.
"Stevie, I haven't slept in a year."
Christian Bale
'4 St 7 Lb' - Manic Street Preachers
Brad Anderson's dizzy psychological horror 'The Machinist' deals with twin infinitives, parallel visions and split realities within an industrial landscape fuelled by tension. Normally I dislike horror cinema's 21st century obsession with using heavy colour filters, or senselessly draining images of colour, but here the latter works particularly well within a factory setting. A concise urban history of low-hanging clouds and overcast skylines engulfs Trevor as he's consumed by his own fear of recompense. He's not exactly a guy you'd die to hang out with but he knows how to conjure up a winning grin when he most needs it.
Brad Anderson's House Of Horrors
'Session 9' (2001)
'Transsiberian' (2008)
'Stonehearst Asylum' (2014)
'Kismet Kill' - Haley Bonar
There's a fleeting, poignant homage to Adrian Lyne's horror masterpiece 'Jacob's Ladder' (1990) during a day out at a carnival in 'The Machinist'; this haunted house of horrors introduces a shuddering trip into the unknown. In referencing this picture, and more generally, generating an atmosphere redolent of horror pictures of the time, such as 'Heart Of Midnight' (1988), 'Disturbed' (1990) and 'Liebestraum' (1991), Anderson also recalls the writings of Ambrose Bierce, a dark yet influential satirist from Ohio. Anderson's balanced direction exacts every nuance from Scott Kosar's intriguing screenplay and the fine work of a talented ensemble is complimented by the efforts of some of Spain's most promising young technicians who fashion a gothic fever dream to make you wilt.
"I mean this is why films need directors. It’s a translation process. 'The Machinist' is the first script I didn’t write or co write. For the scripts I write, I tend to think very visually. They’re almost a blueprint for how to shoot the movie. With Scott Kosar’s script the thing that drew me to it was it’s simplicity. It was very uncluttered. There was a lot of beautifully stark, evocative imagery but it was in between the words. I saw the possibility to visually, cinematically translate his story.
It’s not a calculation. The tone is the hardest thing to capture and maintain for any film. It’s intangible; it’s made up of all the different elements that make up the film. A different person would have made an entirely different movie here than I did. I could have been a hipster, fast cutting graphic novelly things with some industrial band doing the soundtrack and lots of 'Matrix' style freeze frame... I wanted to consciously do something that had a more languid old-fashioned sense of timelessness about it. By taking out the contemporary gloss, I think the movie becomes more of a parable because, and it starts with Scott’s script, 'The Machinist' isn’t like a story that actually happened, it’s a more of a cautionary sort of fable. I knew I wanted the film to unspool more like a nightmare, to not be in your face, but those are choices I made as a director that seemed apparent to me the first time I read the script."
It’s not a calculation. The tone is the hardest thing to capture and maintain for any film. It’s intangible; it’s made up of all the different elements that make up the film. A different person would have made an entirely different movie here than I did. I could have been a hipster, fast cutting graphic novelly things with some industrial band doing the soundtrack and lots of 'Matrix' style freeze frame... I wanted to consciously do something that had a more languid old-fashioned sense of timelessness about it. By taking out the contemporary gloss, I think the movie becomes more of a parable because, and it starts with Scott’s script, 'The Machinist' isn’t like a story that actually happened, it’s a more of a cautionary sort of fable. I knew I wanted the film to unspool more like a nightmare, to not be in your face, but those are choices I made as a director that seemed apparent to me the first time I read the script."
- Brad Anderson, Screen Anarchy
"I think it does engage you. I like a movie that the audience actively has to participate in, and not just casually observe. Whatever my part in it, just as an audience member, I find that exciting. Plus [The Machinist] has an interesting look. There's a lot of green in it."
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Guardian
"I had a photograph of Hank Williams when he was only 29, but he was looking like he was coming on 50, I guess just from abuse. It was a photograph of him getting released from jail just a few months before he died. He's shirtless and he looks a wreck, absolutely emaciated. So I stuck that on the front of the script to be kind of my image of what Trevor should be, and then just kept going and going and trying to reach that.
I had been to a nutritionist and when I had got down to what she had told me was a healthy weight, I just went, "You know what? I can go more than this. I can keep going." So I lost another 20 pounds below what she said I should stop at..."
I had been to a nutritionist and when I had got down to what she had told me was a healthy weight, I just went, "You know what? I can go more than this. I can keep going." So I lost another 20 pounds below what she said I should stop at..."
- Christian Bale, The British Broadcasting Corporation
Jennifer Jason Leigh
'Riot Rhythm' - Sleigh Bells
The name Trevor Reznik is partially derived from Trent Reznor, a Pennsylvanian musician who formed the industrial band Nine Inch Nails in Ohio. If you like 'The Machinist', you might also enjoy Denis Villeneuve's 'Enemy' (2013), Dan Gilroy's 'Nightcrawler' (2014) and Tom Ford's 'Nocturnal Animals' (2016), all of which feature creepy night dweller Jake Gyllenhaal.
