CUBE |
| CREDITS: Director: Vincenzo Natali. Cast: Nicole deBoer, Nicky Guadagni, David
Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Julian Richards, Wayne Robson & Maurice Dean Wint. Canada
1998. INTRODUCTION: Showing at the Edinburgh Festival alongside the cult hit "Pi" was this lesser regarded mathematics movie. A thinly veiled analogy of the absurdities of life, and the search for deeper meaning. Tapping into the current renaissance in mathematics, with arithmetic as the new rock-and-roll and its practitioners cast in the heroic mould of Jeff Goldblum's character in the Berg's "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World", Cube uses Cartesian co-ordinates as the jumping off point for an exciting study of human interaction. I'm sure that the father of modern philosophy would have approved. SYNOPSIS: Anderson (Richards) finds himself trapped in a massive structure of interconnecting stark metal cubes of unknown origin, uncertain how he came to be here or what is going on, exploring the limits of his apparent confines he is promptly diced. High school student Leaven (deBoer) awakes in an identical cube and is shortly joined from the adjoining cubes by Dr. Holloway (Guadagni), Police Officer Quentin (Wint), engineer Worth (Hewlett) and infamous jail-braker Rennes (Robson). Trapped together they set out to discover what is going on and to find the way out. Quentin leads this motley crew, later joined by autistic, but arithmetically adept Kazan (Miller), each of whom seem to have a special skill to contribute, through the structure using the cubes serial numbers as a guide in search of the exit. REVIEW: The character's feelings of entrapment are reflected in their names Leavenworth, Holloway and San Quentin all being famous prisons, and in the stark monotonous interiors of the cubes, which seem to stretch on into infinity. Debut feature director Natali, a permanent fixture of The Canadian Film Academy whose previous short "Elevated" was about a group of characters trapped in a lift, gets the most out of his one sparsely decorated 14' x 14' x 14' set. Creating an enclosed and oppressive atmosphere that brings out the hidden truths of his characters. Stylistically the film is reminiscent of cult TV series "The Outer Limits" which also attempted to examine the human condition through sci-fi plots. However with nothing like the budget of that much maligned TV show Natali and his crew must rely on innovation to create atmosphere. Derek Rogers cinematography manages the impossible task of keeping the cubes interesting, John Sanders editing keep the thrills taut and Mark Korven's musical accompaniment builds atmosphere. deBoer shows rare signs of brilliance in her lead as the mathematically inclined Leaven, but it is the double act of Hewlett and Wint who steal the show as they go head-to-head, Guadagni, Miller and Robson all provide ample support in their horrendously under-written roles and Richards brief appearance as Anderson expertly sets the scene for the movie, providing a graphic demonstration of the danger that lurks around every corner and leaving the audience in a constant state of ill-ease. The enterprise is however somewhat let down by Andre Bijelic, Graeme Manson and Natali's weak script which leaves the characters as ciphers for a story that never fully explores the opportunities it creates for itself. The recent wave of interest in mathematics, with "Pi" and "Good Will Hunting" at the cinema and "Longitude" and "Fermat's Last Theorem" on the best seller lists indicates the desire people have to find meaning in an increasingly absurd world. With religion, democracy, capitalism and society itself breaking down there is something appealing about the simplicity and certainty of numbers. This film exemplifies that attitude with no apparent reason for the cubes existence and the serial numbers as the only guide, the eventual emergence into the bright light is a symbolic re-birth. A fascinating but flawed exploration of humanity. Mutt's Rating: *** |