Monday, December 27, 2010

BURIED




Directed by: Rodrigo Cortés

Call it crazy, cheap, film student-like movie, but Buried is a scary thriller. This is not recommended for claustrophobic people or those who wanted to become a vampire.

The idea behind this is crazy, just one person in one coffin for the whole film and that's it. With an opening which can remind you of Hitchcock film in the 60s, the whole film rely on Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, tight editing and a thrilling script.

Paul Conroy is a truck driver in Iraq, he is captured and confined alive in a coffin somewhere in Baquba, Iraq. Armed with only zippo lighter, a hand phone and some fluorescent light he has to race with time and oxygen supply to save himself.

It is clear that the kidnapper wanted to contact him through the hand phone. Using the phone he contacted the FBI and his family too.

Only Conroy get screen time, you seen him from the beginning to the end and the rest of the cast like FBI agent or his wife and mother existed only in voices Conroy heard from the phone.

This is a thought provoking film from another level, it puts a lot of thing in a new perspective. War, innocence, guilt, ignorance and humanity can be put inside one small coffin and one actor only.

Although set inside a coffin, no shot is boring, Cortés managed to squeeze many shot inside a small space and Ryan Reynolds do a convincing job as a man trapped inside a coffin.

Sure some flaws existed like how come his zippo lighter can burn for so long without consuming the oxygen inside the coffin and other 'gadget' that seem to be added so the film has a dim light. But the whole idea behind this claustrophobic adventure is fresh.

No comments: