Starring: John Malkovich, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener.
Being John Malkovich, follows an unemployed puppeteer who takes a temp job. At work, he discovers a hidden portal which leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich.
I have never hated a film more. Not in like a 'this is a shitty film' way but in a 'this trips me the fuck out' kind of way. It wasn't a film that I switched off but it's definitely a film that I don't think I can ever watch again. Saying that I can understand the perspective of it being a cult classic, much like Donnie Darko and I see it's appeal.
I found that I hated all the characters. They all made me feel creepy and violated. The main character Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) annoyed me to great depths, with his attitude and personality. The rest just didn't seem like nice people and for this reason I found it hard to connect with the characters which therefore made the film less personal to me.
The storyline in the film is insane. I think it's something about portals and time travel that I just don't vibe with and just can't comprehend because well, that is some scary stuff to think about. The concept of this film, of there being a portal into someones mind and then the two females starting to control and have relationships with each other through the actor, I can't even grasp it. There was so much stuff going on, it was hard at times to focus on the main story-line.
The settings for the film and cinematography was something that tripped me out the most. The film featured these rooms that were like a quarter of the height of a normal room and the whole thing just made me feel claustrophobic and uneasy.
The settings were also very grey and dingy, obviously with the 90's office look. This was something that just made the film feel so much more exhausting to watch. It was draining to watch the mundane voices and characters who are trying to be eccentric because they are bored of their lives and then having to see no colour and just muted and monochromatic colour themes. The whole thing just didn't work for me.
Even though I responded badly to the film, I do genuinely think it's a great movie. I think the concept is genius and distinctive while the actual production of the film was unlike any film I have remember seeing before. The film was also meant to be intentionally insufferable for the audience, at least on paper. So I feel in that regard, the film did exactly what it set out to do and for this reason, is even more great.
Overall, I would definitely recommend watching this film as it is a good experience to have and will fuck with you for a couple of days afterwards. I definitely don't think I would recommend watching this film high and it is 100% a film I will not be watching again.
