Wednesday 14 January 2009

It came from the mist...

It’s very rarely that I watch a film with my hands held up to my face, transfixed on the screen through the tiny gaps between my fingers in some miserable attempt to shield myself from becoming too involved in the film.

However, today’s film ‘The Mist’ did just that.

I’ll admit that I did sit through the initial appalling acting and forced dialogue with a criticised look across my face but when the mist rolled over the store I felt as if I was there with the rest of the cast.

No doubt my cries and whimpers uttered feebly throughout the rest of the film confirmed to my surrounding colleagues just how involved I’d become. The last time that had happened to me with a film was with ‘Cloverfield’.

It would seem that thrillers where nothing really happens, hit me the most. You view the film through the eyes of the people there. I love it when all you can hear is the odd inhuman sound, yet you never really see what is happening beyond the confined crowd of people. I suppose what really interests me is the reaction of the people. How everyone is actually shit-scared and behave in abnormal ways, whether it be fixating on rescuing someone or turning to religion.

It’s also nice to watch a film that hasn’t been utterly Americanised. By that I mean the plot remains intellectual and unexplained, not blatantly spelt out with colourful magic-markers. I also particularly enjoyed how the film darkly ended, no rounded up summary or explanation, just an abrupt end. A sad end nonetheless but all the more realistic and horrifying.

But then ‘The Mist’ seems to be a contradiction to everything I thought to be important. A major part of my blogs is the discussion of gameplay and the importance of storyline. The film, however, didn’t seem to have that strong of a storyline, yet it is one of the most captivating films I have seen.

However the film was all about the ‘shock’ factor. Could the film ever be seen again with the same, thrilling, reaction?

2 comments:

Blair said...

Oh wow, this sounds like my kind of thing. Need to see this now!

Michael Powell said...

Second time I've seen it - still made me die inside, even though I knew what was coming. The utter , unrelenting descent into calamity is truly emotionally draining.