Forget about Godzilla ... *a Cloverfield review*
10 years after Godzilla, Cloverfield offers moviegoers a new, improved and scarier version of the monster flick, carrying the genre’s conventions to new heights.
Movies’ number one goal when it comes to pleasing audiences is make-believe. Moviegoers thrive for this illusion of reality. Comfy in their red velvet chairs with popcorn in one hand and coke in the other, they come to the movies to be entertained and emotionally challenged, all the while never leaving the safety of the theater. Experiencing a thrill, an adrenaline rush through a movie screen. Reality, but without the danger, without the risk.
The beauty of movies resides in the fact that when it is done right, this illusion of reality can become even more real than reality itself. Director Matt Reeves -for him it is the first feature film- has managed to achieve that with Cloverfield.
Everybody’s heard of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Well if there ever was an America’s Scariest Home Videos contest, Cloverfield would win the big prize hands down.
Indeed by the end of the film, you have purely and simply forgotten that it was just that. A film. From the actor’s natural and authentic performances to the camera work -or rather non-existing camera work, with its distorted angles, shaky moves, blurry close ups, disturbing roller coaster-like changes of pace and rhythm, Cloverfield is made to feel like a home video, a home made documentary, with the same lack of focus, technique or precision that usually characterizes your mom and pops summer vacation video. Same thing, only not as funny. And way better and creepier than The Project Blair Witch.
The camera -which is actually a cam-recorder- becomes witness; witness of an innocent farewell party that rapidly turns into a nightmare.
Cloverfield is without a doubt one of the boldest and most innovative movies of the year -if not of the decade, and no doubt one of the best monster films ever to hit our movie screens.
Watch out for the most frightening helicopter scene that will make you think twice before accepting a ride in a helicopter. It’s like your worst nightmare suddenly materializes in front of your eyes, and because of the camera work, you find yourself stuck right in the middle of it. Ever wondered, while riding in an elevator, what it would feel like to be inside a free falling elevator cabin? Well, imagine this, only with a helicopter.
The innovation with Cloverfield is not as much what you see as how you see it and how it is presented to you. You can feel the stress, the panic, the gut wrenching fear of the people caught in the midst of an unexpected attack by a monstrous -and at first unidentified, attacker, through the lens of a cam-recorder.
The film also hits closer to home than you might think. Lower Manhattan’s buildings being hit by what looks at first like missile before collapsing, people taking shelter in nearby stores in an effort to protect themselves from a gigantic cloud of smoke and dust casting an oppressing veil of darkness over the city, looked all too familiar. Impossible not to think of what it must have felt like to be a Manhattanite on that fateful day of 9-11.
So why is Cloverfield such a brilliant film? Because the relationship that is created between the camera and the audience is immediate and very effective. Watching this film just feels so real.
With its erratic and chaotic pace, Cloverfield is almost painful to watch. It will make your head spin and your eyes ache. This exhausting and one of a kind movie going experience is guaranteed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, and leave them staring at the screen with a blank look on their face, wondering what the hell just happened.
Movies’ number one goal when it comes to pleasing audiences is make-believe. Moviegoers thrive for this illusion of reality. Comfy in their red velvet chairs with popcorn in one hand and coke in the other, they come to the movies to be entertained and emotionally challenged, all the while never leaving the safety of the theater. Experiencing a thrill, an adrenaline rush through a movie screen. Reality, but without the danger, without the risk.
The beauty of movies resides in the fact that when it is done right, this illusion of reality can become even more real than reality itself. Director Matt Reeves -for him it is the first feature film- has managed to achieve that with Cloverfield.
Everybody’s heard of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Well if there ever was an America’s Scariest Home Videos contest, Cloverfield would win the big prize hands down.
Indeed by the end of the film, you have purely and simply forgotten that it was just that. A film. From the actor’s natural and authentic performances to the camera work -or rather non-existing camera work, with its distorted angles, shaky moves, blurry close ups, disturbing roller coaster-like changes of pace and rhythm, Cloverfield is made to feel like a home video, a home made documentary, with the same lack of focus, technique or precision that usually characterizes your mom and pops summer vacation video. Same thing, only not as funny. And way better and creepier than The Project Blair Witch.
The camera -which is actually a cam-recorder- becomes witness; witness of an innocent farewell party that rapidly turns into a nightmare.
Cloverfield is without a doubt one of the boldest and most innovative movies of the year -if not of the decade, and no doubt one of the best monster films ever to hit our movie screens.
Watch out for the most frightening helicopter scene that will make you think twice before accepting a ride in a helicopter. It’s like your worst nightmare suddenly materializes in front of your eyes, and because of the camera work, you find yourself stuck right in the middle of it. Ever wondered, while riding in an elevator, what it would feel like to be inside a free falling elevator cabin? Well, imagine this, only with a helicopter.
The innovation with Cloverfield is not as much what you see as how you see it and how it is presented to you. You can feel the stress, the panic, the gut wrenching fear of the people caught in the midst of an unexpected attack by a monstrous -and at first unidentified, attacker, through the lens of a cam-recorder.
The film also hits closer to home than you might think. Lower Manhattan’s buildings being hit by what looks at first like missile before collapsing, people taking shelter in nearby stores in an effort to protect themselves from a gigantic cloud of smoke and dust casting an oppressing veil of darkness over the city, looked all too familiar. Impossible not to think of what it must have felt like to be a Manhattanite on that fateful day of 9-11.
So why is Cloverfield such a brilliant film? Because the relationship that is created between the camera and the audience is immediate and very effective. Watching this film just feels so real.
With its erratic and chaotic pace, Cloverfield is almost painful to watch. It will make your head spin and your eyes ache. This exhausting and one of a kind movie going experience is guaranteed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, and leave them staring at the screen with a blank look on their face, wondering what the hell just happened.