The minimalist concept is executed so well it's revelatory.
This film is a testament to storytelling, cinematography, and
Tom Hardy. The entire thing takes place in a car as a man drives from Birmingham to London, England, speaking on the phone with various people in his life - and it’s utterly spellbinding. Before this film, I never would have believed that concrete as a major plot point could be so intense, nor would I have believed that such a simple, minimalistic premise could result in one of the most powerful humanist dramas of the 21st century. Tom Hardy plays the main character, Ivan
Locke, a man irrevocably redefining his own sense of responsibility, and the film’s success hinges on his committed performance just as much as the stellar writing.
Another “never would I have ever” is never would I have ever believed that a dialogue-driven film, taking place in a car, as a man hurriedly but safely travels across England, could be so visually captivating. There’s no chase scenes, no car crashes or special effects, just brilliantly creative uses of light by cinematographer
Haris Zambarloukos. City lights, headlights, street lights: Zambarloukos morphs them all into abstract shapes and patterns that float across the screen like ethereal sprites, as if they’re ghosts of the past, of all the people who’ve been at a life-changing crossroads in their life, guiding Locke along the way.
The play of light and shapes also reminds me a lot of the experimental avant-garde works of early animators like
Walter Ruttman and
Oskar Fischinger (and now I can justify that time a few years ago when I spent an entire weekend watching short experimental films from the 1920s and 30s #TheKnowledgeIsSlightlyLessUseless).
Whether narratively or aesthetically, it truly astounds me the way some filmmakers, as well as some talented artists in general, can turn a morsel of an idea into a feast of wonder.
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