The sub-genre of hand held camera thrillers is an odd beast. Every single one I've seen in a cinema has been met with truly divisive reactions from fellow audience members, whether it be Diary of the Dead, Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity. That can also be said of Cloverfield, a reworking of the giant monster movie (like Godzilla and King Kong before it) with an epic creature causing death and destruction in a friendly neighbourhood metropolis. As I left the movie theatre, the people behind me boldly state "Well, that was shit". The thing is though, it's clearly not. In fact it's quite brilliant.
The complete lack of score combined with the hand held camera technique puts the viewer right in the heart of the action. The hand held stuff is pretty daring for a mainstream movie as, unlike Paranormal Activity, the cameraman is running about all over the place. That means the camera is often looking down at the ground, at someones hand, into the sky or lying on the ground. It's a quite 'art' approach to telling a narrative story but we buy it because we've all held a video camera. So gestures and posture do as much to communicate character as the actors expressions. Of course the erratic camera also helps hide some concealed editing, some gore, or even the monster itself...keeping the movie within it's rating and budget.
Despite the lanky beast that is destroying Manhattan, Cloverfield is basically a love story. Director Matt Reeves presents his so-called 'found footage' as having been recorded over a trip to the beach between leads Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman, a month earlier. The clips of the trip keep reappearing every time camera operator, Hud, turn the camcorder on and off...reinforcing the close connection the two characters have and helps you understand Vogel's need to rescue her, once the mayhem kicks off. The fifteen minutes of party drama helps establish relationships in an engaging way, and is so successful, you're taken aback when the party folk are forced to stop gossiping and run for their lives.
If the gigantic monster and perilous rescue mission weren't enough to keep you gripping your seat then Reeves chucks in some smaller creatures for the cast to flea from in the dark and some venom which causes you to explode. Cloverfield is relentless right up to it's bleak conclusion...that pissed off so many of my many fellow theatre goers. But those dumb asses obviously missed the point of the Coney Island footage in Cloverfield's final moments, where we see Vogel and Yustman in love, perhaps suggesting eternal happiness for the pair whose deaths we don't witness. Well, to hell with them because it really is a modern masterpiece.
2 comments:
I love Cloverfield. I think it's pure genius and incredibly effective. But then I love this genre of found footage/mockumentary. With this, Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity we have three utterly brilliant films. Even some of the smaller, lesser ones I've seen have been good. There was that serial killer one. I forget its name but they were basically following him around making a documentary while he talked about his heroes: Jason, Michael Myers etc. All these famous screen nutters were real people in that film's universe adding an extra weird dimension. And for all its flaws Romero's Diary of the Dead is also very good. But Cloverfield does indeed kick some serious ass. Loves it I does.
I love this too, its a favourite to go to if i am stuck for what to watch, and every time i put it on i am like, oh yeah this rules!!
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