The Cell Director: Tarsem Singh Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onfrio), is public enemy #1 in The Cell, and is the perfect serial killer for the big screen. He's the quiet type, suffers from schizophrenia, is a rather large fellow, grunts a lot, pops aspirin like sunflower seeds, hangs from the ceiling by hooks in his back, makes dolls out of his victims, and always has his mouth open. What more could you ask for in a complete maniac? Any of your typical serial killer films in the last ten years would have played off this for a good two hours, with the FBI right on his trail the entire time. "We almost got him, I can smell him!!" The Cell breaks new ground by catching the killer in the first 20 minutes of the film. The catch is that one of his victims is still alive, but is trapped in a hidden "cell" that will fill with water in 40 hours unless the FBI can find her. Another catch: the serial killer has lapsed into a coma, and will never wake up. So the FBI brings Carl to a laboratory where several scientists are conducting subconscious research. The two scientists, played by Dylan Baker and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, as well Catherine Deane, a therapist played by Jennifer Lopez, have been entering the subconscious of a 10 year old boy by hooking up lots of fancy wires to Catherine's head. Catherine and the boy, who himself is also in a coma, meet in a desert landscape that represents the boy's subconscious mind. Catherine is trying to coax the boy back into reality, but so far hasn't had much luck. The FBI, headed by Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn), bring their asleep psycho to the lab in hopes that Catherine can get into Carl's subconscious and figure out where the "cell" is located. The above plot alone makes for a fantastic film, but it's the vision and world that director Tarsem Singh creates for Carl's subconscious mind that makes this film probably one of the most innovative films I've seen on the silver screen. When Catherine first enters Carl's mind, the journey starts out fairly innocent, but slowly works it's way into Carl's kingdom of complete madness. There are images here that have never graced the screen, and are completely revolutionary. I'm not a fan of digital manipulation of film unless it is put to effective use. The Cell switches back and forth, and works both ways. The images are haunting, surreal, and lasting. Tarsem has made a lot of videos for MTV, and the only gripe I had about several of the visuals in the film is that he's incorporated several of his music video backdrops and shots into this film. Nonetheless, the film could stand on it's own with the experimental world Tarsem has created. There is the feeling of voyeurism as we journey through Carl's subconscious. We learn that Carl has been molded since birth as a violent person through years of abuse. Catherine meets up with the innocent child version of Carl and the adult killer Carl. There is certain innocence in the adult Carl, but a creepy one at that. There is hope and want in Carl's subconscious, and sadness. Catherine is frightened at first, but becomes so involved that she starts to think the world in Carl's mind is real when it is not. The ending of the film plays off of this, as well as the FBI's attempt to find the girl by using images seen in Carl's subconscious. Tarsem effectively cuts between both the real and imaginary world in such an effective manner that both become surreal. The last few scenes of The Cell give the audience its typical Hollywood feel good ending, which I disagreed with. There are small hints of an attraction between the Lopez and Vaughn characters throughout the film and at the end, luckily Tarsem spares us the displeasure. I have a feeling Tarsem and screenwriter Mark Protosevich had something else up their sleeves for a conclusion, because the ending did not feel in line with the rest of the film. All quirks aside, The Cell is by far the most imaginative as well as one of the only memorable films to be released this summer. It has all the right elements for the summertime blockbuster, but steers to the left just enough to expose mainstream audiences to its art-house sentimentality. D'Onfrio, who played Gomer Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, brings the evil side of Pyle into this role. Gomer Pyle was a silent role, but at the same time explosive. D'Onfrio gives Carl just the right amount of innocence needed to make him a tragic hero. We hate everything that the adult Carl has done, but we sympathize with the child Carl just as Catherine does. There's lost hope in the child version of Carl though. Lopez works well here with a very difficult role. I personally would have like to have seen an unknown face in the role of Catherine, but you have to sell popcorn somehow. Vaughn in the role of the FBI agent, as well as the other actors, are sort of just there, which is typical in a darker film like this. Tarsem and his production team deserve the real credit though for bringing this advance in cinema to audiences. It's a new step in digital cinema in that a director has attached a very smart story with smart visuals. Let's just hope that audiences will buy into these smart digital films instead of walking out of them. |
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