As we have a little time in front of us and at home, let's take advantage of the moment when the planet pauses to (re)make the classics of cinema behind closed doors. Whether thrillers, fantasy or action, this type of film has always encouraged creativity under duress, with varying degrees of success. Often reserved for horror films or low-budget films, this full-fledged cinematographic genre has been able to renew itself and surprise itself over time.Here is a selection of feature films where the protagonists, like all of us, are confined to a more or less small space and confronted with plots, sometimes linear, but very often captivating.
Fantastic:
Alien, the 8th Passenger (1979)
An essential classic of fantasy films, Ridley Scott stages Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) struggling with one of the most mythical monsters of modern cinema, Alien. Heavy atmosphere, breathless suspense and excellent balance between graphic and suggested horror, Aliens has inspired many filmmakers and even more nightmares to thousands of spectators.
Solaris (1972)
A film unjustly unknown to Andrei Tarkovsky's general public, Solaris is an abstract work with breathtaking images. A psychologist is sent to a space station to understand the reasons behind the madness that has taken hold of the entire crew. Confronted with his demons (including the recent suicide of his wife), Dr. Kris Kelvin begins, in turn, to lose his mind.This film was remade in 2002 with George Clooney, under the baton of Steven Soderbergh for those who prefer more recent films.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Adaptation of a French comic book (yes!) by South Korean director, now Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer is a work of anticipation that takes place entirely on a train gathering the last survivors of the planet after the advent of a new ice age following an experiment gone wrong making life as we know it impossible. In this train, a new unjust and oppressive world order splits the cars between the front of the train (the rich) and the rear of the train (the poorest without any rights). A handful of rebels decided to lead a revolution to demand fairer treatment. Concrete cast (Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Hurt…) and breathtaking scenes (the battle against the train police in a wagon plunged into darkness is a piece of insane bravery), it is an aesthete, entertaining and thought-provoking film on topics that are, more than ever, topical.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Major work of Stanley Kubrick, this space opera in 4 acts takes us on a journey through time around a mysterious lunar monolith containing an intelligence superior to anything we know.An exceptional staging, music that sets the tone through the different situations and the mythical H on-board computer.Has.L 9000 at the service of a story that encourages us to question our place in the universe and the limits of human knowledge. To share with your loved ones if you have already seen it (preferably during the day), this film should lead you to passionate debates. One more way to pass the time in a constructive and fun way!
Qube (1997)
An anxiety-provoking film par excellence, Qube tells the story of 6 strangers who wake up in a room with no memory of what led them to this place.What they don't know is that they have been placed in the Qube, a place where the laws of physics no longer apply and where death traps can arise from anywhere. First opus of Vicenzo Natali, a regular of the genre, who will then direct Cypher (2002) and Splice (2009) before converting into purely television directing, Qube is a kind of UFO of the genre because of its very abstract bias, the total lack of empathy for the different protagonists and a cast made of supporting roles mainly from the world of television. A sequel was even released a few years later, a failure since it only capitalized on the first opus without showing any originality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAWSkYqqkMA
Suspense:
Buried (2010)
A tour de force. Rodrigo Cortes manages to keep us in suspense for the duration of the film, 95 minutes for one of the most scary films of the decade.Ryan Reynolds, a truck driver for a private company operating in Iraq, wakes up in a box. He only has his phone and a lighter in his pocket. Very quickly, he realizes that he has been buried alive. The air is running out, he has only a few minutes left to get out of it.A permanent tension, well-paced twists and the last 5 minutes are of a rare intensity. To discover, if you dare.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
A robbery gone wrong, a mole in the gang, a warehouse and little time to save his skin. The frame is simple but it's Quentin Tarantino behind (and in front) of the camera. Tasty dialogues, colorful characters, Tarantinesque soundtrack, QT's first film sets the tone for its direction and its universe.An exceptional cast (for a first film) with Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn and Steve Buscemi as nervous robbers and nevrosés.A delight for the eyes, to consume without moderation.
Phone Booth (2003)
A publicist without stories has the misfortune to pick up a pay phone on the streets of New York. A sniper hiding in a building advises him to do what he asks him to do well or innocent people will die. Then begins a remote duel between Colin Farrell and his torturer (to discover) of 81 minutes. Little nugget of Joel Schumacher, capable of the best (St Elmo's Fire, Lost Boys, The Client) and the worst (Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, Bad Company), Phone Booth strangely went unnoticed when it was released. A little advice, only watch the trailer before seeing this movie, the final twist is too tasty to be spoiled.
Window on courtyard (1954)
A selection of thrillers cannot be complete without invoking the absolute master of the genre, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. The most famous silhouette of the genre has also tried behind closed doors with this effort featuring James Stewart and Grace Kelly and telling the story of this voyeur photographer in a wheelchair following an accident that forces him to stay cloistered at home and who watches, helplessly, the murder of his neighbor from his window. The murderer soon realizes that he has been spotted. This film has, in a way, laid the foundations of the modern suspense film and has been repeatedly copied or parodied in many recent shows and films (That 70's Show, Family Guy, The Simpsons). Two remakes have been released, one with Christopher Reeves in 1998 and another with Shia LaBeouf under the title Paranoïak in 2007.
Funny Games US (2007)
Michael Haneke directs the remake of his own film for its American adaptation. The story is simple: two young men arrive at the house of an uneventful family, ensues a hostage-taking and a game of cat and mouse of the most sadistic. Contrasting the couple Tim Roth / Naomi Watts as "victims" and Michael Pitt / Brady Corbet as "torturers", Haneke manages to breathe new life into a genre that has become quite conventional over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TBoWs32zlc
Un Après-midi de Chien (1975)
A desperate man decides to rob a bank so that he can pay for an important operation for the love of his life. The robbery goes badly and turns into a hostage situation. Then follows a series of traps set by the police to stop Sonny, the robber played by an Al Pacino at the top of his art and a tension that rises crescendo until the climax, intense but predictable. This film is known for the great differences between Pacino and Sydney Lumet (the director) which resulted in a tense and uncomfortable shoot. This tension is present on the screen and ends up serving the purpose of the film well. Social drama, Stockholm syndrome, big flights and knife dialogues, this film marked its era for its avant-gardism and the impeccable acting of its actors.
Horror:
The Descent (2005)
A group of girlfriends leave for a caving trip in a remote forest. The expedition turns to drama when the band of valiant adventurers is attacked by one of the creatures living in the caves they explore. A breathless film with graphic horror and countless jump-scares , The Descent will disgust you with caving and keep you on your toes until the final scene. Directed by Neil Marshall (to whom we owe the remake of Hellboy but also Centurion and Doomsday) and carried by a cast of valiant unknowns (which, for this type of film, is a real plus), The Descent was so successful that it was the subject of a real sequel (with the same team) uneven, but just as creepy.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
A pioneer of zombie movies, the late George Romero laid the foundation for the genre and gave it a new impetus in the late '60s. The synopsis is simple (even simplistic), a group of people attacked by a horde of flesh-eating zombies confine themselves to a farm and try to fend off the waves of attacks of the undead. The production, raw and stressful, compensates for special effects that have aged badly and that, nowadays, can seem a tad guignolesque. It remains an effective, intense film that asks the question that has become central in recent works of the genre: if zombies ever attack, what will be our relationship to the other?
Saw (2004)
James Wan's stroke of genius, still unknown at the time, this film traces the ordeal of the two people who wake up in a room, chained and without the slightest idea of what brought them here. A voice sounds, the Jigsaw wants to play a game. Sadistic, graphic and Machiavellian, the first episode of the series, which will give birth (with Hostel) the wave of Torture Porn between 2004 and 2014, remains the most successful. Thanks, paradoxically, to a limited budget that has generated increased creativity in the writing and representation of horror, James Wan manages to transmit to us the anguish of the protagonists that rises crescendo until a brilliant finale of sadism. Big success, the film will be declined in franchise worthy of the offspring of The Hill has Eyes, barely watchable.
Rec (2007)
A first Spanish film, whose trailer was limited to showing the reaction of the public during the test sessions, Rec managed to maintain the mystery as to its plot. The bias is interesting, we follow the plot from the camera of a film crew for Spanish TV following a fire brigade in their intervention during the night. They are called to a residential area where residents notice bizarre events. The moment the brigade intervenes, hell breaks loose. This is followed by 60 minutes of pure horror and suspense, with no downtime and no concessions. The attempt of Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero (the directors) is a stroke of genius, the story is built little by little and is punctuated by macabre discoveries and horribly effective scenes of terror. Here too, the success of the first opus has given rise to many sequels, to be done in order to fully understand the mystery surrounding the apartment on the top floor of this building.
The Shining (1980)
Kubrick's second film in this article, an adaptation by Stephen King which, rarely, holds the dragee high to the original work. Carried by an exceptional Jack Nicholson, the story revolves around a small family who goes to a secluded hotel in the middle of the mountains that closes during the low season (the Overlook) where the Dad thinks he will find the necessary calm to work on his new book while earning some "easy" money. Except that the isolation and evil forces that lie dormant in this place will play tricks on Jack who will sink little by little into a murderous madness. A real visual slap, a tension of all moments, lovers of thrills will largely find their account.
Misery (1990)
Another adaptation of Stephen King (we could have added Cujo, Gerald's Game or Rear Window, the master of horror likes narrow spaces) which abandons, the time of a novel, the fantastic pure and hard for a realistic work but still terrifying, a kind of mise en abyme. We find Paul Sheldon (played by James Caan), bestselling author and colorful character, victim of a car accident and rescued by Annie Wilkes, a fan (immortalized by Kathy Bates) who immediately recognizes him and takes him home to treat him. Except that Paul quickly realizes that Annie does not just want to treat him, she will sequester him in the worst way (a scene not recommended for the fragile of the stomach) and make him write a novel according to her own instructions. Despite a longer than average duration for a film carried by 2 actors in a single location (107 minutes), you will not have a break and you will never see Kathy Bates in the same way again.
Action:
Crystal Trap (1988)
Nakatomi Plaza, John McClane, Hans Gruber, a Christmas party and machine guns. If you haven't seen the ultimate Christmas movie yet, put on your best sweater and enjoy this timeless classic. Yippikiyay!
The Raid (2011)
Directed by the (too) rare Welsh Gareth Evans, this film does not bother with plots, worked characters or tasty dialogues. It is a 100% actuator that puts you in full view without being too burdened with the codes of the genre. Buoyed by the revelation of the action film of recent years, the Indonesian Iko Uwais, a real acrobat gifted combat sports, the film tells the story of an intervention team in a building run by a godfather of the underworld. In order to neutralize the big boss, you will have to go up floor by floor to fight with different kinds of minions and types of combat. A real guilty pleasure, extremely distracting and doped with testosterone.
The Wall (2017)
Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Mr & Mrs Smith, The Bourne Identity…) Abandons the big blockbusters to experiment with a new playground, the intimate action film. Two soldiers (John Cena the wrestler/actor and Aaron Taylor Johnson seen in Kick Ass, Savages and Godzilla) are trapped by a sniper. All that separates them from their executioner is a small wall (hence the title). We can not say more so as not to spoil the twists that dot the film. The exercise is still interesting to watch.
Cape Fear (1991)
A Martin Scorsese / Robert de Niro collaboration is enticing enough to make you want to take a closer look. Les Nerfs à Vif (French title of the film) is no exception to the rule. We follow the fate of Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte of the 48 Hours era), a lawyer who is harassed by one of his former clients, Max Cady (De Niro, as we have rarely seen) released from prison after serving a 14-year sentence for rape and who has a grudge against his lawyer. Then follows a stormy night where Max will attack his lawyer and his family (Jessica Lange and a very young Juliette Lewis). A night that will be as long as it is violent. We can add some comedies like Le Diner de Cons, Le Breakfast Club or Maman J'ai Raté L'Avion to put a little more humor in all this. The main thing is to have a good time and come out a little lighter from this confinement.
