I would like to continue my blog by adding some notes about an American thriller called 'The Machinist'. The film was released in 2004 and caught my attention because I am fan of the leading actor. The notes I made after watching the film were originally for my own use, but I have decided to post them because I feel that films can play an important role in learning English and this may give you an idea as to what The Machinist is about. Perhaps you could also make a note of the vocabulary I have included at the end.See if you can gather from my notes as to whether or not I enjoyed the film!Film Title: The Machinist (El Maquinista)Director: Brad AndersonYear of Release: 2004Like a stalker on the corner of a dark street at midnight, this film creeps through its duration at an unsettling pace and with a frightening agenda. It peers through the blinds letting shifts of daylight into its twisted setting and conjures a wild looming that is rarely seen outside of David Lynch’s back catalogue. The result is chilling and it harbours a plot so fantastic that even Christian Bale has trouble unmasking the flaccid conclusion to this otherwise ballsy picture.I wanted this to be great. I wanted this to be something really special. The spooky ambience and forgotten hype that this film caused when it was released in 2004 almost guaranteed its inability to live up to my drastic expectations. I recently saw the film for the first time and it was not hard to see why. The Machinist sweeps along at a gentle pace, allowing for its baleful darkness to seep in. Sinister characters rustle about spacious boundaries but are left to fester as opposed to being back handed across the films disappointingly sloppy ending. It is too bad they had no say in the matter, for the typical showdown almost blows this fragile horror out of the grim crimson pool it built its hype around. I plan to keep my eye out for writer Scott Kosar with hope that he will adapt his technique in projects to come. His wonderful ability to weave relationships with the unknown is a remarkable gift, it’s just a pity that director Brad Anderson couldn’t help steer the project in a different direction.Vocabulary:Creeps (verb) - to move slowly, like a reptile.Back Catalogue (noun) - previous workHarbour (verb) - to secretly shelterBaleful (adjective) - full of dark and menacing influencesGrim (adjective) - stern or sinister
This is one of the official posters for the film. Do you think that you would be able to guess from the poster that this film is a thriller?
I see a game of hangman, which we played a lot in our early education in school. It was always fun and encouraged the learning of word spellings. But it does look sinister here due to the sepia tones and the rugged wall. What is missing? What is the word? And what will happen as the protagonist tries to find the truth. Very mysterious. I think I need to rent this on Netflix.
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