Wednesday 3 November 2010

Lift



I'm interested in the static location and the people that use it. This is a great film I stumbled across last night. The cameraman is ever present in the lift, the confined space, constantly used. A transitional space, people heading out, people heading home. Snapshots of their day. The interaction between the individuals and the camera / cameraman are fascinating, especially how they evolve over time.

He starts as a voyeur, but then starts interacting with the characters, asking simple yet huge questions.

"Have you ever been in love?"
"What did you dream about last night?"
"Do you have religion in your life?"

and the one that struck the strongest cord with me:

"What is your best memory of your childhood?"

The time limit and the confined space with the characters in transition from one space to another give rewarding, insightful and inspirational responses.

Yes it's 24 mins long, and yeah, you will end up watching the whole thing. Brilliant.

2 comments:

  1. What a life affirming experience that must have been; the people were so lovely to him, giving him food and so on. Also I love the fact that so many of them were willing to open up to a complete stranger in a lift with a camera and have such intimate conversations. They revealed so much, in places it almost had a confessional tone, like the lift had become the confession box to go in and offload. I love this film, one of the nicest things I have seen in ages. The Indian guy who keeps coming in and giving him food....aaaghh...LIKE.

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  2. "Peter what is your favourite childhood memory?"
    "Seeing a golden eagle".

    .....I wan't to hug that guy.

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