February Magazine Movie Moods/Coverfield: No Monster regret
01/28/2008 03:56 PM by Gretchen Schauffler
Cloverfield is our MOVIE MOODS review for the March issue of DEVINE COLOR MAGAZINE posting this Friday.
Cloverfield is not a monster movie, it has a monster in it. Do not let the trailers or the hype fool you. It is like a love letter to a twenty-something generation known to be as jumpy about relationships as the hand-held camera used in this film.
It starts with a delightful celebration into the shallow, superficial, commitment-phobia world of a young Manhattan crowd. A cool shindig—a going away party for a boy-next-door that everyone loves, full of color-infused drink delights, international food trays, and a passion for fashion that defines their “Gossip Girl meets Bon Appetite” social habits.
You are an instant guest because of a hand-held camera given to a friend to record the party and the fairwells. The movie sets you up to judge these characters from the beginning with an undercurrent tone— great at accomplishments/ not so great at relationships and it can lead to monster regrets in the future—especially when you take the future for granted.
In the middle of overhearing a “dude-you-slept-with-her-and-didn’t-call-her” heart-to-heart conversation that happens between young men through alcohol-induced courage, and thinking to yourself you are glad you’re not them, the party is interrupted when a monster attacks Manhattan. Why and how did the monster come to be is secondary to what it does—aside from crushing buildings and eating people—it changes the focus of the film from self-absorption to self-realization.
Once everyone realizes that an insane, and unbelievable natural disaster has happened, and that their lives are now totally and utterly out of control (that includes you, the voyeur), what lies under each character’s thin shallow veneer takes over and makes this movie a rollercoaster ride you wont want to miss.
The film is full of colorful design, lighting statements, and cool camera shots, color shots, but it is the main characters’ gut reactions, from the guy you can’t trust with a camera to document a party but ends up endangering his life to record the whole night, to the too-cool-for-school-not-into-you actress who turns out to be a fierce protector, to the main couple in the film who don’t trust each other, but have faith in their unexpressed love that surprises you as much as them. All self-doubt flies out the window; a strong sense of direction sets in, and love becomes a verb.
Loyalty, courage, trust and love triumph, and the fact that it can be done while running on designer heels, should not be looked as a shallow detail, but a show-and-tell of how depth and beauty can sometimes go together!
The plot could have been easily dismissed as non-existent in comparison to having a monster for a problem, if not for the call to action (“you-have-it-in-you-to-be-in-a committed-relationship-now”) it leaves behind for its twenty-something viewers as a loving bon-voyage.
The famous line in the film, “they are going to want to know… how it all went down” is full of confidence, service and commitment. It makes the film worth watching and the last lines in the movie a joy to hear.
Gretchen Schauffler
Artist and Founder of Devine Color®
Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, more cast
Directed By: Matt Reeves
Released By: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: 01/18/2008
Run Time: 84 min.
Genre: Action and Adventure, Crime and Mystery, New Release
Rating: PG-13
| Textile Help | ||
January Magazine Movie Moods/ A Bitter Sweet Temptation
February Hue Correspondent/Christina Wieselman: The Luxury of Aging
Back to Devine Blog
did the monster live or die?
— kelley 05/09/2008 01:51 PM #