Buried - Lebend begraben

Buried is a film that keeps things deadly simple, one character, one location and a one line but horribly inspired plot, those looking for flashy visuals or big action should turn far, far away from this one. It's worth noting though that the film is well directed and photographed, director Rodrigo Cortes has a nimble eye for visuals and angles to keep things visually interesting, while cinematographer Eduard Grau gets the best out of the mere two light sources to make the experience a frighteningly vivid one. The plot sees Ryan Reynolds waking up in a coffin, with nothing more than a cell-phone and his lighter to help him out, things develop through his series of fraught, occasionally bleakly amusing and increasingly desperate communications with the outside world. Its rather interesting to see a film so based around interactions on a mobile phone, devices so often objects of fear, suspicion, or in the case of some horror films and of course the cinematic experience for the viewer, irritations. Here every ring is crucial, the battery bar is nail-biting, even the light of the screen is important. For me, just as interesting was the choice of lead. I've never had time for Ryan Reynolds, a face from some of the worst in lowbrow comedy and someone I never expected to appreciate breaking through into not just serious film but something as bold in its structure as this. A lot of people are likely to dislike the film on a fundamental level, but Reynolds gives the performance of his life here, running through a rainbow of emotions, angry, sarcastic and terrified are but a few. Compelling and sympathetic, likely physically arduous too (though I'd don't know how the film was made it must have been tough, barring serious trickery) he holds the film wonderfully. The script is of course of utmost importance too, and writer Chris Sparling does mostly terrific work. An ordinary man reacting as best he can to a nightmare, drawing on the sort of resourcefulness he probably hoped he'd never need, occasionally breaking down but keeping ploughing on, shades of dark humour in the protagonist's travails on the phone, its endlessly interesting and as time goes on, nail-bitingly suspenseful. I had minor issues with realism in the film, and there was at least one interesting little aside that could have been developed a bit more, but overall this is a great achievement. It surely won't appeal to everyone and my rating might seem generous, but for doing this well on such a risky concept, and putting together a suspenser that remains thought provoking after, a 9/10 from me.

Buried is easily one of the interesting movie experiments I have seen in recent times. Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes takes minimalist cinema-making to new heights by telling a story with just only one character trapped in one location in what is almost dogma 95esque settings, and far more importantly he manages to do so by keeping it interesting throughout the 90 minutes.

Buried opens with a man trapped in what appears to be a wooden box buried underground. As the movie progresses we find out he is Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) an American truck driver employed by an American firm - Creston Roland and Thomas (CRT) in Iraq. His last memory is that of his convoy being ambushed by people (as Conroy puts it- terrorists, insurgents who the f**k cares?). As he tries to piece it all together he finds out that he has lost his special contact number ( that apparently every American in Iraq has been given in case of an emergency) but discovers a mobile phone ( in Arabic settings) and a Zippo lighter alongside a pencil, a pocket knife, and supply of anti-anxiety pills ( we later learn that Conroy suffers from anxiety)

The rest of the movie is about his frenetic attempts to establish contact with outside world - his family, friends, employers, the state department to seek assistance to 'get him out'. But things start to get complicated when he is contacted on the phone by his abductor who requests him to arrange ransom from the American Embassy. Running out of both phone battery and air to breathe, Conroy soon finds out that the threats are not hollow; he is forced to make a video of himself which finds its way to the you tube. As things deliberate, Conroy starts to realise he is just a small, helpless insect caught in a web spun by devious and meaner players…

+++

I missed Cortes' interview on BBC Radio 4 yesterday so I'm not really sure the actual intention behind the movie but there are enough, unmissable, Geo-political subtexts in the script - "I never thought I will find myself here". "I don't think any of us thought we would find ourselves here". I read the movie as Conroy being symbolic of America trapped in a situation which he couldn't get out of despite all the technology and the capitalism abound - multinationals ( admit it, doesn't Creston Roland and Thomas sound impressive? especially, if you say it where the outside temperature is 50 degree centigrade?), answering machines ( that great trickster of a machine that promises to callback but doesn't), robot call operators ( Sir, I can connect you to the FBI field office in Boston, New York, Chicago…), the protocols (Crisis Steering Committee, Hostage Negotiation Team ) etc, all of which somewhat seem hopelessly trivial in the face of more existential needs.

Buried is a intelligent 21st century cinematic marriage of Kafka and Beckett. Philosophically, it is a wonderful screen portrayal of a nervous breakdown in the wake of continuing threat. I found how Cortes had guided Conroy's character through a sequence of emotions - anger, pain, fear, disdain, dread, calm and finally acceptance very beautiful, though in a sense beautiful is not the correct word here. The camera work, especially the use of different angles to emphasise different emotions within the limited setting of the movie is commendable. Last but not the least, I always remembered Ryan Reynolds as that lanky guy wearing a maroon sweatshirt in Two guys , a girl and a pizza place. It is fair to say not anymore. To be frank, he is a bit of surprise here; he lives up to the demands of the role - a lesser effort would have easily made the Buried a 90 minute closeup photo-shoot in dark light settings. Ryan should be proud of his efforts in the Buried.

In light of how the idea of cinema is recast lately, movies such as Buried ought to be encouraged, because, amongst million other reasons it defines what cinema is more than how a 3D movie would. I would prefer watching Buried again than writing a review of James Cameron's next big computer generated manipulation that is assured to collectively sweep the humanity into his bank account.

When this movie started and the opening credits began, it was in parallel with Hitchcock movies, almost a replica of the Psycho opening sequence. It was fairly obvious that the director has been inspired by the Master of Macabre.

I was intrigued for the entire 90 minutes of the movie, and although there were a couple of scenes that I was unsure about, it was still well worth watching. Ryan Reynolds is believable as a man buried alive in a coffin, and you can really feel the emotions he experiences during the movie. There is some wonderful conversations he has on the phone, in particular when he speaks to his mother.

Just as you think that nothing more can happen, a surprise twist occurs which makes you want to stay and see if he will or will not survive. The ending was a surprise to me.

Like Phone Booth and Man On A Ledge, both I have only seen recently, I had to watch this to it's full conclusion, and I did enjoy it.

It's a bit hard to review this special movie. You can't go into special effects because there were non. You can't say anything about the cast because it's just one person you see. And the set is simple too, just a coffin. Yes, indeed, it all takes place in a coffin. So that's already tricky to watch because I know a lot of people who didn't liked it because there was nothing to see or watch and I must agree with them. It takes indeed almost an hour before the suspense comes in. The first hour you will learn everything about the character, perfectly played by Ryan Reynolds. But it's all done on phone. Of course, being buried you can't do anything else than phone but for me it was a bit too long, an hour as I said. But from then on it goes faster and things go from worse to terribly wrong. The ending was a surprise for me. I won't spoil it just watch it. Still, I won't state it as a horror either a suspense or thriller. But you have to experience the coffin setting to sit it through. Simple story, excellent camera tricks.

Paul Conroy (played by Ryan Reynolds) awakes to find himself in a wooden box, buried underground. He is a civilian contractor and truck-driver in Iraq. His convoy was ambushed and he was taken captive and buried alive. He has a limited amount of air, giving him a limited time to find a way out. All he has to aid him in this task is his cigarette lighter, a torch, a mobile phone and his will to live.

Minimalist yet highly original, intriguing and tension-filled.

Probably the most minimalist movie ever made. The entire movie is filmed inside a wooden box, a wooden box with one occupant (well, one human occupant...). One actor - Ryan Reynolds - has 100% of the screen time, though there are voices of other actors involved.

Incredibly engrossing and tension-filled. Until the very last moment you don't know how things are going to work out. Director Rodrigo Cortes and writer Chris Sparling keep you on tenterhooks throughout, teasing you with thoughts of one survival option being more likely than the other.

Shows you don't need a big budget to make a great movie.