The Machinist
by Brad Anderson
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DVD details
Actor: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Sharian, Michael IronsideDirector: Brad Anderson
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Cinematographer: Xavi Giménez
Producer: Antonia Nava
Producer: Carlos Fernández
Producer: Javier Arsuaga
Producer: Julio Fernández
Producer: Teresa Gefaell
Writer: Scott Kosar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Machinist
DVD Review: An Ill-literates Machinist Review
Summary: 3 Stars
Guilt. That's what this film is about. Maybe you shoulnd't know that going in but if you've read prior reviews of it, you already know that. The lead character says at one point in what is either a snippet of a waking dream or a psychotic episode, "A little guilt goes a long way." And it goes and goes for Trevor Reznick. Plus you get at least 2 Dostoyevsky references. I'm sure other reviews mention it as well so there you have it. Do with it what you may. Reznick does alot.
But why is he so messed up. We get little hints that he was a pretty decent guy who got along with coworkers, drove a cool car, and does ok with the ladies. But now his workmates hate him, he drives a crappy pick up, and his woman is a hooker. Figuring out what's up with Trevor Reznick is part of the viewing process as you enter into his world of sleep deprivation and minimal food consumption. Something's not right in the world of a guy, who after a year without sleep, operates heavy machinery for a living. Clearly the guy's got to be a bit on the drowsy side. Every prescription warning label is all about not combining that quality with that activity. But Trevor continues to operate even as his coworkers notice his strange deterioration into a burnt out stick figure.
Much is made of Christian Bale's weight loss for this film and it is amazing, creepy, and scary, all at once. He strikes a pose at one point for his heart of gold call girl Stevie, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, that is meant to recall Concentration Camp victims. It fits since clearly this guy is on the Krakow diet plan. Problem is his is a self imposed prison that has him wondering who's out to get him and why. A strange new coworker shows up that no one will acknowledge, pictures and post-its are found where they shouldn't be, the latter with cryptic messages including a game of Hangman hinting at a way out of this nightmare that wont let him go.
But the mystery is not so much as to whether he's going nuts as it is to why. Both protagonist and viewer embark on stark and gritty tour of his nightmarish dreamscape to get at just what's eating Trevor Reznick.
Trevor himself is doing precious little eating and at least twice in the film someone says to him, "if you were any thinner you wouldn't exist." And he doesn't. At least not the Trevor he was at another point at least a year prior. His physical form has begun manifesting the inward dessication that has turned him into someone quite possibly trying to become invisible or so insignificant he can quietly slip the bonds of reality without anyone noticing.
It's this point of view that gives Bale's sacrifice meaning. Without it it seems like the same movie could have been made without putting it's lead actor through such dangerous deprivations. If you haven't seen him in this yet, it's pretty startling. You'd never know this is the same guy from American Psycho and Batman Begins. He wasn't required to go to such lengths. The script did call for a skeletal looking guy, but Bale took it to extremes in losing a third of his body weight. Certainly a robust figure would not have worked but I think the idea of him being an insomniac for a year puts us into enough of a clued in mode that something is wrong, he's on edge, and possibly going mad.
But this is cinema. The visual representation of all this does come across in a more visceral way when you see what this guy looks like. And when you see him as escaping the bonds of reality both physically and emotionally, you clearly get a better sense when you see the emaciated version.
The Machinist has a certain dream like quality that's effecting me more afterwards than it did during my viewing it last night. That's probably purposeful. The film is shot at a languid pace and with a sort of bilious green color pallette. It's like for Reznick, since he cant sleep and dream, life is becoming a paranoid nightmare and is losing its color, becoming very washed out. The look reminded me a bit of the colors used when we're inside The Matrix in that film. There is was meant to convey the green tint of a computer screen, which is not far off from its use here. Inside the Matrix the people playing their roles are really asleep in a sort of nightmare. Reznick is in a waking nightmare and as out of touch with reality as those serving the machines. Things are given an even more dreary look here with a more grey tone mixed in, a tone that presumably matches Reznick's mood.
As for the role of machinery in this movie, besides possibly serving the ironic purpose I stated above, maybe all the gears, levers, and gadgets we see moving about and causing two dangerous situations in the movie, are metaphors for those of the brain, which for Trevor are operating under dangerous conditions. The warning about heavy machinery and drugs that induce drowsiness puts me in mind of the usual accompaniment to that warning, which is not to drive. Operating heavy machinery and driving a car both figure into this tale prominently. I won't say how here.
But is the journey into Reznick's mind worth taking? As i watched the movie i was on the fence about this. There isn't alot of mystery to solve. Clearly he's losing it and the reasons why became mostly apparent to me before it was revealed in the final minutes. The slow pace is not for everyone, but I like atmosphere in a movie and this movie has a nice blend of old time Hollywood psychological thriller pacing and feel along the Hitchcockian mode and a modern arty element. The intense atmosphere revolving around guilt, murder, and mental instabilty definitely draw something from Crime & Punishment, which is playing on a marquee in the movie. There is another ref to The Idiot as well, which may have more to do with the nature of his relationship with Stevie. The pace is purposeful and part of the storytelling device. That it is staying with me is a testement to Director Brad Anderson's attempt to create a dreamlike landscape and a haunted character study. Though there is no happy Hollywood ending there is a note of quiet redemption and victory. I could have used a bit more meat to the plot, but irregardless any movie that manages to get under the skin and stick around for a bit is a worthwhile see and gets my approval.
Description of The Machinist
THE MACHINIST is the story of Trevor Reznik, a machinist who hasn?t slept in over a year. Working in a machine shop, Trevor faces the usual occupational hazards, yet his extreme fatigue only makes them worse, causing him to accidentally cut off a co-worker?s hand. What Trevor suffers from clearly isn?t a typical case of insomniaAs a bleak and chilling mood piece, The Machinist gets under your skin and stays there. Christian Bale threw himself into the title role with such devotion that he shed an alarming 63 pounds to play Trevor Reznik (talk about "starving artist"!), a factory worker who hasn't slept in a year. He's haunted by some mysterious occurrence that turned him into a paranoid husk, sleepwalking a fine line between harsh reality and nightmare fantasy--a state of mind that leaves him looking disturbingly gaunt and skeletal in appearance. (It's no exaggeration to say that Bale resembles a Holocaust survivor from vintage Nazi-camp liberation newsreels.) In a cinematic territory far removed from his 1998 romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland, director Brad Anderson orchestrates a grimy, nocturnal world of washed-out blues and grays, as Trevor struggles to assemble the clues of his psychological conundrum. With a friendly hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and airport waitress (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) as his only stable links to sanity, Trevor reaches critical mass and seems ready to implode just as The Machinist reveals its secrets. For those who don't mind a trip to hell with a theremin-laced soundtrack, The Machinist seems primed for long-term status as a cult thriller on the edge. --Jeff Shannon
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