The most notable aspect of this production is the 'Russian Ark-esque' style of shooting. It is one very impressive 80 minute long unbroken shot following a group of thespians preparing for a high-stakes performance of Macbeth. Although it doesn't always feel totally organic, it helps portray the stress of the deadline situation, and keep things in real time (at least for the first half). Saying that, if I had my way, I would have found a moment of solace within the high energy script where the camera just watches nothing as things happen around it - like the scene in Magnolia when Melora Walters is making coffee for John C. Reilly. They are in and out of the kitchen but the camera stays static, we can hear all they say but only see them part of the time - I would have been quite taken by that.
With the constant moving camera and all the comings and goings of the more than ten people in one house (the brief moment where we are taken outside where there is no dialogue almost leads to you take some breaths of much needed fresh air) the first half is a bit manic and gets a touch overbearing after a while. At one point one of the characters even says 'since when did this become the looney bin?'. The second half is more spread out thankfully, and also more impressive and unconventional.
After something seemingly unexplainable happens (I won't spoil any of the plot), the timeline cleverly jumps back to show events simultaneous to what we have already seen. It really comes into its own in the second half which feels more like a puzzle to solve, not entirely unlike a Pulp Fiction where we see concurrent events out of sequence, and consciously try to piece them together - although this has the added complexity of doing so with no cuts. It's interesting that even the one-shot filming, which almost dictates the first half, less noticeable once this all starts happening.
The film was technically proficient - well acted, very well directed and shot. There was an especially interesting sound design, some of which sounds gothic/horror inflected and creates an uneasy tone - it wouldn't be out of place in Polanski's Macbeth.
4 out of 5
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