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Fashion model Jennifer Tree has it all - beauty, fame, money
and power. Her face appears on the cover of hundreds of magazines.
At the top of her game, Jennifer is America's sweetheart.
She is loved and adored and highly sought after. Everyone
wants her... but someone out there has been watching and waiting,
someone who wants her in the worst way. Out alone at a charity
event in New York, Jennifer is drugged and abducted. Held
captive in a cell, she is subjected to a series of terrifying,
life-threatening tortures that could only be conceived by
a twisted, sadistic mind...
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This
psychological horror/thriller was courting controversy even
before it opened in US cinemas. Its advertising campaign has
led to the movie being banned in 13 countries, and billboard
ads (including the version shown above) in several American
states were taken down almost as soon as they went up. Who
would have thought that such an exploitative venture could
come from Roland Joffe, director of the high-brow - albeit
extremely harrowing - The Killing Fields? Not me, that's
for certain.
The opening scenes definitely exhibit artistic merit, though.
Joffe contrasts depressing, muted colours - representing the
city and the torturer's lair - with the bright red of Jennifer's
glamorous lip-gloss, which is also the colour of blood - of
which we see plenty. He closes up on gritty details such as
a bloodshot eye and a dripping tap, contrasting them with
the model's beauty.
Despite
much blood and gore, actual acts of violence are largely kept
off-screen... to begin with. Nevertheless, one scene had me
in serious danger of throwing up right in the cinema!
Yet
that very same scene also contains a thick streak of black
humour. It marks a turning point in the narrative, as what
started out as an entirely grave and disturbing tale gives
way to dark comedy.
Scriptwriters
Larry Cohen (Maniac Cop 1-3, Phone Booth) and
Joseph Tura keep us guessing as to the torturer's plans and
motivations, but there comes a point where the twists and
turns just become too silly. For example (and without wanting
to give too much away), how many kids are able to make multi-camera
home movies? Isn't it rather foolish (even if you are a crazy
kidnapper) to have a live feed from your holding cells to
your living room TV activated by a simple channel change on
a regular remote control? At the screening I attended, members
of the audience were laughing out loud by the end of the film,
which I very much doubt was the creators' intention.
Following
her roles in 24 and House of Wax, Elisha Cuthbert
(as Jennifer) seems to be cornering the market for damsels
in distress. (Where's Jack Bauer when you need him?) Though
she eventually proves her strength of character, earlier scenes
make uncomfortable viewing, owing to her depiction as a stereotypical
member of the "weaker" sex. In these scenes, she is defiant
when not directly threatened, but then apologises profusely
and begs for mercy whenever her jailer shows up to exact a
painful or lethal punishment.
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Perhaps
in an attempt to offset this objectification, the movie is
curiously timid when it comes to the matter of nudity - actual
or implied. What kind of maniac abducts a beautiful model
and then lets her keep her clothes on most of the time? Many
Cuthbert fans may be disappointed by the fact that all we
see in terms of nudity are a couple of seconds of a blurred
back view - especially in light of the suggestiveness of the
movie poster shown at the top of this page (torn clothing,
breasts pressed up against the glass).
A curious mixture of tones and styles, Captivity is
worth a look, but it isn't as captivating as I had hoped.
Chris
Clarkson
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