CUBE (M). (Dendy Films) Director: Vincenzo Natali Stars: Maurice Dean Wint, Nicole de Boer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Wayne Robson Running time: 92 minutes.
Ever since he first picked up a video camera and started making his own short films at the tender age of eleven, Canadian writer/director Vincenzo Natali has been intrigued with macabre fantasy worlds and the darker side of human nature. These same elements shape his strikingly original debut feature film, the visually stunning and imaginative sci-fi thriller Cube.
Six strangers wake up inside a surreal chamber. It is part of a labyrinthine system of interlocked chambers and passage ways. But some of the rooms are booby trapped.
Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint) is a street wise cop, who brings with him all the fears, prejudices and suspicions that have become ingrained over the years. Leaven (Nicole de Boer, a regular guest star on tv) is a mathematics student who deciphers the code that guards each portal. Holloway (Nicky Guadagni, from Crash, etc) is a doctor whose intuitive insights into her fellow hostages unlocks their potential. Worth (David Hewlett, from The Boys Of St Vincent) is an architect who suffers from low self esteem and a sense of guilt, knowing that he unwittingly contributed to the construction of this insidious structure. Rennes (veteran actor Wayne Robson) is an escaped convict whose knowledge is instrumental in helping them navigate the intricate series of interlocked chambers. The autistic Kazan (Andrew Miller) is initially seen as a danger to the other prisoners, until his hidden abilities come in useful.
These six very different people have to work together as a group in order to survive. But, inevitably, personality conflicts and self interest surface, adding to the air of tension that already exists. Cube is a story about survival and human nature. It cleverly forces the audience to ponder the question of how they would react if placed in a similar situation, in an unfamiliar and dangerous environment with total strangers.
In Cube, Natali (a former story board artist on films like Johnny Mnemonic, etc) and his collaborators deftly tap into our own nascent paranoia. We don't learn who built this formidable structure - was it the shadowy military/industrial complex, or is it grotesque joke from some alien intelligence? We don't learn its purpose, and the lack of logic is somehow even more frightening. Nor do we learn why these six people were chosen to run the gauntlet of this lethal labyrinth, or indeed, if other people have fallen foul of its booby trapped chambers. It is these unanswered questions that contribute to the film's menacing air.
Natali suffuses the film with an uneasy, claustrophobic atmosphere. The opening sequence itself is certainly quite impressive and grabs the audience's attention. The set design and visual style of Cube is impressive, and belie its low budget origins. This ambitious film goes far beyond anything achieved by the fecund imagination behind the recent Dark City, which inevitably disappointed with its contrived and conventional ending.
*** greg king http://www.netau.com.au/gregking
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