Cloverfield By Hervé St-Louis Jan 20, 2008 - 7:05:42 PM

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Cloverfield (2008)
DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves
WRITER: Drew Goddard
PRODUCERS: J.J. Abrams and Bryan Bank
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Bonvillain, ASC
EDITOR: Kevin Stitt
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Martin Whist
COSTUME DESIGNER: Ellen Mirojnick
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, and T.J. Miller
Opening date:  Friday, January 18, 2008
Running time:  90 minutes
Rating:  MPAA – PG-13 for violence, terror, and disturbing images

Lilly, boyfriend Jason and best friend Hud, are preparing a surprise party just before Jason’s brother, Rob, leaves for a new job in Japan. Amidst the tensions and feuds with Rob’s ex-girlfriend, Beth, a terrible earthquake shakes Manhattan and the head of the Statue of Liberty lands right on the lap of the friends who had been filming the entire evening. Something in the city is destroying the city, and Lilly, Hud, Rob and another girl, Marlena, are going through ground zero to rescue Beth, caught in her apartment. Will it be too late?

The great viral marketing example of the season, Cloverfield shows us a monster movie through the eyes and camera of regular New Yorkers. Gone are the smart scientists, explaining what the threat is and how to defeat it. All viewers are left with is what they see on the camera. While noted for its viral promotional campaign, I find the most interesting thing about Cloverfield is about the movie itself. Unlike other movies of the genre, surviving and ultimately defeating the bad guy is of no consequences. The real challenge for the cast is to survive a few more hours.



Everything about Cloverfield is written like a formula. Audiences are made to care about the characters first and abruptly introduced to the drama. Just like horror movies, members from the small circle of friends are eliminated one after the other until only the core of the survivors – read non expendables – are left. The difference with Cloverfield and other movies that follow formulas is that in this one most everything is random.  Viewers also get a skewered look at the real threat. There’s the obligatory military briefing scene, and it seems that there’s a lot of valuable discussions about the threat going on in the back, but we only catch glimpse.



I like the weaning of information that Cloverfield supplies to audiences. It doesn’t have to make sense or be explained. The ride is more fun. This is the very thing that audiences, who like the comfort of stories with clear ending and where everything is resolve, will hate Cloverfield. There is no point to all we’re seeing. There is no greater design or plot. There is no God or Spider-man to whisk you away from harm at the last minute. It’s all dry and pretty much how it would really be for people if such a similar threat would occur.



The cinematography is the most difficult aspect of the film. Hud is the one carrying the camera for most of the film. We see partly what he sees. He seems to see quite a lot more, but the camera can only capture part of it. This is where the cinematography becomes a real technical feat. For example, coordinating all the crowds running in all direction and the threats falling all over the place on the character required a superbly well done storyboard. While most will find the tripod-less camera shooting dizzying, it does translate the initial intent of the film, which is reality movie making.

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