Buried 2010

(Image source: Wikipedia)

It is simply claustrophobic!

I watched 2 movies about men getting trapped in small confined areas – one was Danny Boyle’s biographical adventure titled 127 Hours and the other, the excellent Buried by Rodrigo Cortés.

For a few seconds into the movie Buried, all we can see is dark screen and then a couple flickers from the lighter and we see eyes of a man in sweaty, confined situation. It is brilliantly executed and set the premise for the rest of the movie.

The premise of Buried is rather simple - Ryan Reynolds who plays the character of Paul Conray is a truck driver who is working for a private contactor in Iraq. His convoy was attacked and he was captured by insurgents who bury him in a box into the ground, supplies him with a couple of things which includes a mobile phone. Conray who wakes up with hands tied trying to make sense of things and panics at first and then starts to call for help. He then gets a call from his captors who demand for USD5 million to be paid before 9 at night. Conray then calls home, FBI, the State Department and then the Hostage Working Group in Iraq for help. This forms the crux of the story.

(Paul Conray in a dark, confined box armed with just a lighter and a mobile phone)

Paul Conray is buried deep down in ground, so the camera focuses on him and him alone. We are shown the interior of the box and at times, we are in the dark with Conray as his lights goes off leaving him in the darkness. We could hardly breathe too. The box is hardly big enough to fit him and he had to move around to get some items at the end of the box and it is not easy. The camera angle is brilliant – we see from all angle of the box and yet we are inside with Conray trapped in the box, feeling claustrophobic. Lighting is naturally done – when we see light in the box, we are sure that it comes from the lighter or the flashlight or the neo lights or the mobile phone and it is just nice and not too dark like we seen other poor light scenes in movies

(If there is one thing I love about the movie, it is camera angle and it always focuses on Conray and him alone)

Rodrigo Cortés adds moments of suspense into the already claustrophobic moments like a snake sneaking into the box and into Conray’s pants and the power running out on his only lifeline – the mobile phone left by his captors for him to get the ransom money. Can you imagine if you are in a box where you can hardly move and a snake slithers in? And as Conray is kept on hold on the phone by people who does not understand his situation, we can feel his frustrations as well, especially when a 911 operator asked if he climbed into the coffin himself.

Other than Paul Conray and his female colleague who shown in a video message, get shot after demands for ransom went unanswered, we don’t see any other characters but we are left to imagine based on the voices alone – Conray’s wife and kids, his cold and vengeful captors, the people from the States and one from the HWG who keeps up Conray’s spirits and keep the lifeline open by saying that they are very close to get him out.

The captors asking for USD5 million ransom and then reducing it to USD1 million and then asking Conray to cut off one of his fingers may make us angry of the situation where innocent and non combatant individuals get stuck in sticky situation when all they wanted to do is to work to get enough money for their families. Conray explains this many times to his captors but we can feel that the captors have suffered enough under the US occupation as well. That is the reality of things in Iraq and Afghanistan now days.

Not many films out there are focuses on one man, in a confined space and other characters not allowed being in it other than just voices. The audience is left to imagine the background of which Conray is in – the on-going negotiations and the rescue efforts.

Pros: The gripping story, terrific location and good acting

Cons: The ending - I wished Paul Conray was actual saved instead left buried after all that effort