Lift
dir. Marc Isaacs, 24 mins, 2001 (UK)
Film in which the director sets up his camera in a lift and films a small cast of characters on their way in and out of a tower block. Initially the interaction between the filmmaker and the cast is awkward and the idea that people ignore each other in lifts is confronted. Each time the doors of the lift open a new person appears, which reminded me a bit of a theatrical stage and the opening of the curtains, while cutaways to the mechanical workings of the lift lend a nice rhythm but hint at repetitiveness. Later, the subjects seem to open up by answering the unpredictable range of "big questions" (religion, happiness, childhood memories) Isaacs throws at them. The director and participants in the film interact much more towards the end. It's interesting to ponder whether this openness would have occurred if Isaacs had not been holding a camera. ****
