Camera (2000/III)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg (writer)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

While a veteran actor laments the state of film and film acting, a group of young children sneak a Panavision camera into the apartment where the actor resides and decide to make a film with it. |

Plot Keywords:

Confession | Behind The Scenes | Video

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Leslie Carlson	...	The Actor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marc Donato	...	Lead
Harrison Kane	...	Lead
Kyle Kass	...	Lead (as Kyle Kassardjian)
Natasha La Force		(as Natasha LaForce)
Katie Lai
Daniel Magder	...	Director
Chloe Randle-Reis		(as Chloe Reis)
Stephanie Sams
Camille Shniffer	...	Lead

Directed by
David Cronenberg

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Cronenberg		writer

Produced by
Niv Fichman	....	executive producer
Jody Shapiro	....	producer
Jennifer Weiss	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
André Pienaar

Film Editing by
Ronald Sanders

Production Design by
Carol Spier

Costume Design by
Denise Cronenberg

Production Management
Andrew Cullen	....	production manager

Sound Department
Bruce Carwardine	....	sound
David Evans	....	sound editor
John Laing	....	sound
Lou Solakofski	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Farr	....	best boy grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Caitlin Cronenberg	....	wardrobe supervisor

Distributors

• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Trivia:

This short film is featured on the 2-Disc Criterion Collection DVD for Videodrome (1983).

Quotes:

The Actor: When you record the moment, you record the death of the moment. Children and death are a bad combination.

Requires thought

An old man sits in his home and tells how his group of children found an old camera and brought it home with them. He dreads the action of the camera but prepares himself to be filmed by it with an air of inevitability.

As I watched this I found it quite difficult to get into and struggled to understand what was going on. As I watched this I found this to be a weakness however afterwards I realised that it's strength is that it forces you to analyse it after you have finished watching it as you search for understanding. The film is essentially driven by a good performance by the man who practically gives a one man show (asides from the children). His fears over the effect of film are voiced well albeit without an abundance of explanation or clarity.

I don't know why the subject interested Cronenberg but he has made an interesting short regardless. The idea of film capturing the moment has always been a good thing to me – I never thought that it might be hard to know that the moment it captured is now gone forever and is not just another second of your life – it is more a finished chapter. Of course I may be just chattering here because I am still not 100% sure what it was getting at – but that is the reason I enjoyed it.

At times the direction seems a little clichéd, mostly notably when the old man is shot with a very close focus on his lower face, however this was only the odd shot. For the most part it is a clever mix of shots, all of which are held together by a well written and well delivered narrative.

Far from his most interesting work but this is still worth seeing as it is quite thought provoking and interesting. The downside for me was that, although thought provoking – I am still leave without good answers as to what it was actually getting at beyond my own interpretation.