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El maquinista
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El maquinista (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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El maquinista (2004) -- An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity
El maquinista (2004) -- An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity
El maquinista (2004) -- An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   55,312 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 39% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Brad Anderson
Writer (WGA):
Scott Kosar (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Machinist on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 November 2004 (Germany) more
Tagline:
How do you wake up from a nightmare, when you're not asleep? more
Plot:
An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
7 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(41 articles)
Seriously, What the Hell Happened to Christian Bale?
 (From Get The Big Picture. 2 July 2009, 12:09 PM, PDT)

Int: Christian Bale
 (From JoBlo. 2 July 2009, 1:17 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
'Thinner' meets 'Memento' by way of 'Angel Heart' a la Hitchcock more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Christian Bale ... Trevor Reznik

Jennifer Jason Leigh ... Stevie
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón ... Marie

John Sharian ... Ivan

Michael Ironside ... Miller

Larry Gilliard Jr. ... Jackson (as Larry Gilliard)

Reg E. Cathey ... Jones
Anna Massey ... Mrs. Shrike
Matthew Romero Moore ... Nicholas (as Matthew Romero)
Robert Long ... Supervisor Furman

Colin Stinton ... Inspector Rogers

Craig Stevenson ... Tucker
Ferran Lahoz ... Gonzales
Jeremy Xido ... Evangelisti
Norman Bell ... DMV Clerk
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Machinist (International: English title) (USA)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language.
Runtime:
101 min | Turkey:94 min (TV version)
Country:
Spain
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital | DTS
Filming Locations:
Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Company:
Filmax Group more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the subway you can see a poster of the film Rottweiler (2004), another film produced by Julio Fernández. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: After Trevor is hit by the VW Bug, the arm he lands on disappears somewhat into the street, making the CGI obvious. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Ivan: Who are you?
more
Movie Connections:
References Psycho (1960) more
Soundtrack:
Lunar Rhapsody more

FAQ

Why did he wash his hands with bleach?
What is the actual plot of this film?
more
199 out of 250 people found the following comment useful:-
'Thinner' meets 'Memento' by way of 'Angel Heart' a la Hitchcock, 25 October 2004
Author: george.schmidt (george.schmidt@hbo.com) from fairview, nj

THE MACHINST (2004) ***1/2 Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, John Sharian, Michael Ironside, Reg E. Cathey.

'Thinner' meets 'Memento' by way of 'Angel Heart' a la Hitchcock

There are a few select actors who have gained or shed weight to make a true transformation on screen but the one that will probably remain imprinted for years to come is the truly shocking display by Christian Bale who lost a whopping 63 lbs. to a skeletal shell of 120 for his portrayal of dank creepy perfection.

Bale stars as the afflicted Trevor Reznik, a shell of a man who works in a machine factory and apparently is nursing some horrible demon that has led to his astonishing appearance, ghostly pallor and paranoia soaked delusions that call to question his amazing confession: How can a man not sleep for an entire year and waste away to a shadow of his being and keep his sanity?

The answer isn't so transparent as Reznik becomes submerged in some sort of dreamscape nightmare of conspiracy theories and the innate distrust of his own mind playing tricks on him one night when he encounters the perpetually grinning Ivan (Sharian sporting the sharkiest Cheshire Cat smile in recent film memory) an apparently new shift employee who distracts him to the point of a horrific accident that causes his employer and co-worker to mistrust him and suspect his deteriorating looks as something a tad more sinister.

Reznik's only solace is in literally a mother-whore relationship he shares with a well-meaning lovely waitress (Sanchez-Gizon) at the airport diner he frequents as much as the hooker he lies with to express his thoughts and odd happenings (Leigh in her umpteenth whore role that must have filled her quota by now).

After the accident Reznik is plagued with a series of Post-Its sporting a game of hangman that leads to a few clues to his rationale and ultimately to his fate of 'Who Am I?'

Directed by Anderson who helmed the criminally underrated spooky horror flick 'Session 9' a few years back returns to a dark story of a man clearly unraveling and destroying himself in the process that echoes Stephen King's 'Thinner' by way of the identity crises of 'Memento' and the psychological thriller 'Angel Heart' yet invokes a sharply executed script by Scott Kosar (who penned the worthy remake of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' last year) that recalls David Fincher meets David Lynch paroxysms of fate and the build up to a discovery that is all too recognizable to the thriller genre in recent years of identity masked as phobic reality with its latter day Hitchcock everyman skewed nicely. Kudos to cinematographers Xavi Gimenez and Charlie Jiminez for its bleak, green/grey drudgery and the Herrmannesque score by Roque Banos mixes perfectly to the dread at hand displays.

Bale went above and beyond the call of duty in his somewhat controversial display of Holocaust invoking demeanor yet it works shockingly well as it delves into the troubled soul of a man who is wasting away not only as a metaphor but as a penance for some hell to pay.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for El maquinista (2004)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Has anyone tried the diet Bale used for the film? forgotten_mango
Whats the longest you havent slept for? coye
Finger toes MingFoo
A theremin? carlsez_1
Manic Street Preachers sandbox_magician
weight loss..not relevant to the script! Bad choice! reed_antonio
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