Maquinista, El (2004)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writer (WGA):

Scott Kosar (written by)

Release Date:

11 November 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

How do you wake up from a nightmare, when you're not asleep?

Plot:

An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity

Plot Keywords:

Alienation | Pathological | Machinery | Osha | Shaving

Awards:

7 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Machinist (International: English title) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

102 min | Turkey:94 min (TV version)

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:M | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut) | Hungary:18 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:18A (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Filmax Group

Trivia:

While Trevor is riding Route 666, one shot reveals a sign overhead that reads "Crime and Punishment", the Dostoevsky novel about a guilty man who attempts to justify his innocence. This also provides the bookend, if you will, to Trevor's home reading, The Idiot, which is Dostoevsky's examination of an innocent man whom others lure into their webs of corruption and which has a very surprising and climatic ending; thus foreshadowing the movie's own ending. The movie also has similarities to Dostoevsky's "The Double", which contains a character that appears and begins to ruin the protagonist's life. The doppelganger turns out to be a pseudo-schizophrenic manifestation of the protagonist's less desirable characteristics.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the bathroom of The Boiler Room, Trevor knocks down the right soap dispenser. However, in the next shot it hangs on the wall.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ivan: Who are you?

Movie Connections:

References Monja, La (2005)

Soundtrack:

Lunar Rhapsody

A new Raskolnikov

A strange story about freedom and guilty. Modern image of "Crime and Punishment". Our life like a shadow of the dreams and fear. Like a research a way of personal truth. No salvation, no cure. Only a refuge in a great lie. This movie is an important experience. Not like a theoretical experience,like a game without value, like a joke. "The Machinist " is a trip in your mind, in your memory, in the life's essence. "I am the other" said Rimbaud. But who? A ghost? A shadow? A body? A toy? The essence of movie is the relation with the world and the form of honesty. The presence of God in this movie is the way of resurrection. The car, the boy, the work accident, Maria, Ivan , Miller are the steps of a very special salvation. And Christian Bale, in his best character, a new Raskolnikov, know to give a great sense of truth to Trevor Reznik. A real master-piece!