High-Rise

High-Rise 2015

Director: Ben Wheatley

Based on the book by J G Ballard

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Keely Hawes

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Hollow Crown, The Deep Blue Sea, Thor, Wallander, Cranford

Jeremy Irons – The Man Who Knew Infinity, Their Finest Hour, Beautiful Creatures, The Hollow Crown, Kingdom of Heaven, Being Julia, The Merchant of Venice, Longitude, The House of Spirits, Waterland, Kafka, Reversal of Fortune, Australia, The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Sienna Miller – Stardust, Factory Girl, Alfie

Luke Evans – The Girl on the Train, Robin Hood

Elizabeth Moss – Top of the Lake, Madmen, Girl Interrupted, Anywhere but Here, A Thousand Acres

James Purefroy – The Hollow Crown, A Knight’s Tale, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Keeley Hawes – The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, Upstairs Downstairs, Macbeth Re-Told, Tristram Shandy, Our Mutual Friend, Cold Lazarus, Karaoke

Why? Both book and DVD passed on by friends

Seen: 11 January/22 February 2020 with Hal and YW in our read-book-see-film group.

      

       The book was awful. If we hadn’t already agreed to see the film, I wouldn’t have finished it. The cast is good, though. Maybe they can make something worthwhile out of it?

       The first time we tried watching it the DVD kept getting stuck, so we gave up and watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s instead. I bought a new DVD so more than a month later we’re trying again.

       Doctor Robert Laing (Hiddleston) has bought a flat in an all-service high-rise at the edge of London. The time is the near future.  He soon learns that there’s a strict social hierarchy in the building and a bitter class conflict between the haves on the top floors and the haves-less on the lower floors. There are technical problems with the lifts and the power, and everything rapidly disintegrates.

       It has a vaguely retro-futuristic feeling, also surrealistic, confusing and ominous. Like the book, it’s very pessimistic and violent. I didn’t like The Lord of the Flies either, for the same reasons. I’m sure there’s a message here but it’s not one I want to listen to.

       However, it’s quite beautifully filmed, Hiddleston is very good, and it’s grimly fascinating. The use of ABBA’s ‘SOS’ was almost amusing.

       The filming and Hiddleston = 5*. The possible sort of message = 2*. The violence and confusion = 0*. So I guess

2 ½ * of 5