Captivity (film)

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Captivity

Captivity's movie poster
Directed by Roland Joffé

Courtney Solomon (uncredited)
Starring Elisha Cuthbert

Daniel Gillies
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Laz Alonso
Michael Harney
Music by Marco Beltrami
Distributed by United States
Lionsgate and After Dark Films
Russia - Icon Disturbution
Australia - Roadshow Entertainment
Release date(s) United Kingdom:
June 22, 2007
United States:
July 13, 2007
Australia:
May 8, 2008
Running time 92 minutes
Country United States
Russia
Language English
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Captivity is a 2007 thriller film directed by Roland Joffé. It was released in the United Kingdom, Spain and Argentina on June 22, in the United States on July 13 and in Australia on May 8, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film opens with the torture of a young man (whose face is covered) - 2 tubes are inserted into his nose, and (via a foot pump) a greenish fluid in pumped in through one pipe - causing blood to pour out through the other. The man's captor then kills him with a large hammer.

Jennifer Tree (Elisha Cuthbert), a young fashion model and cover girl, had captured the attention of photographers and for better or worse, the public at large. On an evening out alone, Jennifer is stalked and drugged. She wakes in a stupor to find herself captive and confined to a cell.

A series of metal bins and numbered lockers abruptly swing open in front of her. They contain personal items taken from her apartment. She is forced to view videotapes containing images of the victims that were tortured previous to her captivity as well as videotaped interviews she had given to the media in the past. Trapped, realizing there is no way out, Jennifer pleads and screams to anyone that might hear her. During her confinement, she is subjected to various forms of psychological and sensory torture. She is forced to drink a blended mixture of an eye, ear and nose of a previous victim. Then, she is made to decide who dies within 30 seconds: herself or her dog, Suzy.

Jennifer eventually finds she is not alone. A young man, Gary (Daniel Gillies),is being held captive in an adjoining cell. The two make contact and try to find out why they are being held.

After watching the horrific scene, they find their way out. A fight ensues between Gary and the captor. Ultimately, Jennifer is drugged once again and wakes up confined to a "torture chair" with Gary. Ready to pull out Jennifer's tooth, Gary insists the captor take his out instead.

After a moment of consensual sex, Gary awakens to find Jennifer, who has been drugged once again. He takes out a key to an adjoining cell.

A tape is shown where a woman lying on her bed with cigarettes and pills scattered everywhere is apologizing to her son for "touching" him. The boy then repeatedly stabs his mother several times, killing her. He then snaps a picture of his dead mother. In a little corner glancing at the photo, a smirk appears on his face.

Meanwhile, Gary's key opens a door into a house, revealing that Gary and his older brother Ben are actually the captors. Gary joins Ben in the kitchen where they make sushi.

Gary tells Ben that he is falling in love with Jennifer. Ben strikes Gary and says "play them, don't play with them." Ben then puts something in the fridge. When he turns around Gary stabs him. Gary then watches the same tape of the woman lying on the bed that was shown earlier. The boy stabbing his mother is revealed to have been Gary looking at a smirking Ben.

After the tape, Gary is seen reviewing a series of pictures in an album, and then there is a knock at the door. At the sound of knocks, he quickly rushes and puts the albums in a cabinet. He slams the cabinet's door, but it does not fully close. The knock at the door are two detectives looking for Ben. Gary tells them that his brother is not at the house. The detectives enter the house, getting comfortable and asking to watch a big sports game on TV. One of them flips the channel to the surveillance video of Jennifer sleeping. Seeing this, Gary shoots them both.

He runs down to where Jennifer is being held and tells her that he has killed "them" and that it is time to go. He places Jennifer in a room and tells her not to go. One of the detectives, not dead after all, jumps out at her but she bashes him with a bat, believing him to be one of her captors. Jennifer then discovers the ajar cabinet and begins viewing the albums. Gary is in all of them. While looking through albums, Ben, also not yet dead, jumps out at her. However, Jennifer finishes him off by stabbing the knife more deeply into him.

After viewing the albums, Jennifer hears the detective's pager ring and she goes through his personal belongings. Gary is seen recording Jennifer and claims she belongs to him and will help her clean the mess up. She tricks him and sprays ammonia in his eyes before running off.

On her way she cuts a series of wires and electrical cords, preventing doors, code entries, and lights from working. Jennifer picks up a flashlight and the gun used on the detectives. She does not know how to use a gun, and fails to 'cock' it. Gary then throws her on a bed and points the gun at her face, explaining why the gun had not fired, while firing a round into the ceiling to demonstrate and terrify her. She kicks him in the groin and retrieves the gun from him. This time she cocks the gun. Instead of then shooting him in the head she shoots him in the groin, and says "thanks" to him. She then shoots him in the heart and exits the room. She leaves the house, and the last scene shows posters of Jennifer's new film, DARE.

[edit] Cast

Actor / Actress Character
Elisha Cuthbert Jennifer Tree
Daniel Gillies Gary
Pruitt Taylor Vince Ben
Laz Alonso Disantos
Michael Harney Bettiger
Rebekah Ryan Mother
Michael Maples Photographer
Olivia Negron Spanish woman
Chrysta Olson Mary
Elijah Runcorn Older boy
Remy Thorne Young Gary

[edit] Advertising controversy

Several controversial images depicting promotional scenes from the film were released by After Dark Films in Los Angeles and New York where they were shown on billboards and taxicabs. The advertisement consisted of pictures involving the kidnapping, torture, and presumable murder of a female character. Offended witnesses soon filed complaints to After Dark, who claimed error and explained that the concept was only one of several working ideas that were being considered for marketing to the general public. According to Courtney Solomon, who spoke on behalf of After Dark, it was not supposed to have been approved, he followed by saying "To be honest with you, I don't know where the confusion happened and who's responsible."[1]

"This film was done in association with After Dark Films. The nature of the association allows After Dark autonomy over their marketing materials, and therefore we neither saw nor approved this billboard before it was posted," said Peter Wilkes, head of Lionsgate investor relations. "Once aware of the materials and the reaction to them, we immediately asked After Dark to remove the billboards, to which they immediately and cooperatively responded."

Joss Whedon has become the public face of a movement directed at the MPAA to remove the film's rating, in accordance with MPAA guidelines that state that any film that uses advertising that has not been approved by the MPAA (in this case, the advertising was specifically disapproved) will possibly forfeit their right to be rated. According to writer Jill Soloway, who runs the website Remove the Rating, Solomon himself was responsible for the ads in question, going over the design in extreme detail, and is thus being disingenuous in the above-cited quote.[2] The MPAA issued a ruling dated March 28, 2007, which said that, as punishment, it would not consider rating the film until at least April 30, making the release date of May 18 less likely (releasing the film "unrated" would greatly impact its potential to sell tickets). The MPAA is also, in an unprecedented move, requiring that they approve the placement of all forthcoming advertisements for the film.[3]

[edit] Dramatic editing

After Dark Films founder and present head Courtney Solomon went back to edit the original concept of Captivity to add more gore and violence to please the American audience. In a statement, Solomon is believed to state that he felt the film was not gruesome enough for a mainstream "torture porn".[4] Although he felt the change would bring in more money for the film after noticing the success of Hostel, the film tanked at the box office. Solomon later released a statement saying "It's overkill, I think audiences have said, 'I've had enough.' It's as simple as that."[5] The original version of Captivity was only released in Spain, Argentina and The United Kingdom.

[edit] Alternative ending

In an alternative ending, present on the DVD, one year later, a man is captured and tortured, before being killed with a hammer (this is the event we see at the beginning of the movie). The man is revealed (through press clippings) to be a 3-time murderer of women, his assailant is revealed to be Jennifer.

[edit] Critical reception and box office

Captivity opened on Friday, July 13 to negative reviews. Online critic James Berardinelli gave it a zero star rating, stating that there is "nothing redeemable here. It's not tense or scary; it's just demented".[6] Recently, Bloody-disgusting.com named the film as the "worst horror film of 2007".[7] Also, many reviewers have noted the striking similarities to films like Saw and Hostel. Some critics assume Captivity is being released in Australia in order to gain a better profit than that 10 million already made.

BOX OFFICE:

  • Domestic: $2,626,800
  • Foreign: $7,391,687
  • Worldwide: $10,018,487

[edit] Australian Cinema

On May 8 2008 Captivity was released into the cinemas. According to the Village Cinemas Website. It is rated MA15+ for Strong Violence, Blood and Gore[8]

[edit] DVD

The DVD was released on October 30, 2007 with a widescreen unrated version, and the original R-rated version. It includes a making-of featurette and an on-the-set look of the film. The cover has the 8 Films to Die For logo on it, despite the film not being present for the limited release film festival.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lopex, Steve. "Billboard's 'Captivity' audience disgusted", L.A. Times, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-03-20. 
  2. ^ Remove the Rating. Huffington Post (2007-03-27). Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
  3. ^ MPAA places sanctions on horror film 'Captivity'. L.A. Times (2007-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
  4. ^ FlickFilosopher.com: ‘Captivity’ promises to be a feminist dream
  5. ^ FlickFilosopher.com: torture porn, the tanking of ‘Captivity,’ and the dooming of ‘Sunshine’?
  6. ^ [http://reelviews.net/movies/c/captivity.html British Fim Critc Mark Kermode said "It's a Russian-American co-production, and on the basis of this I want the Cold War to start again now." Review: Captivity]
  7. ^ BD Horror News - BC's Top 10 Best & Worst List of 2007!
  8. ^ Captivity - Village Cinemas

[edit] External links