Room 8 (film)
| Room 8 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | James W. Griffiths |
| Produced by | Sophie Venner |
| Written by | James W. Griffiths based on an original idea and script by Geoffrey S. Fletcher |
| Starring |
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| Edited by | Michael Aaglund |
Release date |
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| Language | |
Room 8 is a 2013 short film written and directed by James W. Griffiths.[1] On February 2014, this film has won the 67th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) as the best short film.[2]
Synopsis
A prisoner (Tom Cullen) is escorted by soldiers through the grounds of a compound surrounded by razor wire. It is clear that he has been brutalised and the setting appears to be a Soviet-era prison; his captors speak in Russian. In a cell, bare but for a desk and bunkbeds, a seated, bespectacled man (Michael Gould) drops a strangely jerking matchbox into the desk drawer and pushes it closed. The prisoner is locked into the cell with him and the pair have a stilted conversation, in English (and both with English accents). The seated man is reluctant to engage with the prisoner at all, until the new arrival becomes fascinated by a smart wooden box on the lower bunk. Despite being warned not to, the prisoner opens it to discover an exact replica of the cell in miniature within – and the ceiling of the cell has opened along with the opening of the box. The prisoner is astonished to find that the tiny 'replica' appears to actually somehow be the cell. He is able to see both himself and the other man inside. Experimenting, he puts his hand into the box – and his own giant hand comes down into the cell. Realising that this dimensional miracle is his means of escape, with the box now on the floor, the prisoner climbs up to reach the ceiling and asks the other man to open the box, as the lid will not stay open on its own. Doing as he is bidden, the bespectacled man watches as the prisoner clambers up and out of the cell – and, in miniature, runs across the floor… only to be immediately captured in a matchbox. The sinister man taps the jerking box, immune to the muffled screams coming from within, returns the closed wooden box to its place on the bunk and sits back down at the desk. He opens the drawer and we see that there are many more matchboxes within, some still jerking feebly. He tosses the one containing the miniaturised prisoner in with the rest, closes the drawer and, in Russian, calls for the next prisoner to be sent in.
References
- ↑ "Room 8 - James W. Griffiths". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ↑ "2014 British Short Film | BAFTA Awards". Retrieved 8 February 2015.