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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Cloverfield: Nausea 101


Ahhh...Don't you love movies that make you sick? Behold Cloverfield. Watching the much talked-about movie was like taking an introductory course in nausea. Don't get me wrong, the movie is interesting, and it has great elements of suspense and thrill, but you have to have a stomach of steel to be able to go through it. When I walked to the window to buy the tickets, the cashier pointed to a paper on the glass window. It read "Cloverfield can cause dizziness." I was like "Bah." I thought they were exaggerating. We went inside the theater and chatted while the commercials played.

The movie started, and it took me full five minutes to realize that I was watching the feature film and not another commercial preview. The scenes appeared on the screen so fast that I had little time to follow what was happening. The whole movie was made to look like it was shot using a regular video camera. Why the director decided to apply such an amateur style is beyond me. The story is about a group of young people who surprised one of their friends with a farewell party. One of the characters decided to film the whole party and give it to the departing person as a token of remembrance. The character who was "filming" the movie kept running, swinging, and dropping the camera which had a terrific effect on my stomach.

Thirty minutes into the movie, and I started developing a sinus pressure that turned into a terrible headache. After ten minutes, I became dizzy and nauseous. Another ten minutes, and I could not take it anymore. I picked my purse and stepped outside the theater. I stood for a minute breathing fresh night air when I noticed that two of my friends had already left and were leaning on the wall trying hard not to throw up:

Friend1: You gotta be kidding me. What was that?
Friend2: I don't know, but I know I am going to pass out any minute now.

One by one, the rest of my friends and other people staggered out of the theater, and it was hilarious to see the reaction on their faces:

Friend3: I feel so sick.
Friend4 (Making gagging noises): Who wants to eat?
Friend5 was breathing heavily and holding her head.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw the film, and though none of our group got nauseous I am sufferring from sinus pain.
The reason that the director used such an "amatuer" (actually groundbreaking) style is so that the audience would feel a greater rapport with the characters.

Anonymous said...

I saw the film today around 7 and I am still sick at 11 p.m. I have a headache and stomach pain. I gagged throughout the movie, I thought the movie was good though, so I stuck it out with my eyes closed and only opened them to see if the camera was still then I would watch a little bit. But I wouldn't watch the movie again if my life depended on it

Anonymous said...

Thank God I'm not the only one who got sick watching this movie! I had to leave the theater twice or I would have thrown up. I saw it several hours ago and I still feel dizzy and nauseous. Man, I'll never see another movie like that again.! Though the movie was good, its just too bad they had to film it like that. Would have been a great movie otherwise....

Melissa said...

Anonymous: I agree that it's a groundbreaking style, but if it keeps you from enjoying the film, then it loses its purpose in the first place. Wasn't the same style used in the "Blair Witch Project" movie with far less dramatic effects?

J: I tried closing my eyes, but it did not help much :)

Alycen: Next time, I'll pay more attention to warning signs in the movie theater :)

Anonymous said...

I tried the technique of looking down and then checking back up when the camera movement settled down. Squinting once in a while seemed to help as well as the occasional belch. I guess having a plate of appetizers at the pub just beforehand was maybe not the best idea...

Anonymous said...

I am interested to find out why this "hand held" style does exactly. Is it the point of view? The shaky style? The resolution? Some people think it makes the scene look more "real" - could this be?

Nana0190 said...

I never watched this before. But i had watched a similar type of "movie", so as they call it. The title is something like "Zombie Diary". Urm...watching using PC at home around 3pm in the afternoon. It made my head ached and i feel dizzy. I even fell asleep a few times. That was the first time i watch such a movie. I regreted cos...i really dont like it. XD

 

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