"Ascending Through `The Platform`: A Harrowing Dive into Humanity`s Depths"
Posted Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 114
The film thrusts us into the stark confines of `The Hole`, a vertical prison system where inmates on higher levels eat better than those below. A platform of food descends daily, feeding the upper tiers abundantly while leaving scraps or nothing for the lower ones, highlighting a raw metaphor for wealth distribution.
The Platform is rife with social commentary, exploring class stratification, human nature, and survivalism in a dystopian setting. The tone is somber and claustrophobic, urging viewers to introspect about the societal structures we navigate daily.
Each character embodies a fragment of society`s virtues and vices. The standout performance by Iván Massagué, who plays Goreng, expertly portrays the descent from hopeful altruism to tortured realism as he navigates this harsh microcosm.
Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia directs with a fearless, innovative approach, encapsulating an intense and thought-provoking narrative in a minimalistic setting that expertly amplifies the film`s thematic weight.
The haunting score by Aránzazu Calleja plays with silence as much as sound, creating a foreboding ambiance that echoes the movie`s tension and despair.
The cinematography, utilizing the verticality of the setting, crafts a visual metaphor for the social ladder, with each level bathed in different light, symbolizing its distance from affluence and humanity.
The production design is stark and functional, contributing to the film`s oppressive atmosphere. The simplicity of the cells contrasts the complexity of the societal system it portrays.
The film uses effects sparingly, but effectively, with the descending platform`s mechanism and the visceral outcomes of the dire situations feeling tangibly real.
The editing is crisp, creating smooth transitions between layers of the narrative and the literal layers of `The Hole`, well-paced to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
The pace is deliberate, allowing viewers to fully absorb the gravity of each moment and its corresponding philosophical implication.
Dialogue is sculpted to cut as sharply as the social critique it delivers, with lines that linger in the mind long after the credits roll.
One could argue that `The Platform` at times hammers its message with perhaps too heavy a hand, risking overshadowing the subtlety of its moral queries with its own overt metaphor. Additionally, certain plot points might bear a bit of ambiguity, leaving some viewers craving a tidbit more of resolution.
The Platform is a gripping and unflinching examination of human behavior under systemic oppression. It invokes a visceral response that is hard to shake, using its confined setting to explore expansive themes. This movie resonated with me by raising poignant questions about society and our place within it. Despite its bleak outlook, it serves as a captivating conversation starter about the inherent inequality within our structures and what we might dare to do about it.