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El Hoyo
The Platform
La Plataforma
Spain 2019
produced by Ángeles Hernández, Carlos Juarez, David Matamoros, Carlos Juárez, Raquel Perea (executive) for Basque Films, Mr Miyagi Films, Plataforma La Película, Consejería de Cultura del Gobierno Vasco, Euskal Irrati Telebista (EiTB), RTVE, Zentropa/Netflix
directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
starring Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale, Alexandra Masangkay, Zihara Llana, Mario Pardo, Algis Arlauskas, Txubio Fernández de Jáuregui, Eric Goode, Óscar Oliver, Chema Trujillo, Miriam Martín, Gorka Zufiaurre, Miriam K. Martxante, Miren Gaztañaga, Braulio Cortés, Javier Mediavilla, Álvaro Orellana, Juan Dopico, Lian Xu Shao
story by David Desola, screenplay by David Desola, Pedro Rivero, music by Aránzazu Calleja
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Goreng (Ivan Massagué) has signed up for the platform program only to
be finally be forced to quit smoking and have enough time to finally read Don
Quixote - and suddenly he finds himself in a barren room together with
Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), a possible psychopath who has been sent here
for treatment. The room has a big hole in the floor and one in the
ceiling, that allow one to look to countless rooms exactly like this one
above as well as below, making this seem like a huge, bizarre vertical
prison complex. Once a day, a platform comes down from the upper levels
with food - which is just leftovers from what the upper levels have left,
and after a few minutes the platform lowers itself to the lower levels,
which means the lower the platform goes, the less leftovers will there be.
Goreng and Trimagasi make an odd couple, but eventually they learn to live
together ... until they're sent to a much lower level, where the platform
has literally no food left. So Trimagasi ties Goreng to his bed with the
intention to cut out pieces of flesh from his living body to feed them
both - but he's stopped by Miharu (Alexandra Masangkay), a madwoman who
has made it her habit to use the platform and travel from level to level,
with usually lethal results. However, it's Goreng who actually kills
Trimagasi, then feeds off his flesh, as there's literally no other food.
Leter, Goreng is transferred to a different, higher level, and paired with
Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), a woman who's just crazy for her dog and who
tries to call for social justice between levels, but her calls are
unheeded and her dog is eventually killed and eaten by Miharu on her way
through, and eventually she commits suicide after they've been sent to a
very low level, and Goreng sees himself forced to feed on her. Goreng's
next cellmate, on a much higher level, is Baharat (Emilio Buale), an
idealistic young man trying to climb out on a rope he has brought, relying
on the goodness on those on above level - but these hopes are soon
squashed. Then he and Goreng decide to go down on the platform to force
social justice on anyone, to send a signal to those in control - an idea
that doesn't come without its complications ... Despite its
very barren sets, The Platform is a highly imaginative film that
really defies categorization: It's prison movie, it's science fiction,
it's horror, there are surreal touches, and there's a Kafka-esque approach
to things, and it's all tied up in a story that makes total sense and no
sense at all at the same time. And apart from its inventive narrative, a
slick direction sees to it that things stay visually interesting
throughout, and strong performances help bring the weirdness of the thing
to life. Well worth a watch for sure!
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