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The Centre Of The World cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Molly Parker, and Carla Gugino director: Wayne Wang 86 minutes (18) 2001 widescreen ratio 16:9 Momentum DVD Region 2 rental Also available to rent on video RATING: 3/10 reviewed by Ellen Cheshire |
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Wayne Wang has filmed this using a digital camera that allows for greater movement and yet the action rarely leaves the confined space of the hotel suite, making for a claustrophobic and uncomfortable film. Flashbacks are shot in black and white as we find out how they met (in a café) and what their life before the weekend was like: hers - very graphic strip shows with unusual use of fruit, his - wanking over Internet porn whilst becoming a millionaire on the stock market. The Centre Of The World is fragmented; it is a snapshot of their lives rather than a coherent narrative - yet it is not as experimental as, say, Mike Figgis' recent digital film Hotel. Here, at least there is a script, and although their dialogue is not sizzling it shows us that these are two dull people trapped together and over time their levels of disclosure increase until they are sharing the most intimate of details.
This is a raw film, and with Wang's use of natural light it seems more like a fly-on-the-wall documentary than a narrative film. And, like life, there is no resolution to the film, or if there is, it is that nothing changes: when the three days are over she goes back to drumming and stripping, and he returns to his Internet porn and $20 million deal. Despite Wang's track record, this film is in no way a great one, and I cannot really recommend anyone shelling out money to see - best to stay home and watch the Big Brother housemates boring each other with their inane prattle.