The Screen Addict | The Cell

Twenty years ago, I saw a film that forever changed the way I look at directing and visual style. I wrote to you before about filmmakers like the Scott brothers and Michael Bay who had a profound influence on my perception of what is great storytelling, but in the fall of the year 2000 I – reluctantly – joined a couple of my friends for a cinema experience that totally flipped the script.

I say reluctantly, because the film in question starred a celebrity who I had always seen as exceptionally talented and absolutely gorgeous, but who I didn’t have much faith in as an actress.

Boy, was I wrong.

The lights went down, the projection came up, and from the very first frame of The Cell (2000) I was mesmerized. This film was truly something else.

The opening sequence introduces us to Jennifer Lopez’ subconscious investigator Catherine Deane, apparently deeply immersed in a somewhat unsettling dream. Over the credits, we see Deane charge across a desert on a gleaming black horse. When she stops to climb a dune, we notice that the horse has suddenly changed into an abstract expressionist sculpture. This is, of course, a perfect visualization of what sometimes happens in your dreams – shapes and objects shift form from one moment to the next. The scene immediately sets the tone of the film.

But then again, what exactly was the tone? The manner in which the scene was set up, had me completely confused about what genre film I was about to see. The images on screen suggested a myriad of options. I saw conventions that were typical for Romance, Horror and even Arthouse features.

This never-before-seen visual style continues throughout The Cell. And although it’s ultimately an excellent but otherwise pretty straightforward serial-killer Thriller in the vein of Se7en (1995) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – the filmmakers even hired composer Howard Shore to emulate the style of these films – The Cell distinguishes itself completely from its contemporaries through absolutely stunning visuals.

The setup is simple but effective – just the way I like it. Through cutting-edge technology, Lopez’ Deane is able to enter the subconscious state of comatose serial-killer Carl Stargher so she can learn the location of his latest kidnapping victim. Effectively, this means that Deane can witness Stargher’s dreams.

This concept in itself is of course fascinating enough, but it is elevated to incredible heights through director Tarsem Singh’s baffling approach to materializing what is in our minds. Clearly informed and inspired by a vast knowledge of different art forms, the dream sequences are an unbelievable feast for the appreciative eye.

Case in point – when Deane first enters Stargher’s mind, she is confronted with a single horse in an eerie-looking room filled with clocks and chronographs. Suddenly, one of the clocks starts counting down and the camera pans upwards to reveal several panes of glass suspended from the ceiling above. When the counter reaches zero, the glass sheets crash down into the horse with such velocity, that they divide the animal into twelve neat segments without spilling one drop of blood. The panes then slowly separate to reveal the beast’s insides, its heart still slowly beating. Not only is this sequence an incredibly effective shocker, it was way ahead of its time in recognizing our fascination with anatomy and the inner workings of our bodies years before the Body Worlds exhibition became a cultural phenomenon. The nightmarish image is forever etched into my memory.

Watching The Cell – in particular the dream sequences – it is almost impossible to keep up with all the references to art and pop culture. In Stargher’s mind, Deane is confronted with settings and images that are reminiscent of Alien (1979), Escher and countless other works of historic art.

Director Tarsem Singh – or just “Tarsem”, as he is credited in later films – came up through the art of commercials and music videos. Like his fellow Indian-native M. Night Shyamalan, Singh favors to explore the supernatural, religious and occult in his work. Just take one look at his absolutely thrilling @Nike commercial below to understand what I mean. Most famously however, Singh directed the music video for R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion. In this clip, we see the premonition of his future director traits – actors frozen in particular poses to resemble religious artwork, dark, damp, claustrophobic settings and meticulous lighting of shots.

Singh worked steadily throughout the last three decades, delivering solid films like Immortals (2011) and Mirror Mirror (2012), but, in my opinion, never again achieved the groundbreaking visual splendor of his debut film. The Fall (2006) at times feels like a stylistic sibling and spiritual sequel to The Cell, but has a less engaging premise, in my opinion.

I think it would be fair to say that Singh never broke through to the big leagues. The Cell, however innovative I think it is, was not a resounding hit and was largely panned by, you know, “critics”. After that came the aforementioned The Fall, Immortals and MM, and by the time Singh delivered the uninspired Self/less (2015), I had lost confidence. This, of course, is my personal opinion and in the spirit of the No. Bad. Films. Initiative, I wholeheartedly welcome a passionate defense of any of these titles. The point I am trying to make however, is that I have to conclude that in spite of his undeniably unique style, Singh has yet to enter blockbuster territory. I, for one, would love to see what he would do with one of the treasured Disney properties like Marvel or Star Wars.

The Cell lead actress Jennifer Lopez got her own unfair share of criticism in regard to her acting abilities, but I, of course, do not agree. I think she is excellent in it, just really satisfying casting. I always felt that the flack Lopez got for her ventures into film was unfair. But as I stated before, I too was certainly skeptic about the pop star who wanted to be taken seriously as an actress. Over the last three decades though, Lopez made me eat my words. With interesting, layered characters like Ramona in the gritty Crime caper Hustlers (2019) for example, Lopez proved to be nothing short of just an exceptionally accomplished performer. I dare you to look at her and co-star George Clooney’s palpable, screen-scorching chemistry in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998) and call me a liar. Not too shabby directing, either.

Circling back to The Cell – what does it all mean??? All these beautiful, haunting images, is it just a director indulging himself or does the style actually compliment and further the plot? That is, as it is with all films I discuss on this platform, a matter of opinion. If you ask me though, the imaginative imagery that Singh conjures up in The Cell is exactly what a film that features “dreamscaping” needs.

I have always been fascinated by what goes on in the mind of a (serial) killer. A complete lack of empathy and the ability to detach oneself, to see other people as objects, is a state of mind that is virtually impossible to comprehend for “normal” human beings. There have been countless studies on the subject, oftentimes applying the nature versus nurture discussion – is a serial killer born or bred? Academics are unable to definitively answer this question, the common consensus being that it is most likely a combination of the two elements. The Cell combines this deeply intriguing subject with another one of my fascinations – the power of dreams and the subconscious.

I will treasure it always.

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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict