Love it for the fact that it never compromises the premise from start to finish.
The premise of this Spanish production Buried is simple. An everyday American man wakes up mysteriously in a coffin underground in Iraq, with only a Zippo lighter and a mobile phone. (Although he finds a bag of other stuff later) The pacing keeps you on the edge with one of these time bombs: either the phone battery dies first, or the coffin caves in with the weight of the earth. Or, the rescuers arrive…
The story may be thin, but director/editor Rodrigo Cortés thinks out of the box to film inside the box, working with cinematographer Eduard Grau to achieve the technical and aesthetical feat of making 95mins look interesting and inventive in the confines of the coffin. Yes, the whole film takes place in the box! Who would have thought you could shoot in so many angles and perspectives. And the contrast of flickering yellow light from the Zippo and the clinical blue light from the phone in between pitch darkness is clever. Very brave for the filmmakers to resist cutting to flashbacks or with any other devise of expositions. (Production note: I also read that it was shot entirely on a soundstage in just 17 days).
Ryan Reynolds carries the film reasonably well from frame one to last, displaying a gamut of emotions from anger to despair, hope to doubt, resignation to regret.
You could feel the character’s desperation. The social commentary here – on the coldness of answering receptionists or machines, and the cold-heartedness of corporations and government – is skin deep but I guess, sufficient. And the ending is not disappointing. As I said, bravo to the film for not compromising from start to finish.
