HIGH-RISE (2015)

Penthouse is a must

Wilder

Even Wilder

Title: High-Rise
Year: 2015
Director: Ben Wheatley
Format: Blu-ray
Label: Studiocanal

Notes:

I was pre-disposed to enjoy this adaption of J. G. Ballard's 1975 novel because I enjoy the novel and also consider Hawkwind's song of the same name to be one of their finest post Space Ritual tracks. And I enjoyed it in the cinema and once again at home but unfortunately two viewings is probably enough.

Most people seemed to object to the confusing narrative. Fair enough as I recall the novel had been described as unfilmable. That wasn't a problem for me but I think the pacing is a bit off. In this film the characters switch to deranged too quickly - in the novel the lunacy is plausibly acquired layer by layer until it seems natural. In the film it's too quick to be plausible. The characters are psychological caricatures reflecting the difficulty of adapting to modern life but are too artificial in the film. I don't think its the fault of the actors so blame must lie with the script or editing.

Nevertheless the adaption is enjoyable enough. Some of Ballard's themes are represented well. The mockery of the film star and other neo-aristocrats who occupy the high rise is an enduring criticism of the emergence of shallow elites. The rigid class divisions of British society and the redundant English pastoral fantasy in an urban world are well skewered.

Another theme dealt with well, if a little too obviously, is the comparison between man and machine represented by the building. There are references to teething troubles in the building but the building is really a machine made of men (and women). How much is the problem of the inhabitants themselves and how much the design of the 'suicide machine'? Tom Hiddleston's protagonist retains his business suit throughout like a uniform - does he end up working for the building itself?