Synopsis
Filming inside the lift of a block of council flats, a man captures footage of residents and meets many different personalities.
Review
LIFT was a very basic but also very unique documentary. The film follows a film maker who waits in a lift with his camera and films everyone who enters, hoping to document a kind of story through peoples real lives. He asks the members of the community that frequently use the lift, and appear several times throughout the film, questions they really have to think about. The questions he ask can vary from "Where are you going today?" to "What did you dream of last night?". Many questions are very thought provoking and generate very interesting and some very compelling answers from people. LIFT, while seeming like a 'nothing' film, actually feels so much bigger and more important due to the things the people in the lift say when given certain questions. One man talks about his parents dying and the impact it had on his life while another talks about her thoughts on religion and how important it is to her.
Analysis
This was an objective documentary as their was no specific point of view given. The film maker just observed residents and asked questions that were very open and could've had an answer for any view.
The narrative forms naturally to an extent however the presence of a camera in the lift forces people to have conversation so the atmosphere isn't as awkward as it would be standing in silence.
With a more planned out structure the film wouldn't have worked as well as the randomness and the unexpected conversation is what makes the film more interesting and entertaining. With a proper structure the film wouldn't have seemed as genuine and would have felt more false.
