As Arthur Lee of Love sang “The news today will be the movies of tomorrow” and it’s taken less than 7 years to fictionalise the feel bad anxiety of 9/11 effectively. The makers of Cloverfield can stake a claim to have done just that. Using a hand held camera throughout this is like watching 70 minutes feed of breaking news with all the associated horror of confusion and disorientation; a Blair Witch Project transported to the heart of Manhattan.
The script writers had the easiest task – here’s a excerpt of the ‘dialogue’ :
ohmygod.. ohmygod..ohmygod.. ohmygod.. ohmygod..what IS that….. ohmygod.. ohmygod..ohmygod..did you SEE that….. ohmygod.. are you still filming?…..ohmygod..I’m documenting….. ohmygod.. ohmygod……I love you……………….
The only glimmer of hope offered is that the tape we are watching survived and has been documented and classified as top secret by the authorities.
Then again, looking at the headless chicken reaction of the authorities in question this doesn’t give much cause for optimism.
