Textual Analysis
The Machinist is a psychological thriller which follows Trevor Reznik, an insomniac industrial worker, who is alienated from his co-workers due to his strange behaviour and emaciated appearance. He is involved in an accident where a worker loses his arm, and subsequently the others turn on him. He suffers from paranoia and flashbacks, and hallucinates situations with his alter-ego Ivan, and a woman and child. He believes that the bizarre occurrences in his life, such as a series of post-it notes on the fridge, are an attempt by his co-workers to drive him insane. The only comfort he finds is in the arms of a prostitute, who becomes almost his girlfriend. Driven mad, he attempts to track down Ivan, throwing himself in front of a car to report a false hit and run incident, who was driving his own car. When he finds Ivan, he kills him, but when he attempts to throw the body into the sea, Ivan is alive on the pier near him.Finally realising what is haunting him, Trevor remembers the hit and run incident he was involved in, when he hit a boy, identical to the child he had dreamt of, and drove away from the accident. Ivan was in fact a manifestation of his conscience, and he accompanies Trevor to the police station to confess. He is arrested and finally falls asleep in the cell, after a year without sleep.The characters appearing in the film are:
Trevor Reznik, a paranoid delusionist who loses his job and believes his work-mates are to blameStevie, his prostitute lover, in whom he confides his fear Ivan, an imagined worker from the factory, who acts as Trevor's conscience, leading him to accept his crime.Maria, The mother of Nicholas, who Trevor imagines is a waitress at the café he visits Nicholas, The boy Trevor ran over, and who Trevor hallucinates taking on the carnival ride Miller, The man at the factory who lost his arm in the accident Jackson, Jones and Reynolds, Workers at the factory, who Trevor suspects of plotting against him. Mrs. Shrike, The old woman who lives above Trevor
The Machinist is an example of a modern thriller, as the movie bears many characteristics of the genre. The film is about the psychological journey of the protagonist Trevor, and his paranoia and insomnia are a successful tool for the tension filled plot. His isolation intensifies the audience's connection with him, and we seem to get more inside his mind as the film goes on, experiencing his hallucinations as if real, we share Trevor's fear and paranoia, though we gradually begin to grasp the reasons he is this way. The plot is typical of a thriller as it continues to shock and raise questions, as soon as we think we have an answer, another clue to a different answer is given, for example, he goes to see Miller, and emerges more suspicious of his co-workers than before, but then he sees Ivan again, and thinks it is him instead. These sudden changes of mind characterise Trevor, he is frantic and never seems to understand anything, thus the audience become entangled in his franticness, which drives the movie forward, through Trevor's process of finding his cure. The film has been called a 'superior psychological thriller', as it is less about plot, and more about conveying a state of mind, which it does brilliantly. Many conventions of the thriller are shown in the filming techniques. Pathetic fallacy, and the fact many scenes are shot at night, add to the tension and mysterious feeling of the movie. Often, a blue filter is used, to make the scene seem cold and dark. These scenes are interspersed with bright, glaring scenes in the sunlight, in which we find Trevor never really fitting in, as if he is better off in the dark, where he eventually retreats entirely.The score adds to the tension, using such instruments as a theremin, to add eery, thrilling atmospheres to the scenes. It also uses classic thrilling music, which builds the suspense. The use of recurring imagery, such as the post it notes and the photograph, are also typical of a thriller, and help tie the plot together in examining Trevor's mind, the images must be relevant, must lead to something. The bathroom scenes, and his face in the mirror, are also often used in thrillers, to show the character's self examination. In this Trevor asks 'who are you?', as if he doesn't know himself anymore. This idea is continued as he asks who Ivan is, and who the person tormenting him is, when in the end it is himself, so he actually has his answer staring at him all along.
The Machinist received good critical acclaim and it was said it is a 'film you will not forget'.
Trevor Reznik, a paranoid delusionist who loses his job and believes his work-mates are to blameStevie, his prostitute lover, in whom he confides his fear Ivan, an imagined worker from the factory, who acts as Trevor's conscience, leading him to accept his crime.Maria, The mother of Nicholas, who Trevor imagines is a waitress at the café he visits Nicholas, The boy Trevor ran over, and who Trevor hallucinates taking on the carnival ride Miller, The man at the factory who lost his arm in the accident Jackson, Jones and Reynolds, Workers at the factory, who Trevor suspects of plotting against him. Mrs. Shrike, The old woman who lives above Trevor
The Machinist is an example of a modern thriller, as the movie bears many characteristics of the genre. The film is about the psychological journey of the protagonist Trevor, and his paranoia and insomnia are a successful tool for the tension filled plot. His isolation intensifies the audience's connection with him, and we seem to get more inside his mind as the film goes on, experiencing his hallucinations as if real, we share Trevor's fear and paranoia, though we gradually begin to grasp the reasons he is this way. The plot is typical of a thriller as it continues to shock and raise questions, as soon as we think we have an answer, another clue to a different answer is given, for example, he goes to see Miller, and emerges more suspicious of his co-workers than before, but then he sees Ivan again, and thinks it is him instead. These sudden changes of mind characterise Trevor, he is frantic and never seems to understand anything, thus the audience become entangled in his franticness, which drives the movie forward, through Trevor's process of finding his cure. The film has been called a 'superior psychological thriller', as it is less about plot, and more about conveying a state of mind, which it does brilliantly. Many conventions of the thriller are shown in the filming techniques. Pathetic fallacy, and the fact many scenes are shot at night, add to the tension and mysterious feeling of the movie. Often, a blue filter is used, to make the scene seem cold and dark. These scenes are interspersed with bright, glaring scenes in the sunlight, in which we find Trevor never really fitting in, as if he is better off in the dark, where he eventually retreats entirely.The score adds to the tension, using such instruments as a theremin, to add eery, thrilling atmospheres to the scenes. It also uses classic thrilling music, which builds the suspense. The use of recurring imagery, such as the post it notes and the photograph, are also typical of a thriller, and help tie the plot together in examining Trevor's mind, the images must be relevant, must lead to something. The bathroom scenes, and his face in the mirror, are also often used in thrillers, to show the character's self examination. In this Trevor asks 'who are you?', as if he doesn't know himself anymore. This idea is continued as he asks who Ivan is, and who the person tormenting him is, when in the end it is himself, so he actually has his answer staring at him all along.
The Machinist received good critical acclaim and it was said it is a 'film you will not forget'.
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