Wikipedia:Tutorial (historical)/Wikipedia links/sandbox

SHOWREEL (2009)

A British film directed by Ross Birkbeck. The film, an homage to Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, is psychological thriller about a young actor pursued by a filmmaker.

Plot

London, 2009. A young actor captures the imagination of an anonymous documentary filmmaker hunting for a subject. Alex allows the camera to follow him around town as he confronts the hardships of an artist’s poverty: growing concerns of a disapproving family, drunken daydreams, the banality of unemployment. Still, sharing his struggles lifts Alex’s eager spirits and, soon enough, he lands a minor role in an experimental stage adaptation of Peeping Tom, the cult classic of a voyeur who films his own murderous obsessions.

Through the lens of the speechless documentarian, we go down the rabbit hole of the creative process, one of complicit manipulation by those participating in front and behind the camera, both on and off-stage. When Alex is suddenly thrust into the leading role and simultaneously meets a young woman, he finds it difficult to leave his mania in the rehearsal hall. A cryptic stratagem ensues between the documentarian seeking provocative content, his increasingly unhinged subject, and those watching the watchers.

Alex, a young actor, is recruited by a filmmaker as the subject for a reality TV style film diary. Alex is initially excited by this unexpected deviation from his career path as he sees it as an opportunity to jump ahead of his peers. Shortly after being recruited, Alex's agent sends him to an audition for a stage adaptation of Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. Alex joins the cast but not as the lead. Around this time Alex goes on a date with a young girl called Anna who bears a striking resemblance to one of the victims in the film Peeping Tom. He is shadowed by the filmmaker and an unidentified figure. Through a strange misfortune, the lead actor, Danny, disappears and Alex takes the lead role in the play. We see Danny locked in a room somewhere, being filmed but no-one appears to be in the room with him. Alex, flushed with the yet-to-come success of his reality venture starts to challenge the play's director, Gilbert and to generally get on everyone's nerves. On his way home, Alex is mugged by the unidentified man and his new girlfriend Anna appears out of nowhere to help him. The same man turns up at a post-rehearsal drinking session but Alex is unaware of his presence. After he is attacked a second time, Alex starts to suspect everyone around him, one by one. He first breaks contact with Anna, then he suspects his fellow actors are trying to sabotage his opportunity out of jealousy. eventually, he turns to the director Gilbert. he follows him, films him and directly antgonizes him during rehearsals. Alex's obsession shifts to the filmmaker. He breaks into the filmmaker's house and finds footage that he had not realised had been filmed. It has become clear to Alex that the filmmaker is behind the attacks. At a final rehearsal at an old film studio, the filmmaker torments Alex after the other actors have left. The filmmaker pierces Alex's throat with a long metal spike attached to the end of his camera.

Cast

Jonathon Broke as Alex
Patrick Ryecart as Gilbert
Matthew Kelly as Brian
Jeany Spark as Grace

Cultural References

SHOWREEL is an modern exploration of voyeurism in all its 21st century complexities where art imitates life imitating art and the blinking red light of a killer reveals its patron in the opening scene: we did it. The story follows an individual through the social and mental journey in the world of reality TV and increasingly the web. The film makes direct reference to Michael Powell's Peeping Tom which explores a similar idea but the focus is more on the thrill of the actual killings rather than the pursuit of the target. While the voyeuristic gaze of Peeping Tom is fixed on sex and murder, SHOWREEL targets the lust for fame and importance and the unravelling of the mind as it becomes more and more elusive.

External links

http://www.showreelmovie.com/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/