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DVD Die
 Run time: 91 min Rating: 4.9 Genres: Thriller Director: Dominic James Writers: Domenico Salvaggio, Nick Mead Stars: John Pyper-Ferguson, Emily Hampshire, Caterina Murino |
| Storyline Lisa, a gambler who lives for the cards. Robert, a millionaire philanthropist, Mark (Elias Kostas), a cop reaching the end of a gruesome career. Zach, a brilliant psychiatrist. Melody, a teenager battling drug addictions. Diane, a caring nurse whose patients are the only life surrounding her. What do these six people have in common? Something connects them all – each of them is on the road to self-destruction, each is truly lost. And then, something happens: they all wake up in cells in a surreal facility, without knowing how they got there or why. Are they in denial? Are they crazy? What happened? They soon discover they are not alone, when the mysterious Jacob (Pyper-Ferguson) forces them into a disturbing experiment, during which the unwilling participants come to face disturbing truths about themselves and decide each others fate in a nerve racking game of dice. Written by Anonymous |
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| Plot Keywords: suicide, millionaire, game, cell, dice | |
| Details: Country: Canada, Italy Release Date: 7 July 2011 (Russia) |
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DVD Die
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Billionaire Robert moretti: Does fund raisers for the needy. Drugs and prostitutes as well.
Mark Murdoch: Self-loathing, tired, alcoholic cop, under investigation for a killing.
Lisa Meridan: After the birth of her son, disappears from home periodically, chronic gambler.
Dr. Diane Robinson: A woman of faith who has never gotten over the sickness and death of her child.
Dr. Zach Emmet: Battling depression for accidentally over prescribing medication and under investigation.
Melody chambers: Drug-addicted prostitute, issues of rejection; being unloved.
The 6 people above have tried to commit suicide and are held captive and forced to play a game of chance or fate using a die as it's instrument. The game is called "The Trials" wherein the captives are forced to use the method by which they tried to kill themselves against their fellow captives along with a roll of a die to decide the severity of the method and the probability of survival. For example, if you tried to kill yourself with a gun then you are forced by your captor to roll the die to decide how many bullets should be loaded; after which time you would point it at your fellow captive and fire.
There is a diversity of captives since the people are randomly selected based on opportunity. In other words, whoever tries to off themselves unsuccessfully and are in the awareness of this madman are selected; imprisoned below in glass cages to experience The Trials wherein they are offered –according to the madman– "a chance to be reborn". I have to concede, reluctantly, that there was a certain logic to his madness. These people, after all, wanted to –and attempted to– kill themselves. So with his help they either had the opportunity to get it right this time, or live and "want to live" after being brought very close to death.
One by one the principals are introduced at the top of the movie. They go missing. Detective Valenti (very attractive woman and accent) is suspicious of the circumstances when these people start turning up with "dots" on their wrists; some lucky to be alive, some not. Along with the missing is her friend and mentor Mark Murdoch. The police chief keeps trying to dissuade her, telling her to go home. In essence, that there's nothing to these incidents and she's wasting her time and the department's. She has strong instincts and doggedly pursues.
This movie is not about elaborate ways to kill and torture anyone. The villain may be a nut of some variety but he's not a sadist. Indeed he even comes across as sympathetic and understanding sometimes. So the methods used here are the everyday conventional methods that are used by people everyday against themselves and others. Pointedly: the very methods these unfortunate 6 used against themselves. Rather, this movie is about irony, choices, life and death. You must now use the method by which you tried to kill yourself against someone else. You now have a second chance to die or live –what do you want? Will you cooperate with your captor, or not? What choice do you have? Can you live with the responsibility of being the instrument of another's death? These are some examples of these people's dilemma. The drama of the movie, tension of it, is all about this. The performances are so good by everyone in this movie that you are definitely drawn in and absorbed. Well worth your time, I believe. Love Boloxxxi.
Six strangers awake in a cell in an underground facility. In flashbacks, their lives are exposed and in common, they are destroyed by their acts. Mark Murdock (Elias Koteas) is a nihilist detective that does not have any hope in his career. Lisa Meridian (Emily Hampshire) is an addicted gambler that has destroyed her marriage. Robert Moretti (Fabio Fulco) is a self-destructive millionaire that tried to commit suicide. Melody Chambers (Katie Boland) is a young prostitute addicted in drugs. Zach Emmett (Karl Pruner) is a psychiatrist that has been suffering for two years for a fatal wrong prescription to a patient. Diane Robinson (Patricia McKenzie) is a nurse that lost her two year-old child and tried to commit suicide.
Soon they learn that they have been abducted by the disturbed Jacob Odessa (John Pyper-Ferguson), who saw his father committing suicide when he was a boy. Jacob forces each prisoner to toss a dice in a deadly game of Russian roulette against another participant in a sort of trial. The survivors would have a chance to reborn in a new existence.
"Die" is a movie with a promising beginning, beautiful cinematography, intriguing atmosphere and awful storyline with a rip-off of "Cube" and "Saw" and overrated reviews. Despite the good performances, the explanation for the sick game of the deranged Jacob Odessa is brainless and ridiculous. My vote is three.
Title (Brazil): "Jogos Suicidas" ("Suicide Games")
Die starts off good, with a reasonably good dialogue that does a nice job of keeping you interested in the story as it develops. It also has a nice concept; a person's fate determined by the role of a dice… but why putting this in the oh-so-familiar Saw-esque/Cube-esque setting, that's been recycled a billion times over? Some scenes seem cut short or left out entirely, as if we viewers are not allowed to know how a certain character ended up in a certain situation, or how a certain character knew a certain thing. Sound logic is few and far between and along the line I got more and more agitated, as I kept wondering; "Why doesn't he do this?", or; "Why doesn't she do that?". It's not only these countless little plot holes you'll have to deal with, but what's up with those horrible accents? Towards the end of the movie I even noticed myself getting mad, for it tries to deliver some "twists" and a philosophical message of epic scale, that rather just epically fails.
Well, the premises did sound like something we've all heard of before, but the way the plot unravels actually really makes it worth your while. If you pay attention you'll notice how clues are carefully placed throughout the film and how everything falls back in to place. As I watched it I became more and more interested in the characters and their stories, and the atmosphere created by the sound design and the cinematography enveloped me and made me "believe"… I am not sure this is film for all audiences, I mean that – differently from most thrillers, this is a film for mainly adult audiences who are willing to think as they watch a film. The look of the film is great and the acting is, for the most part, amazing. I enjoyed it and would watch a second time.