A gun blast, a flash of light, and a young woman awakens to the comfort of her own bed. Bonnie Clayton has it all, a great relationship, a challenging career, and the burden of a dream that grows more vivid and disturbing with each passing night. But when Bonnie is abducted by a sadistic stranger and his colorful entourage, she discovers that the key to her survival lies within the familiar realms of her recurring dream. Rarely do unfunded independent filmmakers make a brilliant first effort with production values that rival fully funded projects. Broken (2005), a flagship short by erstwhile post production editor Alex Ferrari, is one such. Showing the directorial experience of over 200 TV commercials and the editing of two feature films, Broken is Ferrari's directorial debut. First and foremost a showcase of polished visual effects, the cinematography and soundtrack are also accomplished. The story is both atmospheric and punchy, with a twist you will not see coming.<br/><br/>Bonnie wakes suddenly at night to a gunshot, or it may be from a nightmare in a storm. This ambiguity is a subtle, sinister presence throughout the film's 19 minute length, during which Bonnie (Samantha Jane Polay) finds herself abducted by a coolly sadistic scarface called Duncan (Paul Gordon). While she is taped hand and foot to an antique wheelchair and still in her nightie, the sadist by turns lovingly strokes her face, rips the tape off her mouth and compares her to the harmonica he plays. "Like you," he comments with smiling menace, "its complexity lies within its simplicity." His analogy for what one does when a reed inside is broken is applied with terrifying effect to the helpless Bonnie.<br/><br/>Her torment takes place in what looks like (and is) the disused and decaying basement of a derelict hospital building. Everything looks dirty, broken and abandoned. The colours are monochromatic grey-greens with focus points of crimson and rust, adding to the atmospheric nightmare quality. Duncan's entourage includes a beautiful, vicious, red-haired assistant called Marquez (Amber Crawford) and various brutal or menacing-looking, tattooed individuals, who look on impassively. Their sole purpose, says Duncan chillingly, is to kill Bonnie.<br/><br/>The twist at the end is untelegraphed and intriguing and it's a mark of the layered power of this film that in a second viewing, where we have a different interpretation on the action, the interest is even more compelling. Several interpretations are possible, without marring the elegance of the film's impact or diluting the clarity of its central premise.<br/><br/>Paul Gordon's evilly playful portrayal of the sociopathic Duncan is riveting. Samantha Jane Polay is a believably terrified Bonnie, with a surprising hidden resource which is a keyhole special effect to myriad character implications. A soundtrack by Mark Roumelis adds dimension to this satisfyingly well crafted thriller from writer/director team Jorge Rodriguez and Alex Ferrari.<br/><br/>Broken was shot on two miniDV cameras for the total, ridiculous cost of $8,000 and has over 100 VFX shots, over twice as many as some big budget SFX films. I'm looking forward to seeing what this immensely talented and creative team can do next hopefully with some serious funding.<br/><br/>Avril Carruthers Allow me to introduce you to the next big thing. His name is Alex Ferrari and his indie movie is called BROKEN. A gun blast, a flash of light, and a young woman awakens to the comfort of her own bed. Bonnie Clayton has it all, a great relationship, a challenging career, and the burden of a dream that grows more vivid and disturbing with each passing night. But when Bonnie is abducted by a sadistic stranger and his colorful entourage, she discovers that the key to her survival lies within the familiar realms of her recurring dream.<br/><br/>Broken is an example that just re-affirms the fact that indie does not mean bad. You can make a good movie regardless of budget if you don't compromise and set out to make a good film. I know that talk is cheap so I took some stills that I want to share with you so lets start with those. This $8,000 dollar film looks as good as Sin City.<br/><br/>The load menus put to shame every single movie I have got in the last month. This includes the big budgets I bought for $30.00. The fully animated menus are slick ass. The creative credits also impressed. Had to keep reminding myself this was a true indie film.<br/><br/>Then we get into the actual look of the film. Although it looks good the team that made this film did not just recycle the same look over and over. They used plenty of creative looks and shots to give you a really creative and fun film.<br/><br/>This movie was well shot, and for the most part the acting was good. It is a short film though and the problem with shorts is their really is no good story development or overall film direction / movement. Despite this I am giving BROKEN a 9/10. The second highest rating I have ever given any film. Indie or otherwise. When you consider the fact the budget was so small these guys have taken indie to an all new level .They have single handedly taken indie to the next level showing that great film makers can work with any budget. I can see these guys doing a huge summer block buster on a peanuts budget and making a studio a lot of money, as well as pleasing the audience.<br/><br/>Robert Rodriguez influence is obvious, and they have a very gritty and developed look to all the scenes. I think they have not copied him but done true homage to him by doing an indie that is smoking and pays obvious tribute without copying.<br/><br/>MoviesOnline.ca
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