{"id":7131,"date":"2010-02-10T14:21:22","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T22:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=7131"},"modified":"2010-02-10T20:16:01","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T04:16:01","slug":"exam-stuart-hazeldine-2009-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=7131","title":{"rendered":"Exam (Stuart Hazeldine, 2009): UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Nicholas Berquist<\/a>. \u00a0Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stuart Hazeldine\u2019s debut film, Exam<\/a><\/em>, is an entertaining psychological thriller directed by a man who knows a thing or two about the genre (wrote Knowing<\/em>, starring Nicolas Cage).\u00a0\u00a0 Hazeldine has also received some recognition back home in the UK.\u00a0 He has been nominated for a BAFTA in the \u201cOutstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer\u201d category.\u00a0\u00a0 He performed all three jobs for Exam<\/em>, and let\u2019s just say \u2013 job well done.<\/p>\n

The film begins by introducing the characters in a rather disorienting fashion.\u00a0 Extreme close-ups of fingers, lips, jewelry, eyes, and just about everything in between acquaint us with the eight candidates.\u00a0 What is noticeable about the close-ups is that every person seems to have some sort of bruise or scar, an indication that they have already been through a lot.<\/p>\n

Once the close-ups are finished, the only set of the entire film is introduced.\u00a0 It is an austere, monolithic type room, which seems to be straight out of a Stanley Kubrick film.\u00a0 The eight candidates are ushered in and take their seats behind desks that have been carefully arranged.\u00a0 It becomes clear these candidates are applying for the job of a lifetime.\u00a0 We understand this because of the title of the film and the design of the particular scene.\u00a0 These people are obviously not in high school or college and their attire suggests a sense of professionalism.\u00a0 Therefore, it becomes clear this is an examination for a very important job.<\/p>\n

After the invigilator gives a few instructions and starts the timer, the candidates flip over their exams only to reveal a blank sheet of paper.\u00a0 One of the female candidates is immediately excused from the room for violating a rule; she has been disqualified.\u00a0 The remaining candidates agree to work together to unveil the question and then it will be every man, or woman, for his or herself to answer it.\u00a0 When the question proves to be hidden quite well the candidates turn on each other, losing trust with every passing minute.\u00a0 The fewer candidates there are, the better the odds of landing the job.<\/p>\n

With eight characters from eight different backgrounds one might think this film is about race or class.\u00a0 It really is more about the corporate world and the deceit that goes on within multinational organizations.\u00a0 The rigorous exam suggests that corporations abuse their employees and refuse to let them in on the meanings behind the punishment.\u00a0 If you have seen The Apprentice<\/em>, imagine someone cranking up the intensity to the point where lives are at stake.\u00a0 Got it?\u00a0 That\u2019s a good benchmark for comparing this film.<\/p>\n

Hazeldine\u2019s screenwriting is brilliant in this film.\u00a0 He has only one location but the room undergoes a metamorphosis making it seem like a different room.\u00a0 Originally, the lighting is white but the candidates believe they can use the lights to reveal the question.\u00a0 During their frantic search, which involves quite a bit of vandalism, the room goes from white, to blue, to red.\u00a0 What began as a bleak and colorless room morphs into a colorful, chaotic space.\u00a0 Along with the room, Hazeldine offers enough twists in this film to make M. Night Shyamalan jealous.<\/p>\n

Obviously, if the film takes place in one location the actors must be photogenic and capable. Lucky for us, most of the actors fit these criteria – specifically Luke Mably.\u00a0 He establishes himself as the leader of the bunch and hands out offensively stereotypical nicknames such as Black for the black character, Blonde for the blonde female, and so on.\u00a0 This adds a light comedic quality to an otherwise dark, psychological thriller.\u00a0 It also teases the mind with a subplot that maybe racism will throw a wrench into the groups\u2019 cooperative nature.\u00a0 Mably does a wonderful job of relating the audience to his character and then undergoes a catharsis.\u00a0 This is both good acting and good screenwriting.\u00a0 Stagnant characters are often unconvincing.\u00a0 Kudos to both Hazeldine and Mably.<\/p>\n

Aside from the hollow subplot (a viral outbreak in comparison to Swine Flu), this film offers everything fans of this genre expect to see.\u00a0 I found myself satisfied with the film and was disappointed when I overheard someone say that Hollywood was looking into creating a remake.\u00a0 I enjoyed this film for what it was.\u00a0 Who says Hollywood is going to enhance it?\u00a0 The beauty is in its simplicity.\u00a0 That is why I consider the subplot to be hollow.\u00a0 The simple concept is brilliant and the film follows suit.\u00a0 If you enjoy thought provoking excitement I strongly recommend seeing this film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Nicholas Berquist. \u00a0Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Stuart Hazeldine\u2019s debut film, Exam, is an entertaining psychological thriller directed by a man who knows a thing or two about the genre (wrote Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage).\u00a0\u00a0 Hazeldine has also received some recognition back home in the UK.\u00a0 He has been nominated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/794"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}