Inside; An Art Thief Locked In

Spoilers ahead ! but I recommend watching this if you are supposed to be learning and analyze the following topics:

(Value of Art, Minimalism, Interiority, Functionalism, Film Aesthetics)

An artist does not only know how to draw but to see value in all forms of art. 

Inside (2023) is film starring American actor, William Dafoe.  William's character, Nemo, was a high-end thief- stealing valuable art pieces from paintings to a miniature sculpture. Upon a system malfunction of hacking a top-notch security system, Nemo was found trapped in a modern New York penthouse. The owner of the penthouse seemed to be rich, judging from his luxurious New York home, art collection, Advanced Technology and the casual cans of caviar found in his singing refrigerator. With the lack of food and basic necessities of living, Nemo ended up in isolation and a will to survive and to escape.  

In the beginning of the film, Nemo narrated a question he found significant from his grade-school teacher. "What 3 things are you would grabbing if your house was on fire?" Nemo then answered that he would be taking his sketchbook, an AC/DC album and his cat. As he got older, his cat died, his AC/DC album that he lent was never given back but his sketchbook remained with him. "Cats die, Music Fade but Art is for keeps" He quoted pointing out the significant value of art to him

Throughout the whole movie, there was not too much dialogue emphasizing the discomfort of isolation and being trapped into this enclosed space.  In addition, the film composed of several "within the frame" scenes on Nemo's movements to emphasize that being trapped feeling but as well as keeping the audience focused. 

If you're asking, SO? What if he's trapped into a beautiful home? He could just chill in there, besides he's got it all. I thought so too- but because when he was hacking the alarms for it to silent down, he ripped every wire and security equipment he could see, including the thermostat. The thermostat would increase up every hour, up till it was unbearable to stay in the house, but he had no choice. Still desperate to eat, keep hydrated, live and escape, he found different ways to stay physically well but as time progressed his wellbeing deteriorated. This got me thinking that a space is worthless without life, Nemo being isolated from society made him crazy. All he had was a CCTV sighting of the penthouse's building  overlooking the people passing through or working- because of this he has met this woman, he named her Jasmin and because of his loneliness overtime he became delusional thinking that Jasmin was his friend or lover? 

In the architectural documentary, The secret life of buildings, a similar situation was experimented on a person. This person was isolated in a home but this home's windows were blocked out keeping almost 70 percent of light from going in. This experiment concluded that being in an enclosed space, with no light, and being in isolation may affect a person negatively from developing the symptoms of depression and different hormonal, immune imbalances. With that knowledge I was to relate this experiment with Nemo's character. 

Nemo's character was also artist and it was not kept secret because it was mentioned from the start of the film. In times of his Isolation, he kept himself busy with art, and he used this to cope with what he was feeling emotionally. He made portraits of the people he sees in the CCTV and he copied of  art that was found around the home. I also wanted to point out that Functionalism and Minimalism was heavily portrayed in the movie, The interior's structural designs screamed this even if 90% of the film was close ups of Nemo's actions. What I didn't like on the other hand was it was the focus of the camera too up-close that there are some scenes that left me confused, like, What the hell is he doing? What's happening?. In relation to that the idea of "death" was often shown in Semiotics- But the end left me questioning if he died? Even if there was several points that suggests that he killed himself from the little lullaby "Going to heaven on the hillside" he was singing to himself  it did not clearly state that because the close-ups were too much which I think was intentional to leave the audience with a big question mark. 

The silence was also loud but as time progressed Nemo got louder as he became frantic, having his own religion and making all these different scenarios in his head while dreaming and in is real reality. Which made me realize that this movie is a great example of psychoanalytic theory but as well as making people experience the phenomenology of neurocinema. AND THE WAY THAT I SCREAMED WHEN NEMO SAID, "For you it was a home, but for me it was a cage. I'm sorry if I destroyed it, but maybe it was made to be destroyed" When I heard that specific line, my body had goosebumps because I knew that it would be perfect with my blog. That line is the BEST example of Interiority; how people have different definitions of "Home" but because Nemo had a different experience in this "Home" he didn't see this as such but a cage. Throughout his stay, he really tried to make himself comfortable despite ripping EVERYTHING apart just to keep himself sane. Nemo also pointed out the lack of functionality, how it is all art and kitchen utensils except for a damn can opener! with his gift of resourcefulness and adaptability he truly worked around the problems and made his own wrench, and collected his own water from different sources. 

Which got me thinking, what if the owner itself was locked in his own home? Would it lead to the same scenario of ending up mentally ill? How will things go differently? It is a movie of thinking and questioning but at the end it will conclude you with: 

Nemo is a very smart man in a very dumb situation. 

Personally I am speechless because I have too much to say and I am just proud of my movie choice, hopefully you get to watch this film soon. If you are familiar with the film, Cast Away starring Tom Hanks but like a A24 style twist to it, This movie is a MUST watch and it will definitely give you an experience. With this in mind, this movie is a great example to show when learning about Value of Art, Minimalism, Interiority, Functionalism, Film Aesthetics and environmental psychology.