Fridge (1995)

This morning Tom showed me a short film made by actor Peter Mullan called "Fridge". It's about a boy who gets trapped in a fridge that's been left outside in a small run-down neighbourhood and two people decide to get involved and try to help him out. Similarly to my idea, it's about stepping in and trying to set things right as opposed to seeking comfort within the space of your home.

I really adored the way that Mullan utilised a fridge to portray isolation and cowardliness. With the exceptions of the two main protagonists who try to help the boy out the fridge, everybody is closing themselves indoors from the chaos of the world until the very end. The opening shot displayed above is from within the fridge: it is hard and metal, but the door is open to emphasise the world out there that needs exploring. Not only are we put into the movie ourselves through this angle but it coincides with the notion of keeping yourself locked indoors and how it has been portrayed as cold and bitter like a fridge would normally be. What a title really needs to do is suggest a running theme that occurs throughout: the titular household appliance here is a metaphor for how keeping yourself locked inside, away from the big wide world, will leave you cold-hearted and miserable. The characters and acting all felt natural and well-executed and the cinematography was epic.