Chain (2004)

63% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
59% of users liked it
(341 ratings)

As regional character disappears and corporate culture shapes our environment, it's increasingly hard to tell where you are. In Chain, malls, theme parks, hotels and highways across the globe are joined into one "superlandscape." Two characters appear: one is a businessperson sent out to study theme… More As regional character disappears and corporate culture shapes our environment, it's increasingly hard to tell where you are. In Chain, malls, theme parks, hotels and highways across the globe are joined into one "superlandscape." Two characters appear: one is a businessperson sent out to study theme park prospects; the other is a young drifter, surviving on the fringes of a mall. The feature film mixes documentary and narrative to tell their stories. -- © Antidote Films

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.
Directed By: Jem Cohen
Written By: Jem Cohen
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Special Interest

In Theaters: Sep 14, 2005 Limited
Studio: Gravity Hill Films

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
What might have been highly effective as a nonfiction short is extended way beyond its dramatic possibilities, and the narrative structure Cohen has devised adds little to the overall effect.
Eddie Cockrell, Variety
A hypnotically involving film based on the genuinely novel idea of stitching together shots taken over a six-year period in 11 American states and six countries.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Jem Cohen's visually haunting film deliberately blurs the lines between fiction, documentary and cinematic essay.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
It's still thought-provoking, but not quite as profound as it pretends to be.
Ed Halter, Village Voice
A dreamlike travelogue that transforms a mundane world into something strange and new.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Both Nikaido and her untrained co-star, Mira Billotte, do too good a job at portraying ennui and Chain suffers as much as it succeeds from it.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Jem Cohen's nightmarish portrait of a deracinated world includes footage shot over 10 years in several countries but cut together so seamlessly that the film seems to unfold in a single, continuous strip of malls, hotels and airports.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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