Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)

Well, what a strange film. (So of course, I’m going to like it!) But just really bizarre. An amusing John Cusack with long hair plays puppeteer Craig Schwartz, who discovers a portal to John Malkovich’s mind and then along with workmate Maxine (who he falls in love with), exploits it by charging people to enter it. His wife, Lotte (played by Cameron Diaz), enters the portal and falls in love with Maxine, who in turn falls for John Malkovich. An intertwining love triangle ensues as well as just some plain weird plot twists and definitely an unpredictable storyline. Craig eventually discovers how to control Malkovich’s mind and turns him into a successful puppeteer. Meanwhile, Lotte discovers that Craig’s boss has been living through this portal all his life.

The film ends with Craig leaving the portal under pressure from his boss, (who had kidnapped Maxine). A pregnant Maxine ends up giving birth to a child (which was conceived while Lotte was John Malkovich) and we finish by seeing Lotte, Maxine and their daughter, with the voice of Craig inside her. Clearly, the film has plenty of material for philosophical discussion but what had me thinking while watching was how it would’ve been pitched to studios. First, you have this really imaginative idea − is it a comedy or drama, well, to me it’s a dark comedy drama but there is no real category that suits it perfectly. Then there is the strange sensation of seeing an actor star as himself, as well as a fictional person with someone inside him. Not surprisingly, Being John Malkovich has endured as a cult film and I definitely recommend it − a real original piece of work.

4/5