Rogue Cinema - Broken (2005) - By Duane L. Martin

Once in a while, a film comes along where all the pieces just fit. The production is first rate, the acting is incredible and both visuals and sound are something special. Now a film like that doesn't come along but once in a blue moon, and certainly it's a rarity to see something of that caliber coming from the independent film community, but a special film such as this has finally graced the stage. That film is called Broken. It's a short film, coming in at around 20 minutes, and I hear tell that there's a feature length version in the works.

Now Broken is an absolutely gorgeous movie visually. The way it was shot, the editing, and the entire feel of it puts you in a completely separate world. Now you'd think that with such gorgeous visuals, the acting or the action or any number of other things would come up lacking, but that just isn't the case. The story is incredibly intense and action packed, and you never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next. I'm not going to get into the whole story here because that would give the whole thing away, but basically it's about a girl who's kidnapped by a cadre of baddies who she apparently really ticked off for some reason or another. There's also a suprise ending, that should catch most people off guard.

Every actor in this film, with the exception of maybe one did an outstanding job. The main bad guy was creepy as all get out and eccentric as hell and you never knew what he was going to do next. He also had this really gnarly scar on the side of his face in some sort of a strange design that really lent to his creepiness. The main actress played her part beautifully with all the emotions coming out that you'd expect in the situation she had been placed in. Surrounding them were a whole host of other baddies, each with their own distinct characteristics that made the whole thing feel like they were a bunch of characters from some video game.

The thing about this film is that it basically comes down to being the last twenty minutes of a bigger feature. It picks up in a spot where you know things have happened earlier on, but there's some mystery as to what those things were. In many films, that would be detrimental to the overall story, but in this case, it really didn't matter. The mystery surrounding the things that transpired earlier only added to the story that was presented, and allowed the viewer to fill in the blanks for themselves as the story progressed.

The most shocking thing about this film is that as gorgeous as it is, and with over 120 effects shots, they managed to pull it off for a mere $8,000. Now if Hollywood had tried to make something with the same look, they'd have probably ended up spending eight million dollars, minimum. That's what's so incredible about the current state of technology. It allows independent filmmakers the freedom to bring their visions to life without having to spend a fortune in the process.

I look forward to seeing the full feature version when it's completed. Writer and director Alex Ferrari and his team of highly talented individuals have made something really special here, and it's definietly worth your time to check it out.

You can find out more about the film and watch the trailer on the film's website at http://www.whatisbroken.com.