I have distant memories of Joel Schumacher's 2002 film 'Phone Booth'. Staying up late at night on school nights, flicking through four different television channels that I had access to through an arial that forever needed its positioning changed. Many of these channels late at night would air films, which was pretty much my introduction into the diverse world of cinema. Albeit on a small, perhaps down to eleven inches, television screen. The screen itself was square, and the technology that powered it resulted in a large amount of both space and heat.
It was here that I first watched Phone Booth, in the early 2000's, on a screen so small that most would consider it unbearable now. Looking back, I think the two went together perfectly. Phone Booth is a film of claustrophobia, thriving on placing a character in an incredibly tight space with nowhere to run. With such a short runtime and simple narrative, I can't help but believe that Hollywood has lost its way by rejecting such small, affordable films. Phone Booth is both entertaining, and speaks of an era in filmmaking, and even society, that have differed quite significantly.
The phone booth
Phone Booth is a film that does not care for the world that it is in. It has no interest in providing depth to the location, nor does it waste its time introducing its characters in order to propel its main story to the audience. We're instantly thrown into a busy New York City, following along a busy publicist glued to his telephone, and closely followed by an intern.
Immediately, we're given a protagonist, one that is played by a very young Colin Farrell. His character is a walking stereotype of the entertainment industry: wealthy, very busy, and incredibly egotistical. This is done through a very quick amount of dialogue that immediately increases the pacing of the film, introducing some chaotic atmosphere that gives the audience something to start with.
After making a telephone call from a phone booth -- good luck finding some of those these days -- that very telephone begins to ring; naturally a curious protagonist answers the call and is met with confusion, and ultimately our film launches forward into the suspense from here on. A suspicious voice is on the other end, and begins to reveal private information regarding our protagonist, eventually leading into aspects of blackmail as he forces him into performing certain actions.
There's a great deal of tension that rises from here, as events begin to spiral out of control. The entire situation is blown way out of proportion and sooner than later our protagonist is surrounded by police. Without spoling much more of the narrative, that's all I'll say. But I will mention that the film pushes forward into its very short runtime very quickly. I loved how well the director actually utilised this short runtime and implemented it into displaying how fast a chain of events unfolds.
With a location of a phone booth, there's very little room for boredom to set in for the audience. Each line in the script holds a very fundamental piece of the story, as does each character regardless of the screentime they receive.
The creativity of Phone Booth
For the most part, we don't see much other than the surrounding area of the phone booth. The vast majority of the film takes place in this one location. The camera utilises different perspectives to maintain interest within this single location. Often enough, we're given a perspective of our protagonist within the phone booth, as he's forever stuck on the phone with this strange person pulling the strings, even with a police presence.
As to avoid pulling the audience away from this phone booth, the film takes advantage of -- and I admit it felt a little dated upon rewatching it -- splitting the screen with the perspective of those our protagonist is forced into calling from the phone booth. These people allocate just a very small portion of the screen, but it allows us to see other characters while maintaining this feeling of being stuck within the phone booth with our protagonist.
While it did feel a little dated, I can't truthfully think of a better way it could've been done. It was creative for its time, and allowed for us, the audience, to still see other characters sometimes without removing the claustraphobic nature of being kept unwillingly in the phone booth. I had a slight memory of the film Locke, in which the entire film takes place within a car, where its protagonist makes phone calls without any other character being present on the screen throughout the entire film. While it worked in the film, I don't think it would've had much effect on this one.
Particularly as the other characters hold some significance and need to be seen by the audience to piece together aspects of the narrative and character development that serves as additional context.
To maintain and increase tension, certain scenes have very active cinematography, where the camera rotates around the phone booth at a very fast pace. I really enjoyed this, but I feel it could've been done a little better if it had maintained its positioning as it rotated around the booth as the events took place. It did somewhat achieve this, but when I was really immersed by it, the perspective would suddenly change and pull you out of this moment.
Fortunately, the performance by Colin Farrell, despite trying to pull off an American accent, is more than enough to keep you entertained, if you are not one to constantly monitor the directing and cinematography. His emotions are rather believable at times, shifting from one aspect of sarcasm to fear. The reactions are enough for the film to remain interesting, and he's certainly an unexpected casting that actually perfects the role.
A film of its time
I felt nostalgic watching Phone Booth again after all of these years. I felt a sadness that such creative, short films are such a rarity now. It's certainly strange to think that certain narratives can no longer be made to fit a modern audience due to the changes in society over the decades. Phone booths are hardly relatable objects these days, for example.
But I couldn't help but think of what we've lost with the rise of greed and overbudgeted franchise titles. Phone Booth was a financial success, and it had such a small budget, especially alongside the small runtime it has. Its narrative is simple to follow, incredibly entertaining with the rising of suspense and chaotic events that unfold within minutes. Why did we cast such creativity aside?
Phone Booth thrives on a cast that is mostly unknown. While three characters are people most would certainly recognise, they're small enough that an audience member can attribute them to these performances and not much else. It improves the immersion, helps us connect with the characters more. I just can't imagine a film like this being made in today's climate. I sadly believe it would fail or simply get rejected before production can even take place. But I'm happy that Phone Booth is one of such creative films that was given the chance to exist. It's most certainly worth your time, especially when it is so easy to digest.