If you haven’t heard of the film Hardcore Henry (Ilya Naishuller, 2016), that’s soon to change because this film pushes the limits of cinematography like we’ve never seen before. Deadline writer, Tiff, says the film can best be described in one scene, where Henry is pursuing a captured enemy about details, when out of nowhere; a sniper’s bullet strikes the enemy creating a gruesome scene. Considering, the film is shot in 1st-person the scene “is designed so that each audience member feels like they themselves are going to spend hours cleaning off all that blood and gore.”
The unique shooting style seems interesting, and I admit that I’ll probably check it out just to witness the end result and form my own opinion. But that doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to seeing it, in all honestly, I’ll probably have to force myself to see the end credits. Not that I doubt the directors talent or storyline, but a film entirely in 1st person seems frustrating and too much like a video game. In fact, Deadline compares the film to first person shooter video games like Call of Duty, stating that “Hardcore Henry is more of an endurance test and asks much of anyone who is not a hardcore gamer.”
Even though I’ll probably side with Deadline on this, I think any film that attempts to push the limits is worth viewing at least once.
timotheemwizerwa 