Can we imagine ourselves telling our private life stories, stories that do matter to us, to a stranger in a stance of several seconds? Most probably, the people who ended up becoming the characters of “Lift” did not see themselves in that position, especially when entering the elevator of their building. Nevertheless, the process which was simply an ordinary part of their daily routines, turned them into the characters of a documentary.
"Lift" is a 2001 short documentary by Marc Isaacs about the residents of a tower block in London. The majority of the scenes are captured in the lift with only a few exceptions (scenes of a building from outside and of a fly). Although the space itself already presumes certain kind of intimacy, the director also uses close-up and zoom-in techniques rather often, which makes the inhabitants appearing in the film seem even closer both physically and psychologically.
Despite the focus on the residents, the presence of the director is also noticeable throughout the film whether through capturing his shoes or his reflection in the mirror of the lift. Isaacs interestingly positions himself in the space, which is not visual or physical, only. He uses this small space to show that he does not distance himself from people he captures- he's there all the time. On the other hand, he is not entirely one of them, since he's in the role of an observer. Sociologically speaking, it can be said that he describes the "everydayness" by positioning himself inside of the scene. Between the shots of the residents, we see a fly on the wall. While the latter presumes observation without interference, can we still claim that in this case the director did not interfere? In one of the scenes, when the floor is being cleaned, it can be seen, that the place where he stands, is being left out- now he’s there, he interfered the environment, and now it is a different place.
Moreover, the questions he asks are not ones people ask when having small talks or hear everyday, let alone in the elevator of their building. Isaacs asks the residents about their dreams, thoughts, childhood memories- questions which are not easy to answer and which usually make people think and feel. It should be mentioned, however, that he was not an entire stranger to the residents. Throughout the shooting of the film, he spent there two months, 10 hours a day, which, definitely, also played a significant role for people to open up to him. In several scenes, we can see a man who often brings food to him. Moreover, he shows also a chair offered to him, which visually changes the space. Within the bluish colors of the film, we notice that the chair is red. Overall, it distinguishes among the grey-blue atmosphere of the lift: it is something from outside- just as Isaacs himself is from the outside, but also, he's paradoxically inside.
Between the main shots which include the dialogues with the inhabitants, Isaacs puts scenes showing how the elevator goes to the ground floor with the voice mentioning it. The lift comes and goes all the time, it is in constant motion and although it travels throughout the whole building from one floor to another, it always starts from and ends at ground floor. This is both the starting and ending point. And the stories, whatever they appear to be- dramatic or humorous- unfold in the period which includes ground floor- any other given floor- ground floor. Nevertheless, no matter how routinely these actions are, they are never repeated and never the same. The scenes of opening and closing doors are like curtains in theater illustrating the changing scenes.
Overall, Isaacs succeeds to show the prejudices, the ways people live, their routines through such a small space as an elevator. The ending scene keeps illustrating the "everydayness" showing the moving elevator once more- something we have seen throughout the film. It never stops, it's in constant movement. And the fly is still there, although it is hard to tell whether it stopped flying or not.
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