JIM Reviews film “ELEVATOR” – The risky UPS & DOWNS of Relationships =

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“ELEVATOR” – The risky UPS & DOWNS of Relationships =

Rating: 7.5 of 10 stars.

“ELEVATOR” is the 2nd offering in the Chicago Int’l Film Festival’s SUMMER SCREENINGS program wherein a foreign [usually-subtitled] film is shown for FREE every WEDNESDAY (usually at 6:30 PM) at Chicago’s CULTURAL CENTER (across from Millennium Park, on the 2nd floor) thru mid-September…

This award-winning Romanian film was shot in 2008 by self-taught director George Dorobantu over 18 days for less than $ 500! It tells the story of an 18-ish guy & gal who’ve known each other for only 4 days & decide to rendezvous for a romantic interlude at a generally deserted factory on the outskirts of their town. Unfortunately, after they get in an elevator there, it gets stuck & they are unable to get OUT of it. The whole story involves what they do to try to ESCAPE from their chamber— by yelling for help, trying to get the door open or the buttons to work, to try to find an escape hatch, etc. Little by little, as they talk, they get to know each other as people & try to put up with the difficulties of their confinement and seek some way to get free. It alternates between drama, humor, common sense, anger, hope and desperation. The young guy & girl (CHRISTI PETRESCU & IULIA VERDES) do wonderful work, and make you really CARE about them as people in this tension-filled work…

[On June 24th, the Festival will screen a Korean movie “LADY VENGEANCE” who seeks revenge against a man who had her wrongly imprisoned for killing a child…]