Films in Focus Documentary horror in the dark with “The Tunnel”

Little torrentology…

Official torrent? Wait a minute, does it really say official torrent? Yep, that is what it says. Alongside the DVD release, the film’s makers have published a freely copyable “peer-to-peer” version under a free license and are seeding it as a torrent. For those who do not know what torrents are: BitTorrent is a transmission protocol that distributes the load across several shoulders instead of just one download server. In practice, this means that everyone who has downloaded the film, either in whole or in part, simultaneously distributes it to other downloaders. This is extremely useful for large files that many people want to download at the same time, and promises faster download times and less server load. To download a torrent, simply download one of the numerous programs. On the Mac, I recommend Transmission.

Once you have done that, click on the download link on the download page for “The Tunnel” and open the corresponding file with your fancy new torrent program. Now all you have to do is wait for the horror to begin. If you want to support the film, you have the option to donate or to buy your own frame for a dollar as part of the “135K Project” – you can see mine above.

With the camera in the darkness

“The Tunnel” is set in Sydney, or more precisely in the sewer system under Sydney, where a camera team investigates mysterious events. Horror fans will no doubt associate the term “camera team” directly with the great pseudo-documentary genre classics such as “(link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/ text: Blair Witch Project” or “( link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988/ text: Rec)”, and “The Tunnel“ joins the group of “We’ll pretend that this all really happened“ horror movies. This approach is underpinned right at the beginning by a realistic-sounding emergency call.

And yet the basic concept of “The Tunnel” is a little different from “Blair Witch Project” or “Rec”. While those would like to make the viewer believe that a film camera was found somewhere, “The Tunnel” relies on the aesthetics of a modern documentary film and cuts interview scenes next to camera recordings. In this way, the film takes advantage of the ubiquity of surveillance cameras and audio recordings in modern cities and draws on their material. The result is a clever play on sound and silence when the images switch to surveillance footage, which seems like an ocean of calm in the film. It is a balancing act on available recordings that leave behind the latent feeling of being watched – and at the same time doubt the power of these images, because they cannot change or even explain. “The Tunnel” is an homage to the work of the documentarist, who approaches the truth with a multitude of image sources – and yet still misses the crucial moments.

SPOILER ALERT: The following comments anticipate part of the story – please only read on if you have already seen the movie or are completely uninterested in any form of suspense.

The powerlessness of the eye-catcher

So it fits well that in one of the film’s most suspenseful scenes, the monster itself becomes the master of images, picking up the camera and pointing it at the people it has been hunting, while remaining unrecognized itself. In the omnipresence of images, it is sound that plays a significant role in film aesthetics – and not only in the intense recording of the emergency call right at the beginning. The mysterious monster is introduced by sound, and it is no coincidence that the sound engineer is the first to perceive it – a retarding moment that once again raises hopes of rescue if only he had trusted his hearing. This is promptly punished – while he runs into the darkness to make good sound recordings, all trace of him is lost.

The protagonists are saved by light, because the mysterious creature does not follow them into the light. It is fitting that the government makes no effort to bring the proverbial light into the darkness under the city – so the world of light and the world of shadows remain separate realms that should not be crossed, regardless of which side you normally inhabit. In this way, “The Tunnel” plays with the classic human fear of the dark and of what we cannot see. By using recordings from the latest security media, the film undermines the supposed security of these measures – in the decisive scenes, in which one might catch a glimpse of the monster, they do not provide any clear images. “The Tunnel” does not rely on gory scenes – the stylistic device is used only sparingly and late in the game, with body parts torn out only once – but then matching the basic theme, as these parts are eyes. The supposedly enlightening media do not come off well either: Natasha’s introductory remarks vividly explain the background of the sewer system, but the crucial questions remain unanswered.

However, the film also suffers a little from its approach, because early on in the film, the snippets of interviews that are shown make it clear who has survived and who has not. But that does not change the fact that “The Tunnel” is a film well worth watching, which comes up with an innovative marketing approach.