Closet Land [VHS]

This is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. However, in order to get anything out of it, you have to have an open mind. Here, I am not referring to the ability to understand someone else's ideas, but rather you need to be able to allow the visual and autitory aspects to truly penetrate into your head. If you are interested in the kind of action that is considered "entertaining", you will likely be disappointed. As many have already said, there is very little actual violence presented on screen. What has not been said is that there is subtle cruelty and manipulation present non-stop. Donald Maass in "Writing the Break-out Novel" says that a novel should have "tension on every page" (174). This movie has tension in every gesture.Another thing people say is that the success of this movie is due entirely to the acting. While I agree that the acting is probably the best acting I've ever seen, if you have good acting and a terrible script, you will end up with a bad movie. Or at least a comic one that pokes fun at itself (and thus loses reality). This movie is frighteningly real, and part of the credit for that goes to the writer.Another thing I haven't seen people say is the way ordinary objects are juxtaposed into this unreal and horrifying setting. Tomatoes, cigarrettes, garlic, ice, water (and some not-water). Along with that, the animation or trance sequences that are even more unreal than the actual setting add to this as well.I have two very minor criticisms:1. The ending felt rushed and lacking in intensity. It was a definite disappointment after the very intense beginning and middle sections.2. I did not like the way in which the child abuse subplot got connected to the main plot. Even if the interrogator was only pretending to have been her abuser, this should have been made clearer to avoid it coming off as a fluke (i.e. this particular man was deranged as opposed to the whole system of arrest/interrogation being wrong regardless of who the interrogator was). I felt that that also reduced the overall intensity and power of the movie... it also sends the message that only evil people are capable of evil actions, when the truth is that these scenarios turn decent people into monsters (as discovered in the Zimbardo prison experiment).In another movie, these two things would have caused me to give it a lower rating, but the other aspects make up so much for those that it that I cannot praise this movie enough. The child abuse sub-plot can be seen as a metaphor, and in that artistic sense, it brings an entirely new level to the movie and its horrors, and at the very least, the ending is ambiguous, rather than easily tied up. Not knowing exactly what comes next for them only amplifies the terror. So, despite not being perfect, both items I criticise do add something.

this incredibly intense movie is the thing of nightmares, both for the viewer and the character played by madeline stowe.the only different slant i have to add from what other viewers have said is besides wanting to hate and fear Alan Rickman's character-i also think one has to also feel sorry for him. what made him a child molester in the first place? was he really a college professor at one time? did the government "recruit" him as a torturer/interogator against his will? is he really being watched as he performs his "job" and what are the consequences to him if he disobeys? has he himself bee through some type of tortue and been "broken"? what is the meaning of the scene of him driving in the rain during a particularly intense part of the film-does he also have a "closet land" that he escapes to while performing inhuman acts of tortue? does he really regret all he is doing/has done or does it give him pleasureonly mr. rickman can inspire such conflicting feelings in us.

Has never worked in my DVD player, even with the correct language setting.

hard to know what to say. no problem with delivery or quality, but the movie wasn't what I remembered. still, that was what I wanted to check.

This movie is fantastic on so many levels, I don't know where to begin. Alan Rickman plays an interrogator who inflicts mind games and torture on a children's book writer (Madeleine Stowe). These two actors are the only people in the movie, and it is set in just one room. Rickman should have gotten an Oscar for his acting in this film. The scene where he plays three different people with his voice is outstanding. Stowe is also incredible in this movie, and her intensity matches Rickman's in every way. WARNING: This could be disturbing to watch for anyone who has been a victim of physical, mental, or sexual abuse. A couple of scenes nearly made me cry. Even so, this is a compelling story with stellar acting. Five stars all the way.

This movie I thought was a very powerful movie. Madeleine Stowe was very captivating. The movie in itself may have seemed boring to most, but if you look past there only being two people in the movie with one set, the movie was quite watchable. Alan Rickman although being the interigator was very screen worthy in this movie. The scene where he was more than 2 people was amazingly well done. The movie in itself although disturbing in one level is a very interesting movie. I recomend it to anyone. To most people this is a disturbing film. It was for me. But it is worth watching. I give it 4 stars

I found this movie extremely moving. There were times when I found myself in tears. I agree with the reviewer who said to watch it alone in a quiet room......you will be drawn in and profoundly moved by not only the story, but the superb acting. Madeleine Stowe is very good and Alan Rickman is just incredible as the Interrogator. The set was perfect and the music really defined the action - it was great. I thought it was anything but boring - I was mesmerized from beginning to end. Please pay attention to the message of this film - just like children make easy victims, so do people who don't speak out about governmental abuse of citizens. As the message says at the end of the film...."over half the world's governments continue to use torture against their own citizens". It's a frightening thought. This film is definitely a must see.

I had to return the video as it was NOT clear that the format of this DVD was in a FOREIGN FORMAT & not able to be used in the USA. I do not know what PAL format means. I am still waiting for my refund (minus S/H) to appear on my credit card.

Dieser Film ragt aus der Fülle an zweit- und drittklassigen Filmen weit heraus, in denen das Thema politische Unterdrückung, Verhör und Folter eine Rolle spielt - all zu oft mit heuchlerischem oder völlig unverstellten Blick auf die Opfer. Amnesty International hat in diesem Film beratend mitgewirkt, ihnen ist auch die hohe Qualität dieses Zwei-Personen-Stücks zu verdanken.Madeleine Stowe spielt hier eine Kinderbuchautorin, die wegen eines noch im Entwurf befindlichen Buches verhaftet und verhört wird. Alan Rickmann gibt den verhörenden Beamten des ungenannten Staates, der wie es im Verlauf des Films klar wird, seine Bürger nach Belieben filmt und abhört, intime Szenen aufzeichnet und vieles mehr. Warum die Kinderbuchautorin schließlich verhaftet wurde, wird erst gegen Ende des Films deutlich, auch die ganze Perfidie des Überwachungsstaates.Von der Botschaft von Amnesty International abgesehen, kann man, wenn man die Message komplett ignoriert, allerdings auch sehr vieles lernen. Nicht umsonst wurde der Film in bestimmten Zirkeln sehr hoch gelobt.Das Interieur des fiktiven Verhörraumes mit seinem futuristischen Tisch ist alptraumhaft surreal: antike Säulen neben Wandschränken mit verborgenen Schubfächern, in denen buchstäblich alles ein kann: Von Entschuldigungen für versehentliche Verhaftungen bis zu Zangen. Das Zweipersonenstück ist von der Besetzung her bereits phänomenal - nur Alan Rickmann ist entschieden zu jung, um der Freund der Mutter der Verhafteten (und zugleich Vergewaltiger der damals fünfjährigen Tochter - der Grund für ihre Verhaftung, da sie ein Buch "Closet Land" schreiben wollte) gewesen zu sein.Diese Ausgabe des Films ist spanisch und englisch, die spanischen Untertitel können ausgeblendet werden, Die Qualität ist so-so, nicht unbedingt höchstklassig, aber mehr als ausreichend. Auf YouTube gibt es eine qualitativ wesentlich schlechtere Version in deutsch.

Forget your gore fests, this will disturb you more than any so-called horror film, you won't laugh about it after but you'll talk about the acting. Just a pity it's a Portuguese version which has an original English speaking sound, but you have to put up with Portuguese subtitles and not a great picture, but at the mo the only game in town.

After years of only owning the "not-to-be-sold" promo video of "Closetland," I was thrilled to finally find it on DVD. And I didn't even mind the fact that it has subtitles (I am still not clear on why it has them, however it is better than what I had). The one thing that was something of a bummer is that it is a "region 2" DVD so it doesn't play in my current DVD player. It does play on my laptop however I have to change regions to play it and apparently there is a limited number of times one can change their region (or at least that is what the dialogue box tells me!). All that aside, THANK YOU for releasing this film on DVD. It is brilliant.

Hardly did a film come to my senses more than this one. Had a sleepless night after the first view but this shows the sensitiveness the film was made with. I would hope that many people see this film and get involved ...

Bought this for a friend arrived very quickly, not my type of film but as long as he loved it doesn't matter!