Several adjectives spring readily to mind when trying to describe The Cell, interesting, dark, twisted, but most prominently weird. By now you're probably all familiar with the story of this pitch-black sci-fi thriller. Jennifer Lopez enters the unconscious mind of a comatose serial killer to uncover the location of his latest abductee. Not much of a plot, true, but that never did Alien any harm. It's not the plot, which is interesting in this film though - it's the concept. The Cell isn't about plot; it's about the exploration of a person's inner psyche. Of course, this psyche, belonging to a particularly disturbed murderer, leads to a supremely twisted and surreal movie. Most of what I want to say about the movie is born of this twisted, surreal nature.

From the material I've read the main criticism of The Cell is that it is too graphic in its depiction of violence and sadism. This is, of course, an entirely subjective opinion. Some people have a higher tolerance for violence than others. What is excessive to one person is a Saturday morning cartoon to another. Although I doubt anyone compared The Cell to Rugrats. Yes it is explicitly violent, but unlike say Event Horizon the gore and brutality in The Cell is all there for a reason.

The first example of extreme, and pointed, violence is within the films opening half hour. This is the part I personally found most difficult to watch, observing it through the gaps between my fingers, which is rare indeed. The scene in question takes place in killer Carl Stargher's (Vincent D'Onofrio) basement. He suspends himself over the body of his recently deceased victim (who is now bleached white to resemble a doll) by chains attached to rings, embedded in the flesh of his back. He then uses a mechanical hoist to pull himself up to the ceiling where he dangles over the corpse. Like I said, I wasn't watching for all of this, but I saw enough to tell you of the close up of his skin ripping. Oh my God, I thought, what have I gone and rented? I promised you a reason for this masochism, however, and here it is, straight from the mouth of director Tarsem Singh.

"I thought 'okay I need to do something so shockingly upfront with (the serial killer) that if this guy comes out later dressed as a cheerleader, nobody would laugh at him."
(Dreamwatch, issue 74, Nov 2000).

Normally I don't listen to promotional hyperbole, that's the kind of mistake that leads to seeing Battlefield Earth. However reading that Dreamwatch interview with Tarsem (his preferred moniker apparently) in the wake of the film, it makes a lot of sense. Aside from a couple of moments of pitch-black humour, The Cell is a serious movie addressing a serious topic: what motivates a serial killer to perform these crimes? You can't explore any subject seriously if the audience are laughing throughout the film. Although I balked at it, I agree with Tarsem that he made a wise move, artistically. The extremity of the violence during the whole film, helps anchor the surrealism through the emotional reality of horror. If you're shocked and repelled by something your less likely to laugh at it. I certainly didn't laugh, although I did snigger once or twice.

The next scene in this canon that I wish to discuss is the child abuse scene. I can feel your collective skin crawl already because mine's doing the same. This is probably the most horrific part of the film, given more power by the fact that much of it happens off camera. At this point we're quite deep into Stargher's perverse world and Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) has made contact and established a rapport with the child Stargher. At this point it is worth noting that Stargher takes many different forms in his subconscious: A king, a creature made from parts of both genders, a demon, a warrior monster, a jester type and a small child. It is the child Stargher, Catherine watches being beaten by his barbaric father. This is horrible enough, even off camera, without the abusive father picking up an iron... Like I said, its off camera, but the screaming and hissing effects are powerful enough alone.

Not only is this the most unpleasant scene, it is perhaps the most pointed. Stargher was abused as a child, therefore by extension is it perhaps saying that of all serial killers? Certainly this is true of Stargher, but The Cell is science fiction and not reality. There are so many serial killers, rapists and so forth that it is nearly statistically impossible for them all to have been abused. However I do feel that it is a contribution to the disturbed minds of a percentage of them, but not all and is certainly not the only cause of their psychosis. As with many things my view is that it depends on the individual in question.

The Cell's largest flaw arises here, in trying to determine what makes Stargher tick. The film does go into a lot of depth and by the end we know Stargher extraordinarily well... but not as well as a psychologist would after a long period of working with him. Here lies The Cell's fatal flaw; it is exploring the psychology of a character within a two hour run time and therefore can only show so much. Hence the use of child abuse, religion, sexual repression and much abstract symbolism to demonstrate how a person can become warped. Maybe then the point isn't child abuse. Rather the message is that psychotics are created by external forces upon them, in a broader sense and the film simply uses child abuse as an instantly recognisable reflection of this.

There is one other scene of violence that needs to be discussed before moving on. I am, of course, referring to the part where FBI agent Peter (Vince Vaughn) enters Stargher's mind to help Catherine and winds up being tied down and tortured by the jester Stargher. The fact that the act is performed by the jester Stargher is significant as it conveys the idea that Stargher enjoys torturing his victims, more usually by locking in a glass cell and letting it fill with water. While he is sterilising his implements and his hands, jester Stargher hums a jaunty tune and utters the phrase "naughty worm" before extracting Peter's intestine. He also cruelly parodies his victims anguished cries of "its not real" in a shrill, high pitched voice. The tone of this suggests he feels his victim is whining. Whether this scene is important to the film is largely debateable, but it does convey the idea that to Stargher, torturing his victims is a sadistic practical joke, which he enjoys playing on them.

The Cell isn't just darkness and depravity though. In fact there are moments of genuine beauty in the film, which contrast well with the darker elements and provide a sense of balance in the films aesthetic. The desert scenes, which open and close the movie, for instance, are imaginative, spectacular and sublimely wonderful. In these Catherine talks to a small boy named Edward Baines, (Colton James) who she is trying to help awake from a coma. Very few films can make a shipwreck in a desert look convincing, (in fact I can't think of any others that try) but The Cell pulls it off. The final coda scene is even more breathtaking with pink trees and snow falling... in the middle of a desert. It's a bizarre sight, yet it works. No one I've watched the film with has laughed at it.

Not precisely a thing of beauty, but one of the most aesthetically pleasing shots is that of a tortoise wandering slowly through a patch of tall, dry grass. I couldn't tell you why this is such a satisfying shot, maybe the colours or the lighting, but it is, to me, an indelible image.

Equally unforgettable is the climatic showdown between monster warrior Stargher and Catherine. The entire film looks fantastic, but this is one of the most brilliantly realised scenes. The scenery, featuring a large pond, marble steps and courtyard, trestles and many trees, looks wonderful. The sunset lighting also adds to the look and atmosphere, imbuing it with the aura of Armageddon. Not an entirely inaccurate analogy as the conclusion does mean the end of Stargher's world. As with the rest of the film the costumes (by designer Eiko Ishioka) are excellent. Monster warrior Stargher is an exceptional piece of work. The battle ends with one of the films most tragic and poignant moments. Just as Catherine kills him/it the Stargher warrior monster tells her she has inadvertently killed the boy Stargher too. It's a bit of a surprise because you don't expect mainstream Hollywood to kill off a small child, but logically it makes sense because the warrior monster and the child are both parts of the same person. Therefore, if one dies so does the other.

This brings me nicely onto another complaint against The Cell, which I disagree with even more than the it's-too-violent one. It has been said that The Cell was incomprehensible nonsense and didn't make sense. I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. The Cell makes perfect sense... if you think about it.

The star of the film isn't Jennifer Lopez, its Carl Stargher. This is his story, set in his mind and much of the imagery reflects him and how he sees himself. One of the more obvious (and typically spectacular) examples is the moment when Catherine is jumped by the demon Stargher, a creature with grey skin and curved devil horns. This bizarre sequence shows how Stargher sees himself: As evil. Early on in the film Peter, states: "he wants to be caught." If you think about the imagery on display and what it says about Stargher, The Cell makes a lot of sense. After all, it was made with the intention of conveying this character's inner world, so in order to understand the film one needs to watch it from his perspective. If you don't want to "enter the mind of a killer" why are you watching a movie with exactly that tagline?

If getting into Stargher's mind provides the darkest, most disturbing elements of The Cell, it is also the source of its optimism. For ultimately The Cell is optimistic. Stargher wants to be punished for his crimes. In fact towards the end when Catherine "reverses the feed" and brings Stargher into her mind, his adult self appears and tells Catherine (quite narcissistically dressed as a nun) that he wants her to save him - or rather kill him. The aforementioned monster warrior attack on Catherine could be interpreted as a suicide run, indeed the monster offers little defense. Maybe it depends on which part of his personality is dominant at the time, he is, after all, schizophrenic. However you interpret the assault, the point is that Stargher wishes to be stopped, even if it means his own death. A notion supported by Peter's earlier dialogue. The message, amply conveyed here and by the child Stargher trying to help Catherine, is that there is some good in everyone. Even the sickest, most deeply disturbed individuals. The Cell not only wants you to understand Stargher; it wants you to empathise with him; an idea, which many audience members were likely uncomfortable with. Perhaps The Cell's greatest achievement is that it successfully manages to explain Stargher's actions without ever justifying them. Even Stargher himself recognises the evilness and depravity of his behaviour, but is unable to stop himself without assistance.

There are a few other things in The Cell, worthy of note, some of which are overlooked. The first is the black humour peppered around the film. There isn't much, but it is there. It's the kind of sick humour that shouldn't be funny, yet somehow is.

Second is the peripheral, but essential, victim who Stargher kidnaps and locks in a glass cell, before his freakish mindscape is unleashed upon the screen. Usually these victims are dumb and just scream a lot, but not this girl. Julia Hickson (Tara Subkoff) succeeds in being frightened and vulnerable, but is also intelligent and resourceful. She carries a mace spray in her purse and tries to find a way out of her predicament. When we see her in the finale, in the water filled cell, she's breathing oxygen through a disconnected pipe she has detatched from the wall. It's refreshing to see a smart, pro-active victim in a film, so well done Subkoff.

Mention must also be made of Valentine, Stargher's pet dog, who acts as a metaphor for Stargher himself. Both are trained buy their mentors to do and accept terrible things. Stargher learns a way of life from his fathers treatment of him in a way similar to his teaching Valentine to assist him in abducting Julia.

Finally one cannot end an article on The Cell without speaking of its title. The Cell, as a title, has two meanings, the first being the obvious glass cell, where Stargher's victims are imprisoned; the second is referring to the human mind. This second type of cell is the one where memories and personalities are kept, locked away from the world and is also the kind of cell the movie is more prominently about.

In conclusion, I don't find The Cell sick or incomprehensible and feel that to label it so is to vastly underrate one of the finest movies of 2000. I'm not denying it's a brutal and violent film, rather I believe that element to be an integral part of the experience. For me The Cell was a fascinating, surreal and thought provoking film.

Or maybe I'm just a real sicko.