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The PackageSERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS was a box office failure during its initial theatrical run in early 2001, despite the fact that its producers had hopes for a BLAIR WITCH PROJECT-like success (having strategically premiered it at the 2000 Sundance film festival, where BWP had its lucrative bow the previous year). Unfortunately, they ended up with the late USA Pictures distributing the film; in an apparent fear of controversy, USAP gave it an extremely limited release and avoided several major film festivals. The film’s DVD release was similarly sparse and, with the subsequent collapse of USAP, is now out of print. The film may not be perfect, but doesn’t deserve the fate that befell it. Independent
movie stelwart Christine Vachon, whose Killer Films co-produced SERIES 7,
claims on the DVD that the film was released “too late” to have much of an
impact. Personally, I believe the
opposite is true. I was one of the
few who experienced the film during its initial theatrical bow and, as I
remember, didn’t much like it; at the time it seemed like the reality TV wave
(then emblemized by SURVIVOR and BIG BROTHER) was peaking, and furthermore, the
film appeared to be reiterating a point already beaten into the ground by the
likes of NETWORK, THE RUNNING MAN, the French film PRIZE OF PERIL, AMERICA’S
DEADLIEST HOME VIDEO, Peter Watkins’ GLADIATORS, MAN BITES DOG, NATURAL BORN
KILLERS, S.F.W. and BATTLE ROYALE, which was released around the same time.
That, however, was then and this is now, when reality television has
all-but engulfed America’s major television networks, and has furthermore
taken some decidedly twisted turns (FEAR FACTOR, anyone?).
Nowadays SERIES 7 seems far more relevant and even prophetic than it did
back in ’01--real life hasn’t quite caught up with this film’s macabre
narrative, but it’s definitely close. |
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The StoryThe narrative is presented as a compilation of episodes (complete with commercial brakes) from an imaginary TV series called The Contenders, in which six randomly chosen civilians try and kill each other off; the survivor gets to advance into the next round. The film opens on Dawn, an expectant mother who’s managed to best her opponents in Series Six of the series, and so is now the reigning champion of Series Seven. Opposing her are Tony, a gruff family man; Connie, a (seemingly) kind-hearted nurse; Lindsay, a teenager struggling against her overprotective parents; the delusional Franklin, who lives in a trailer park; and Jeff, a suicidal artist dealing with testicular cancer and a manipulative wife. After
much expository action, the game begins when Dawn tries to take out Tony in his
house. The latter escapes with his
baby son, leading police on a high speed chase topped off (COPS-like) by a
tense confrontation with a knife. Tony
ends up in the hospital where Connie administers a lethal injection.
Connie next attempts to corral all her opponents together in a shopping
mall where she can easily pick them off by sending each a letter from “the
underground” that promises freedom from The
Contenders. Her plans are
thwarted, however, when A
new wrinkle is introduced with the revelation that Dawn and Jeff had a
relationship in high school; Jeff is apparently “the only man” Dawn ever
loved. The two get together and
Dawn agrees to administer the suicidal Jeff a lethal dose of pills later that
day…but first she attempts to shoot Connie, which backfires when Dawn goes
into labor in Connie’s bedroom. Connie
agrees to set aside the rules of the game in order to deliver the baby while
Jeff, upset that Dawn hasn’t shown up to administer his death, decides to do
the job himself. His attempt
fails, however, and Connie once again tries to administer a lethal injection;
luckily for Jeff, he’s stronger than she and manages to kill her.
This leaves Jeff and Dawn as the only surviving players, set for a
showdown on a nighttime football field, although this confrontation has some
surprises neither they nor the show’s producers foresaw… |
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The DirectionWriter/director
Daniel Minahan was a prolific TV producer before he made this film, and that
experience shines through in the oft-ingenious way he filters the drama of
SERIES 7 through the syntax of modern day television.
Thus this digitally shot film, which is presented as a televised
compilation, actually works better on home video than on the big screen.
Anyone who’s ever viewed SURVIVOR or BIG BROTHER or THE APPRENTICE or
THE CONTENDER or THE AMAZING RACE or TEMPTATION ISLAND or FEAR FACTOR (which, I
imagine, covers most of us) will immediately recognize this film’s
outrageously hyperbolic, exploitive narration (“these
cats don’t have nine lives!”). Other
brilliant touches include the periodic commercial break segments that show
clips from upcoming scenes and a hilarious “dramatic recreation” in which
bad actors step in to replace the “real” participants.
If
I have a beef with the film, it’s that it may be a bit too short.
Minahan claims he was afraid that by providing too much detail of his
film’s universe it might push it into science fiction territory, an approach
he reckoned (correctly) that the material couldn’t support.
Fine, but a little more
insight into the mechanics of The
Contenders would have been appreciated; it seems to be a government
sponsored endeavor with high ratings, but the film is never very specific
concerning the whys and wheres of its central conceit.
Of course, given the current state of the American media, it won’t be
long before SERIES 7 ceases to seem like fiction at all, science or otherwise. |
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Vital StatisticsSERIES
7: THE CONTENDERS Producers:
Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente, Christine Vachon, Katie Roumel Screenplay:
Daniel Minahan Cinematography:
Randy Drummond Editing:
Malcolm Jamieson Cast:
Brooke Smith, Glenn Fitzgerald, Mary Louise Burke, Richard Venture, Michael
Kaycheck, Merritt Wever, Donna Hanover, Angelina Phillips, Tom Gilroy, Nada
Despotovich, Stephen Michael Rinaldi, Alex Yershov, Danton Stone, Joseph
Barrett
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