Today we had an inspiring afternoon with John Coster at the Doc Media Centre watching the film ‘Lift‘. It is a remarkable production in every aspect, indeed, I have watched it several times over and over. I asked myself the question ‘could I live in a tower block like this?’ It is quite depressing really, the dark corridors, often dirty, the impersonal atmosphere, and above all so much concrete. It is well known that concrete shields us from electromagnetic frequencies which are beneficial to our health.

This is underlined by the last scene of the film, the dying fly on the floor, and I am sure the filmmaker had this in mind when he shot this scene. The cold mechanics and atmosphere of the tower block are also underlined by his brief sequences of the lift’s inside shaft and cabling, which are an interesting contrast to the slowly warming atmosphere inside the lift, which I felt would not have been achieved without the ongoing filming of the project.

This is an amazing documentary where the film maker Mark Isaacs stationed himself in a lift having a conversation with everyone who uses the lift in a multi-storey tower block quite similar to the Grenfell tower.

John told us that the film maker, Marc Isaacs, spent a year filming conversations in this tower block lift.

When filmmaker, Marc Isaacs, decided to make a documentary about a lift in a London tower block he had no idea how the residents would react and what they would reveal of their lives. He simply set himself up in the lift with his camera and waited for the right moment to ask questions. The result is both humorous and moving. The whole of British society is captured in this microcosm and the simplest of approaches becomes a parable of multiculturalism.

As this conversations go on, day after day, the very same people use the lift and deeper and more meaningful conversations evolve, a sense of community develops.

As Rob analysed this morning there are various types of community or the absence of them because people can’t find a common denominator. A lift in a tower block is a very funny environment where people are forced to come together in a very small space, people who would otherwise not share such a limited space with each other.

Sometimes an awkward situation arises because people see each other every day or every few days but the anonymity and nature of a tower block keeps people apart and when they are thrown together in such a small space they don’t know what to say to each other. This can be quite painful.

I admire the courage, inventiveness and idea of Marc Isaacs for making such a film and I look forward to when we come to the point in our studies where we can do something similar. Clearly, people do appreciate the film.

The Doc Media Centre is at 10 Bishop Street in Leicester, right next and upstairs of a Christian bookshop. There is lots to see such as old cameras, phones, photos, newspapers and much more.

Documentary Media Centre

Documentary Media Centre

BOB Viewing List