The Culture Club (Film: "Collateral") April 22, 2007

This is the next study evening in a series of culture studies where something from the media (e.g. a book, a film, a music album) is discussed from a Christian perspective but the evening is for people of all faiths and people of no faith at all who want to explore the message behind the media.

Attendance is restricted to those who are 15 years old and over (based on the DVD certificate).

The film is being shown on the big screen at 5pm followed by discussion at 7:15pm.

There is no charge for this event.

The following two sections taken from the Damaris study guide.

About the Film
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Collateral is directed by Michael Mann, who has previously written, produced and directed other television shows and films including The Insider (1999), Ali, and Heat. Collateral is typical of the thriller genre: Vincent is definitely a character of the unknown and presents surprises throughout the film. But although the film ends in a stereotypical way with a dark hunt and a train chase, the film as a whole is anything but typical with many surprises and twists along the way, as these two strong characters fight it out for the psychological upper hand.

However, Collateral did not originate as a plot with a contract killer. Instead it was intended to be a story about the everyday danger of being a cab driver in a city like Los Angeles. The idea originated from a cab journey that screenwriter Stuart Beattie took in which he initiated a conversation with his driver. It was during this journey that he realized the driver could never know him or anyone else in the back of his cab. For all he knew they could be serial killers or, in the case of Max in Collateral, a contract killer with a purpose in the city.

Synopsis
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Max (Jamie Foxx) is a dreamer and has been dreaming of his own limo company for the last twelve years. Meanwhile he has been driving a cab in Los Angeles - a mundane life with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. But the night that Vincent (Tom Cruise) gets into the back of his cab his routine changes dramatically.

Vincent hires Max and his cab to drive him around LA while he visits some friends. However, when a body lands on the roof of Max’s cab while he is waiting for Vincent, it becomes clear that Vincent is not as innocent as he appears to be. Max becomes collateral – Max is held hostage by Vincent in his taxi and is expected to drive him around the city while Vincent completes his job. Max is now a dispensable person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the eyes of Vincent. Vincent is not a man who is in town to visit some long lost friends but instead is a contract killer. He has been hired by a drugs lord to kill the five key witnesses in a trial that takes place the next day.

As events continue to unfold, the LAPD and the FBI race to intercept Vincent from killing all five of the key witnesses. However, as the night continues, and the body count rises, Max tries to keep himself and the last victim alive.

Previous Study Evenings
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This series continues to be popular. Previous evenings have looked at "Arthur and George" (book), "Moulin Rouge" (film), the Robbie Williams album "Intensive Care", "Lost in Translation" (film), "Whale Rider" (film), "The Incredibles" (film), "The Da Vinci Code" (book), the U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and "Chocolat" (film).