HIGH-RISE

UK, 2015, 119 minutes, Colour.
Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Keeley Hawes.
Directed by Ben Wheatley

High-rise can be used as a symbolic word in class conflict situations, the lower class wanting to rise higher – and that can all take place in a symbolic multi-story building, high-rise. That is the premise of a 1980s novel by J. C. Ballard, who has two film versions of his novels, quite diverse, the autobiographical Empire of the Sun, and the controversial exploration of humanity and technology in Crash.

The director of this film, Ben Wheatley, has developed a reputation for hard-hitting crime dramas with a sense of surprise, especially violence from central characters, Kill List and the sinister Sightseers.

Whether Ballard has a strong sense of narrative in his novels, it does not matter for the film version because Wheatley is much more interested in images, montages, a succession of episodes which might fit as successive panels in an installation rather than in exploring causality in the succession of narrative events. While this has quite an impact visually, and many critics have acclaimed the film for it, it is much less satisfying for audiences who really want character development rather than character presentation and plot development rather than a succession of episodes.

With this in mind, there is a great deal of interesting material in High- Rise.

Class conflict has been mentioned and that becomes more and more evident as the film proceeds – but it is a quotation, voiced by Margaret Thatcher at the end of the film, about class and government intervention and private enterprise (the latter of which, she asserted, provides true freedom for individuals), that makes more sense of what has gone on.

The central character is Laing (Tom Hiddleston), a doctor who is seen with his assistants examining the human skull, but whose main activity for the film takes place in the new high-rise building where he has bought an apartment. He is a successful doctor, a man with qualities and flaws, with aspirations to higher status, easily entangled in sexual relationships, an observer as well as a mingler.

The film opens with some bizarre sequences, a bearded Laing, roasting a dog on a spit on his balcony, some dead bodies – and then the narrative goes back three months for the audience to find out and puzzle over how this could have happened.

There is an amount of socialising in the high-rise, one party on an upper-class floor where everybody is dressed as if they were in the cast of Barry Lyndon. Later, there is to be a more modern party with a touch of the orgiastic.

Laing meets the architect of the building and its owner, Royal, played by Jeremy Irons, an ambiguous character with ambitions, with a dissatisfied wife even though he has built a roof garden of luxury, a horse for riding included.There are other encounters with a rough documentary maker, Wilder, Luke Evans, and his pregnant wife, Elizabeth Moss. Upstairs, there is Charlotte (Sienna Miller) who has a precocious young son. In the meantime there is a fuss pot who doesn’t want the garbage chutes to be clogged and discovers his wife in a relationship with a television announcer.

Included in the high-rise is a gym, squash court where Laing plays with Royal, and a supermarket where the customers parade as well is purchase – and an indifferent checkout girl who is given the French grammar by Laing during French Week which she uses to learn the language.

There is also a very aristocratic and snobbish group led by Pangbourne (James Purefoy) who have no scruples about using violence, even a lobotomy to tame a rebel-Rouser.

The class struggle does break out, the power goes off on various floors of the high-rise, violence ensues

Which brings us back to the starting point – and Wheatley’s style of filmmaking which emphasises the class conflict and that it happens rather than how it happens.

1. The impact of the film? Drama? Allegory?

2. The novelist, his career, his social issues, observations of society, human drives, clashes?

3. The visuals realtors the city, the high-rise buildings, exteriors, the interiors, the floors, the apartments, corridors, the roof and the luxury garden, the gym, the squash court, the supermarket? The musical score?

4. The nature of the narrative, impressionistic, the focus on the art, montage of images and sequences, like an installation? The effect? The emphasis on succession of images and events rather than developing the causality?

5. The quotation from Margaret Thatcher at the end, its meaning, Capitalism, the role of government, the role of private enterprise allegedly leading to greater freedoms?

6. The bizarre story, characters, the opening, Laing and his beard, the dog, the dog on the spit, writing and eating, the dead bodies? Going back three months?

7. Laing, and Everyman, his qualities, his flaws, arriving at the building, his apartment, the corridors, his particular floor, settling in, the great number of boxes? Sunbaking naked, Charlotte seeing him, accosting him? Seeing him at work, the doctor, the skull, his assistants, peeling back the skin, the saw, the persistent fainting – and his later being diagnosed with the growth? Denial, reaction? The secretary, her attention, ordering the sandwiches? His professional life?

8. The encounters with different people in the building, the concerned man and his not wanting the Jews were to be clogged, later concerned about his wife and her affair? Wilder and his reactions? With Charlotte? Charlotte, attraction, Toby as a precocious boy, his telescope seeing the future? The sexual relationship? Charlotte’s character, in relationship to Laing, to her son, the father of her son?

9. Wilder and Helen, her pregnancy, the other children, picture of the family, in the lower apartment, Wilder and his documentary work on television, wanting a lift from Laing, their not being able to find their cars in the huge car park? Wanting to make the documentary, leaving Helen, taking the money, part in the revolution, the attacks on him, his being beaten, thrown out with the garbage? His camera and film?

10. Helen, domestic, pregnant, at the pool with the children, going up to Laing, provocative, the sexual encounter, the delivery of her child?

11. Simmons, working for the building, snobbery? Pangbourne and the wealthy, living on the upper floors? The parties, in 18th century style, costumes, wigs and make up? Their behaviour? The later party and its sex, nudity, overtones of theology? Stirring up the revolution in the supermarket, power going out, mayhem? Laing in the supermarket, watching people shopping, the checkout clerk, the French book, learning French and using it? The discussions with Mercer, his plan about the lobotomy for Wilder? The film’s comment on these upper-class characters and their behaviour, morality?

12. Jeremy Irons as Royal, the architect of the building, ownership, his sense of responsibility, seeing him at work, the discussions with Laing, playing squash with him, the tense relationship with his wife, having the horse on the roof garden and riding? His agreement with the revolution, letting his wife go, her return after the rescue, the sexual encounter? With the snobs? The confrontation, the gun, his death? Buried in the pool?

13. The actress, the television announcer, relationships, the vain actress and her autograph, the sexuality? The television announcer and his behaviour?

14. People, class, high and low, life and interactions, class struggles?

15. An image of the past, an image of the future? In the final comments from Margaret Thatcher?