Closet Land is a 1991 independent film written and directed by Radha Bharadwaj. The film stars Madeleine Stowe as a young author of children's books and Alan Rickman as a sadistic secret policeman who is interrogating her. The film was released to mixed reviews.
Plot Set in an unspecified country, a woman is taken from her home in the middle of the night, accused of embedding dissident messages into her book Closet Land. The book is a story about a child who, as a result of bad behavior, has been locked in a closet as punishment. While in there, the child is greeted by a group of childhood ally archetypes who innocently attempt to comfort the scared little girl. The seemingly simple content is questioned by the government, which accuses the author of encouraging and introducing disloyalty among its audience of naïve children.
The interrogator is obstinate in his belief that the author is guilty of hidden propaganda. It is revealed that the novel was actually created as a form of escapism, providing a coping mechanism for the author, who endured sexual abuse as a child. Near the end of the film, the interrogator claims that he was the man who had sexually abused the author in her childhood. But one cannot be entirely sure he is telling the truth, as the film suggests he was just using the abuse against her as a way of breaking her down.
After subjecting her to lengthy physical and mental torture, and pretending to be several other people (another prisoner, a more brutal interrogator) while the victim is blindfolded and handcuffed, the interrogator tries to get her to sign a confession—to save her life. While he knows now that she is innocent, he implores her to confess to avoid execution. She refuses, and goes to her death.
Cast Madeleine Stowe as Victim, a young author of children's books and also interrogated by a sadistic secret policeman. Alan Rickman as Interrogator, a ruthless interrogator.
Production The script was Radha Bharadwaj's winning submission to The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting program in 1989. The Nicholl Fellowships are run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bharadwaj later stated:
Bharadwaj said that this film was an outgrowth of her graduate studies at Temple University (PA), that she charmed her Hollywood producers into giving her money to do the film, and that they dropped it upon release.
Stowe and Rickman are the only cast of the film and they are both credited. Bharadwaj later revealed in a September 2005 production note that Rickman was not her original choice for the Interrogator. "If I were to pick my top choices for role of the interrogator in Closet Land," she wrote,
I would still unhesitatingly go with my first choices then: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ian Holm and Peter O'Toole. All three can capture not only the interrogator's violence and villainy—which is the easy part—but, more critically, his humanity. Evil does not come wearing horns and a tail, nor does it announce itself with flamboyant bombast and grandiose posturing. All too often, evil comes in a deceptively human package—it is quiet and inscrutable, complete with a tenderness and warmth that seem real. The seeming genuineness is our trap—this is why we repeatedly are snared by evil, why its pull is so strong. The three actors I just mentioned have the ability to capture true villainy, in all its all-too frail and human wrappings."About 'Closet Land' & Radha Bharadwaj on 'Closet Land.'" Closet Land Official Website. September 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
Once the film had two thespian actors attached, the film was green-lit and with a budget of two and a half million dollars, it was shot for eighteen days in Culver City, western Los Angeles.Professor Mielke, Bob. "Radha Bharadwaj, Perfect Traveler." Archived on Radha Bharadwaj Official Website. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
It is left up to the viewer as to whether Stowe's character has in fact run afoul of the Government — or, alternatively, that the Interrogator is acting alone. The film exhibits the use of brutal and inhumane torture to coerce confessions from innocent victims. Due to the film's universal message, the human rights organization Amnesty International served as consultants for the film. Bharadwaj later said of their support:
I was, and remain opposed, to the Amnesty International quotes and commercials that tag my film in both its theatrical and video release. This is despite the fact that I personally support human rights organizations. But the Amnesty International quotes and commercials made it easy for those who did not understand my film to dismiss it as mere human rights propaganda. And those who did understand my film were irritated and disappointed by the quotes, wondering why a film that ultimately has such far-reaching scope needed to limit itself to an organization and its message. When plastered on a film, these quotes and commercials ended up subjugating the voice of the artist to the voice of a cause. Ironically, isn't that what Closet Land is about? The voice of a lone individual pitted against a cause?
Release
The film premiered at numerous film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Women in Film Festival and the Stockholm International Film Festival."Radha Bharadwaj Bio." Radha Bharadwaj Official Website. Retrieved 13 November 2014. While Universal released the film theatrically (in limited cinemas) on March 6, 1991, the film was released on videocassette six months later by Media Home Entertainment, distributed by Fox Video. In 1993, Video Treasures released an EP-Mode recorded tape of the film. A DVD has been released in Europe.
Reception The film generated mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 44% rating based on reviews from 9 critics, with an average score of 4.61/10."Closet Land (1991)." Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 November 2020. Despite the mixed reactions, the performances of the cast has been generally praised.
Variety was generally favourable, calling it an "imaginatively produced" film and "a harrowing, focused two-character piece." Singling out Rickman's performance, they said of his character: "[He] is no ordinary brute but a complex, highly civilized man who displays a range of emotions and talents, including the ability to voice-act other people to confuse his blindfolded victim." They added that "Rickman deserves a great deal of notice for his powerfully controlled, multifaceted performance." On the other hand, they received Stowe's delivery less favourably, saying: "Stowe displays some flash and backbone, but not enough to make this a truly engaging match.""Review: 'Closet Land.'" Variety. 31 December 1990. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying: "All it requires to make Closet Land complete is a pious screen note at the end of this story, assuring us that the torture of political prisoners continues all over our world today. The movie does not disappoint: The slogan appears right on schedule." He added: "What are the makers of films like this hoping for? Their movies are never seen by the torturers, and bring no fresh news for the good of heart, who are already well aware of the corrupted world we inhabit. The movie seems intended for the already converted, as an exercise in self-congratulation ... I am of course opposed to torture, but I preserve sufficient irony to be offended by the smugness of this film." He criticised the directing, noting that "there is a temptation to praise films like this because of their noble sentiments, without asking whether the work is good filmmaking. It is possible to be against political torture and still dislike this film? I think it is." He concluded: "The film would have been truer to itself and the real world if at the end the man had simply executed her."Ebert, Roger. "Closet Land (Review)." Chicago Sun-Times. 8 March 1991. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times was mixed. She said of the directing and writing: "Miss Bharadwaj, whose film also calls to mind avant-garde department store windows and Calvin Klein's television ads, sets forth her story with no acknowledgement that it is so excruciating, obvious or small. The result is something much more remarkable for its overconfidence than in any other regard." She pointed out that while the writing is poor, the acting talent outshines it, praising the performances: "The two actors in this claustrophobic debacle are somewhat better than their material." She complimented the mise en scene created by Eiko Ishioka, calling the sets and costumes "welcome distractions."Maslin, Janet. "Closet Land (1990): Secrets and Sadism in the Interrogation Room." The New York Times. 7 March 1991. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film zero stars out of four and said that Madeleine Stowe and Alan Rickman "are fine, forceful actors, but they can't convince us that we're seeing more than a sermon wrapped in a film of stupefying artifice. By talking at us instead of to us, Closet Land locks us out."Travers, Peter. "Closet Land (Review)." Rolling Stone. 6 March 1991. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly was unimpressed with the film, saying:
The minutes crawl by during this fancifully abstract two-character piece ... The movie, which has the feel of some didactic Off Off Broadway production left over from 1972, is set entirely in one gray marble room — a kind of stylized Bauhaus torture chamber. The moral scheme is, to put it mildly, basic: Closet Land is squarely on the side of innocent women who write children's books and squarely against the vile fascist monsters who torture them.Gleiberman, Owen. "Closet Land (1991) (Review)." Entertainment Weekly. 15 March 1991. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times was the most negative, calling the film a "porno chic." He said: "It is impossible to imagine how Radha Bharadwaj's Closet Land is going to do much good for the cause of human rights in general, and the oppression of women in particular. Surely, anyone with the slightest degree of awareness of what's going on in the world knows of the horrible plight of political prisoners subjected to unspeakable torture. Consequently, why should anyone subject himself or herself to this pretentious and contrived two-person drama, which punishes the audience rather than enlightens it?" He criticised the lack of a proper setting for the film, an unnamed police state, saying: "Right off, the filmmaker lets us off the hook, making it easy to reject the incessant cruelty we witness as artificial." Confused about the film's lack of focus on a single theme, he added: "In any event, this bit of Freudianism put in the service of protesting child abuse overloads and sidetracks the film from its main purpose of protesting all human rights violations." He finally concluded by praising Madeleine Stowe's performance, noting that she "is actually quite moving in her unshakable dignity." On the other hand, he was more critical of Alan Rickman's delivery, noting that "Rickman, whose diction often seems muddled, is needlessly, hissably arch."Thomas, Kevin. "MOVIE REVIEWS: A Clumsy Defense of Human Rights." Los Angeles Times. 6 March 1991. Retrieved 12 November 2014.