Operator
'Operator' (2015) directed by Caroline Bartleet
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| An emergency services operator battles to save a young mother and her son from a house fire. |
In my eyes, the director was trying to show the relentless nature of the job of an emergency services operator - dealing with life or death situations.
This film completely relies on the performance of the actor, only ever seeing Laura's facial expressions but hearing the other woman on the phone. There is no backing music, just the diegetic sound from the phone call, putting the audience in the operator's shoes - there are times when we cannot hear anything from the other end of the phone which adds to the intensity of the call. The sound really helps the viewer to picture everything that is going on, as of course we can't see the actual fire.
Gender is represented in a positive light; women are often associated with being empathetic and calm, which the operator was very much so, but also Laura acts in a completely professional way - often a trait associated with men. The coping strength of women is shown completely. As an audience, this film would hit home mostly with parents, as I'm sure their child being in danger is their worst nightmare. The relatability of the narrative adds to the drama.
At the end of the film, Laura manages to save the mother and her son, and the call abruptly ends. We are left with silence, as she takes a few deep breaths, and immediately begins another call. This is a debatable cliff-hanger as we know the family has been saved, however we now want to know the story of the new caller.
In my coursework, I really can see myself doing a centred narrative around one person and their emotional struggle, however this relies mostly on performance. The concept of silence rather than suspense films' usual string music had a lot more impact for me and I will consider incorporating that.
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