THE MACHINIST (2004)

Just before Christian Bale donned the black cape for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005), the then-not-quite uber-famous actor took on a much darker role, playing the deeply disturbed, emaciated, and sleep-deprived Trevor Reznik—whose reality is a waking nightmare, where what’s real and what’s not is very much up for debate.

The film starts with Reznik inside an apartment, rolling up a body in a rug; there’s blood on his gaunt face and he looks exhausted. Something nasty has happened here. Cut to the next scene: he’s taking the rolled-up body out of his pick-up truck and carrying it down to a slipway by the sea. Of course, the body is heavy—especially for someone so thin—as a result, he drops the rug/body down onto the concrete, but it doesn’t go any further. He then kicks it and it starts rolling down the slipway, before we see anything else, a torchlight is shining off in the distance. Reznik naturally looks anxious, and a voice cries out: “Who are you?” The scene then fades to black.

This somewhat abstract beginning sets the course for how the whole movie plays out: nothing is transparent; scenes begin and end with no clear structure or arc, almost episodic, almost dream-like. The one thing that is plain to see, though, is that Reznik has undergone a traumatic experience and his insomnia has come about because of this, along with a subsequent loss of appetite—his painfully thin frame being a testament to that.

To achieve Reznik’s almost skeletal-like physical appearance, Bale embarked on a strict four-month diet consisting solely of one apple, one tin of tuna, water, and a cup of coffee (approximately 260 calories a day). He lost 62 pounds, reducing his body weight to 120 pounds (54 kg). The actor wanted to continue dieting down to 99 pounds (45 kg) but the filmmakers insisted he stop, fearing this would pose too great a risk to Bale’s health.

While some might consider such drastic weight loss and choice of role peculiar, this was not the first time Bale had chosen to play a character operating on the darker side of life, and with it, committed to a significant degree of body transformation.

Following a period of middling success appearing in films such as Velvet Goldmine and Metroland, Bale’s career trajectory skyrocketed after playing the misogynistic and psychotic Wall Street investment banker Patrick Bateman in the 2000 film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s bestseller, American Psycho.

Even though many naysayers claimed at the time that the novel was unfilmable, primarily due to its first-person narrative structure, director Mary Harron’s violent and darkly humorous version of Ellis’s satirical take on capitalism was fairly successful, both commercially and critically. Bale’s brilliant performance as the deranged Patrick Bateman garnered many positive reviews, and he was soon the talk of Tinseltown.

The actor pumped iron for three hours a day for six weeks and followed a high-protein diet to achieve Bateman’s muscular physique. Despite finding the process tedious, he nevertheless persisted—such was his commitment to the job at hand. This pattern of weight change for roles would, of course, continue throughout Bale’s choice of films; most notably in Rescue Dawn (2006), The Fighter (2010), and Vice (2018).

Following the success of American Psycho, Hollywood saw Bale in a completely new light, and with that, a whole host of bigger commercial film roles came his way, but the Welsh-born actor always had an interest in smaller indie/arthouse fare (his filmography clearly showing this), which is perhaps why he was drawn to the role of Trevor Reznik and why the film’s director, Brad Anderson, wanted Bale for the part.

After making the horror feature Session 9 (2001), a film that flopped at the box office but has since achieved a cult following, Anderson came across the script for The Machinist by screenwriter Scott Kosar. At the time, Kosar’s screenplay for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) remake was already in production, which, funnily enough, came about after producer-director Michael Bay read the script for The Machinist. Anderson, being impressed with both Kosar’s writing and obvious industry traction, immediately decided to make this his next project.

Although the film is set in California, it was actually shot in and around Barcelona, not for tax reasons but because the film is mostly a Spanish production. And while the exterior shots look rather like somewhere in the US, there is a slight uniqueness to them; an almost otherworldly quality that lends itself to the film’s cryptic tone.

Following the first scene, we’re back in Reznik’s apartment, and he’s washing his hands. In the foreground is a table with a torch on it. He turns, and there is a Post-it note on the fridge with the words: ‘Who are you?’ written on it. Immediately the mystery begins. Where did that Post-it note come from? Was it written by Reznik? Why does it echo what was said by the stranger in the previous scene?

Before you have any more time to think, the film then jumps to a bedroom, and Reznik is in bed with his prostitute friend Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). She seems to be completely at ease with him, and it’s obvious by the way they are talking that they have known each other for a while. He goes to the bathroom to urinate, and while he’s washing his hands, he notices his reflection in the mirror and is startled by how thin he has become. Stevie is also watching and says: “If you were any thinner, you wouldn’t exist.”

As the story progresses, we see Reznik working as a lathe operator on the factory floor. It’s a busy, messy environment, and he has a so-so relationship with his colleagues and boss, even though it’s clear that they find his appearance and distant manner a little odd.

While out on a cigarette break Reznik is taking in his pick-up; off on the horizon, storm clouds are gathering. Just as he’s about to drift off to sleep, a voice shouts out: “Looks like rain, radio says there’s a storm on the way… I’d say it was already here.” The stranger calls himself Ivan and tells Reznik that he’s covering for Reynolds as he has been picked up by the feds.

Aside from the unusual exchange, this scene stands out thanks to the stark, muted colour palette that Spanish cinematographer Xavi Giménez uses here. This may well be about 20 minutes into the movie, but it’s at this point that you notice the cold beauty of the cinematography. There is an almost film noir aesthetic here; light and colour are so toned down that, in some instances, you almost think you are watching a black-and-white feature.

The film’s score by composer Roque Baños perfectly complements the cinematography in bringing a sense of unease and dread to the proceedings. There are shades of Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho (1960) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) here; lots of dramatic string instruments and even a spooky-sounding theremin are employed within the soundscape to great effect.

One of the most pivotal scenes occurs back in the workplace when a colleague, Miller (Michael Ironside), asks Reznik to help him as he tries to fix one of the machines. Reznik is supposed to be watching the machine to see when it’s properly aligned but he’s distracted when he sees Ivan across the room who makes the ‘you’re dead’ signal (finger across the throat) to him. Reznik accidentally switches the machine back on as he leans into the power switch and Miller’s sleeve is caught in the mechanism, with the blade cutting his hand off in the process. During the investigation hearing afterwards, Reznik mentions seeing Ivan and the manager has no idea who he’s talking about. There is no Ivan, and Reynolds has not been taken away by the Feds—are they lying, or is Reznik imagining the whole thing?

Not long after the investigation, Reznik encounters Ivan again and they go to a bar where Ivan shows Reznik a photo showing Ivan and Reynolds holding a big fish that they have just caught on a boat. So Ivan really must exist if he’s friendly with Reynolds, right? To prove he works as a machinist, Ivan also shows Reznik his hand, where he’s been operated on following an accident; bizarrely, one of his fingers has been replaced with a toe. When Ivan goes to the bathroom Reznik takes the photo from Ivan’s wallet and leaves.

Another key character in Reznik’s life is airport diner waitress Maria (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). Again, like Stevie, from the way the conversation flows, it’s clear that they have some sort of friendship going on; they even flirt with each other. At one point she weirdly repeats what Stevie said to him earlier: “If you were any thinner you wouldn’t exist.” Something else that is strange is happening here, the clock on the wall is reading 01.30, however, the seconds are stuck between 01/02.

Eventually, Maria invites Reznik to join her and her young son, Nicholas, on a Mother’s Day outing to the amusement park. While he’s taking a photo of them in front of a ride, he experiences a sense of déjà vu, and for a moment his eyesight becomes a little fuzzy. He then takes Nicholas on to a ghost train called ‘Route 666’. During the ride, there are some very inappropriate mock-up scenes that they have to go past, containing graphic violence and sex. They then reach a fork on the track with the left side saying ‘Highway to Hell’ and the right titled ‘Round to Salvation’. Nicholas steers to the left where he soon experiences a seizure. Panicking, Reznik pulls him out to find Maria, who calms him down, telling him that he suffers from epilepsy and that he’ll be fine.

Did Reznik see those horrific nightmarish scenes on the ghost train? Or was his sleep-deprived brain playing tricks on him? Later on, he sees a childhood photo of himself with his mother at the same amusement park, so at least his déjà vu experience was real, wasn’t it?

Kosar’s script, while being deliberately mysterious with its plot and narrative structure, does have a couple of slightly less ambiguous cultural influences embedded in its DNA. For starters, the name Trevor Reznik is derived from Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor; apparently, there were even lyrics from the band on the first page of the original script. Kosar said that Russian novelist Dostoyevsky’s The Double was also a big influence; with themes of confused identity and spiralling mental health being obvious elements, and in several scenes, Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot is seen in Reznik’s apartment.

Following another workplace accident which this time involves Reznik being nearly seriously hurt, Reznik becomes angry and accuses his colleagues of setting him up and making him look crazy. Before long, a heated argument ensues with Reznik attacking his boss, after which he’s fired.

From this point on, things start getting even crazier for our poor protagonist: more Post-it notes crop up, this time with hangman-style notes that appear to be added to by someone; the word either spelling ‘mother’ or ‘killer’. He also forgets to pay the utility bill and soon blood starts pouring out of the fridge-freezer door, leaving a foul smell in his apartment. Was this all happening, or was he hallucinating everything?

And craziest of all, in an attempt to confront Ivan and find out where he lived, Reznik takes down what he thought was Ivan’s number plate and gets himself run over by another random car so he could legally obtain Ivan’s address at the DVLA—only to find out that the number plate belonged to his old car that he claimed was totalled a year ago, which was odd because he mentioned to Stevie in a past scene that he hadn’t slept in a year…

To say any more here would spoil the film’s conclusion; needless to say, there is a big reveal at the end that more or less ties everything together reasonably well, and you finish watching the movie feeling satisfied with how it all turns out. In less talented hands, this could have easily been an absolute incoherent mess, so it’s full credit to everyone involved that the movie keeps you guessing, and more importantly, interested in it right to the end.

When it was released back at the end of 2004, critics were quite impressed with The Machinist. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote: ‘The director Brad Anderson, working from a screenplay by Scott Kosar, wants to convey a state of mind, and he and Bale do that with disturbing effectiveness’. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was also full of praise, writing: ‘Bale’s horrifying transformation in this contemporary Gothic chiller makes De Niro look like an uncommitted wuss’.   

Even though the film found critical success, it was not successful commercially. On a budget of $5M, it only went on to make $8.2M, but one could argue that this was never going to be a huge blockbuster; it’s far too odd and slow-paced to be in tune with a mass audience.

However, since its release, it has achieved something of a cult status, and deservedly so, for it remains a quietly unsettling piece of cinema: a twisty psychological horror mystery that is executed with precision and skill—showing the main character’s fractured mind play out to thrilling effect. If nothing else, it’s worth seeing for Christian Bale’s frightening commitment to the role. In a career full of strong performances, Trevor Reznik has to be placed near the top.

SPAIN | 2004 | 102 MINUTES | 2.35:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH • SPANISH

Cast & Crew

director: Brad Anderson.
writer: Scott Kosar.
starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian & Michael Ironside.