The Machinist Analysis

The Machinist is a popular 2004 phycological thriller. From the opening five minutes, many questions are raised about the main character, Trevor Reznik. Is he the hero? Is he the villain? Why is he disposing of a body? Why do we sympathise with him? and as the highlights, who is he?

 0:33

 From the very beginning we see an out of focus male figure through the glass, rolling a dead body in some kind of carpet. It becomes clear that he has killed this person, and now covering it up ready to dispose of it without suspicion.

1:16

 The next notable shot is a clearer image of the mans face. The close up reveals cuts and bruises to his face and his psychotic, traumatised look. We begin to sympathise with him as we see he has been through some tough times, struggling to do any activity. He lights his cigarette whilst staring outside the window in a thoughtful way. The title of the film is shown beside his face.

1:46 

We then cut to a scene where Trevor is now carrying the body, now rolled in some kind of blanket. We see him desperately struggle to carry the body, and through his pained look and facial expressions, we feel his agony, making us further sympathise with him.

2:10 

Through a point of view shot, we can see a torch light in the distance growing bigger and bigger. We cannot see their face nor body, yet Trevor Reznik  quickly attempt to get rid of the body in a panic, knowing the consequences of getting caught, although his attempt did not fully dispose of the body.

2:25 

Trevor's second attempt at dumping the body also proved unsuccessful. After conjuring all his might he kicks the body down the gradient, only for it to unravel on full show. The emotion on his face shows us his frustration and disbelief that the body wont roll into the water, never to be seen again.

2:41

We voice saying "Who are you?". Trevor turns around with a face of horror at what he sees. A close up is used to show the terrified emotion on his face as he looks at the man holding the torch's face. We can only presume that Trevor knows this man, but by the sound of it, the feeling is not mutual.

2:28

The next shot defocusses away from Trevor washing potential evidence off his hands, to the torch we saw earlier in the foreground. This raises many questions in the viewers mind as the torch obviously has some kind of significance. How did he get the torch? Did he kill the man?

3:26

Frantically washing his hands after the incident, Trevor noticed a yellow post-it note behind him in the mirror. When he turns around we get a shot through his eyes. 'Who are you?' the note says, the very .same question the man with the torch asked.

Extract (0:00 to 3:28)