Clip joint: offices
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Version 0 of 1. A lot of us may associate offices with – cliché alert – drudgery and boredom, but on screen they can transform into sites infused with tension, absurd humour and otherworldly surrealism. Which depictions of office environments stand out to you, whether the funniest, most relatable, or most horrifying? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll include your top five suggestions in our final list next week. If you’ve got an idea for a future Clip joint, just send an email to: tshepo.mokoena@theguardian.com Wolf of Wall Street Martin Scorsese sweeps his lens across panoramic views of an office where cash is king and profit the only goal. Add to that midget-tossing parties, gratuitous shots of barely clothed women prancing around in heels – joyously sexist party entertainment, as per ex-financial trader Jordan Belfort’s memoir – and you’ve got an office of ridiculous excess. Jonah Hill, on seriously good form, earns extra points for goldfish-eating as a form of public intimidation. Office Space Mike Judge’s satirical take on office life pretty much encapsulates all that is depressing and mundane about cubicle workspaces. Ron Livingston and Ajay Naidu play their worker bee roles with both cutting and silly humour, while Gary Cole’s passive aggressive boss character is likely to inspire knowing laughter from anyone who’s worked under a similar personality. The Matrix A mysterious mobile phone in a courier package, some menacing guys wearing sunglasses indoors and discovering an alternative realm of reality – just a standard day in the office for Keanu Reeves’s Neo, then. Whether you love or loathe the film trilogy, this “red or blue pill” mind-bender begins in the most basic of offices, and pretty much mushrooms in intensity from there. Jungle Fever Of course we could count on Spike Lee to use a spinning arc shot and turn a work resignation into a thing of beauty. In this film, centred on racial tension simmering in New York City in the late 1980s, Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra face the judgment of their friends and families when they attempt a relationship as an interracial couple. But before all that, Snipes quits his job with true paper-whipping flair. Being John Malkovich If you’ve ever worked somewhere that feels relatable to an office on an almost non-existent floor, you should probably just give yourself the rest of the day off. You’ve been through enough. In the film, John Cusack’s character finds the portal into actor John Malkovich’s mind, and a series of meta experiences and extra-marital dalliances ensue. In this clip, we get our first taste of the office that anchors the whole story. |