Best Movies that take place in one location only
Vanya on 42nd Street
Louie M. knew that a tightly controlled space could allow for amazing cinema instead of hindering it (My Dinner With Andre, Elevator to the Gallows …)
Wait Until Dark
Lifeboat
Marat/Sade
The Posieden Adventure
Carnage
Le trou by Jacques Becker – check it out, it has a criterion release.
Its been a while since I’ve seen A Pure Formality (Dir: Tornatore, Cast: Depardieu, Polanski). How much of it was actually in one location, and how much in flashback?
I do remember thoroughly enjoying it though :)
Women of Dunes
Vanya on 42nd Street
My favorite film:
1. Good Night, and Good Luck.
Escape from Alcatraz
Before Flying Back to Earth (documentary)
Sleuth
12 Angry Men
Cell 211
Lebanon (Samuel Maoz – 2009) – Israeli film set entirely within the confines of a military tank.
An expanded compilation here: One Location Films .
The Possession of David O’Reilly An austere UK indie horror that effectively utilizes one location, three actors (though a fourth is shown in photographs), and ironically would also qualify for the “Films on MUBI with only one fan” thread.
Dial M for Murder
The Rear Wndow
The Breakfast Club
Festen
This is Not a Film
Martinus
Related to this ‘one life, one planet’ is the ‘one life, one body’ view. We are caught in a mortal body that can experience for a short duration whatever there is to be experienced. That’s why films with a protagonist suffering from a locked-in syndrome like ‘Johnny Got His Gun’ and ‘Le Scaphandre et le Papillon’ are not just about that rare condition, but express also the universal condition as being alive in this one inescapable location: our body.