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Review by Jack Kost
Shortly
before New Year, we watched Phone Booth (2002) again, a great thriller
starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and
Kiefer Sutherland.
Farrell
plays an unscrupulous New York publicist who answers a ringing phone in a booth
he’s standing next to.
The
caller warns him he’ll be killed if he attempts to leave the booth … and … the
story develops from there.
The
claustrophobic atmosphere of Phone Booth reminded me of a 1972 Spanish
short movie I saw on TV during the mid-‘80’s called La Cabina (aka The
Telephone Box).
A
unfortunate guy (José Luis López Vázquez), in a world long before the invention
of the cell phone, attempts to make a call in a street booth.
The
door closes on him as he discovers the phone doesn’t work.
He
tries to leave, but the door is locked tight.
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He’s
trapped in there a long time as a crowd of onlookers gather … and … the story
develops from there.
La
Cabina
is quirky and dated, but still worth the half-hour to watch, with an original
story that delivers a surreal and scary twist.
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Although
street booths have mostly disappeared, La Cabina is a great reason to
own a cell phone … but then you have to consider what happened in Stephen
King’s novel: Cell.
Yikes!
I
read that folks in Spain, shortly after La Cabina was released on
December 13, 1972, took to preventing the door in phone booths from shutting
completely by keeping their foot in the gap.
I
can’t imagine why.
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