“Being John Malkovich” A mysterious work that foreshadows the “present” of identity and technology

If you go into the hole, you can become Malkovich.

The main character of the story is Craig (John Cusack), a puppeteer who seems to have some talent but is struggling to develop his skills. It would be fine if nothing came of it, but he would end up putting on an obscene puppet show on a street corner and getting beaten up. Craig, who is unemployed and living a difficult life, decides to get a job in order to help his wife Lottie (Cameron Diaz), who loves animals. My workplace is on the 7 1/2 floor of a building, so I have to emergency stop the elevator and pry open the wall with a crowbar to get to work (by the way, the woman who stops the elevator in the first place is played by young Octavia.・It's Spencer).

When Craig starts work, he falls in love with Maxine (Catherine Keener), a woman who also works on the 7 1/2 floor, even though he has a wife, but Maxine shows no interest in Craig. One day, Craig discovers a hidden door in his office. Beyond that, a deep "hole" spread out. As Craig gingerly makes his way down the long, narrow path that leads deeper into the hole, he suddenly becomes actor John Malkovich. Once inside the hole, you can step into John Malkovich's head for 15 minutes, and when the time is up, you'll be thrown to the side of the highway.

"Being John Malkovich" (C) PolyGram Holdings, Inc. All Rights reserved.

Surprised, Craig consults Maxine, who suggests using the hole for business. Craig and Maxine's business quickly took off, and people were lining up on the 7 1/2 floor every night to get into the hole. Meanwhile, Maxine approaches Markovich himself and begins a physical relationship with him. On the other hand, his wife Lottie, who entered the "hole" at Craig's urging, becomes Markovich and interacts with Maxine, and as a result of this, she realizes that she loves Maxine, not Craig. However, Craig cannot control his feelings for Maxine and develops a love triangle with Lottie through Malkovich. Of course, their marriage soon falls apart.

Eventually, as Craig repeatedly enters Malkovich, he becomes able to demonstrate his talent as a puppeteer and manipulate Malkovich freely. Craig, who only wants to succeed as a puppeteer, forces Malkovich to quit acting and eventually becomes a puppeteer.

This is the synopsis of the second half of the story, but this is just a very simplified explanation of the story so as to convey the minimum development. ``Being John Malkovich'' is a series of even more complex and absurd events, but even with this amount of information, you can see that all kinds of themes are woven into this work in multiple layers.

Identity and desire, twisted and twisted