过气演员诺玛(葛洛丽亚·斯旺森 Gloria Swanson 饰)已经将近50岁,曾经的风华绝代正在她居住的荒废豪宅里慢慢凋谢,身边只有好友马克思(埃里克·施特罗海姆Erich von Stroheim)伺奉。她没放弃重燃光辉的梦想,《莎乐美》的剧本正待编写,而逃避债务逃至此地的没落编剧乔(威廉·霍尔登 William Holden饰),正是这项事业的最佳候选。诺玛收留他住下,给他提供舒适的环境写作,并慢慢的倾心于他。但是,乔并不能接受这个青春已逝的妇人。他拒绝了她,并转过身和另一个美丽的女子谋划新的剧本,他们相爱,打得火热。 诺玛得知了乔的“背叛”,她卑微地哀求他,却动摇不了他渐行渐远的心,诺玛终于举起枪对准正要离开的乔。
Synopsis
In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato ponders: what would happen if one of the prisoners managed to free themselves from their chains and escape from the cave? What if that prisoner were Jay, a little 7-year-old boy?
Director’s statement
What lies behind the daily movement of a city? Last winter, we met in Paris and began discussing the Allegory of the Cave, as told in Plato’s Republic. The myth imagines humanity living in chains, facing the back of a cave, and watching shadows move on the walls, thinking it is reality. We both work with images, which certainly can be illusions, but can also become instruments of struggle and liberation of thought. So, from this discussion, we decided to create a short film. We had a few fixed ideas—the cave, the dance, the city bustling around us—and one question: what would happen if we all managed to turn together towards the exit of the cave? Perhaps it is not enough to assert that images are illusions as long as the chains that bind us are real.
医学院新生爱莉逊•布兰德曼(Corri English 饰)入学不久便迎来了从医道路上的最大挑战——人体解剖课程。她和同学布兰(Scot Davis 饰)、卡洛斯(Joshua Alba 饰)、里克(Jay Jablonski 饰)分配到的是一具女性的尸体,然而这具尸体却令他们产生一种说不出的奇怪感受。爱莉逊将这一情况报告给当值的布莱克威尔教授(Derrick O'Connor 饰),反而遭到一阵奚落。 不久,接触过这具尸体的人接连死亡,死状恐怖。爱莉逊开始有意识地探究这具女尸背后的秘密……