Cube (film)

Cube is a 1997 science-fiction film about several strangers trapped inside a maze of cube-shaped rooms.

Directed by Vincenzo Natali. Written by André Bijelic, Vincenzo Natali, and Graeme Manson.

Don't Look For A Reason…Look For A Way Out. taglines

Leaven

My parents are these people, I live with them…I'm boring.

Worth

I'm just a guy. I work in an office building, doing office building stuff.
I don't wanna die, I'm just being realistic. You think they'd go to all the trouble to build this thing if we could just walk out?
Do you think we matter? We don't.
I mean, this is an accident, a forgotten, perpetual public works project. Do you think anybody wants to ask questions? All they want is a clear conscience and a fat paycheck.
I mean, nobody wants to see the big picture. Life's too complicated.
Just out of curiosity—I mean, don't hit me again, I think—but what are you going to do when you get there?

Quentin

Let's rule out aliens for now and concentrate on what we know.
You can't see the big picture from in here, so don't try. Keep your head down, keep it simple. Just look at what's in front of you.
Leaven…you beautiful brain.
What do you think the establishment is? It's just guys like me. Their desks are bigger but their jobs aren't. They don't conspire, they buy boats.
Every day I mop up after your bleeding heart. The only reason you even exist is because I keep you!
I know your type. No kids, no man to fuck you. So you go around outraged, sticking your nose up other people's assholes, sniffing their business!
I looked through the walls. I dreamed him, at his desk, designing everything. He can't let you solve the puzzle, see, because there is a purpose.
I'm not dying in a fucking rat maze!

Holloway

Only the government could build something this ugly.
It's okay, I just swallowed my button.
It's all the same machine, right? The Pentagon, multinational corporations, the police! You do one little job, you build a widget in Saskatoon and the next thing you know it's two miles under the desert, the essential component of a death machine!
God help you, Quentin. Did you smack your kids around too?

Rennes

Look around. Take a good, long look-see. 'Cause I got a feeling it's looking at us.
No more talkin'. No more guessin'. Don't even think about nothing that's not right in front of ya. That's the real challenge. You've got save yourselves from yourselves.
Suck on it...keeps the saliva flowin'.
Merde.

Dialogue

Worth: I have nothing to live for out there.

Leaven: What is out there?

Worth: Boundless human stupidity.

Leaven: I can live with that.

Quentin: Listen, we can't go climbing around in here.

Holloway: Why not?

Quentin: There's traps.

Holloway: What do you mean, traps?

Quentin: Traps. I looked in the room down there and something almost cut my head off.

Leaven: Shouldn't we wait here?

Holloway: For what?

Leaven: To see if anybody comes.

Worth: No one's going to come.

Quentin: This guy's the Wren.

Holloway: The what?

Quentin: He's the wren. The bird of Attica. Flew the coop on six major prisons.

Rennes: Seven.

Quentin: Don't you have a wife, or a girlfriend, or something?

Worth: Nope. I've got a pretty fine collection of pornography.

Kazan: This room is…green.

Holloway: Yes it is.

Kazan: I want to go back to the blue room.

Quentin: You could try and help me out here, buddy.

Worth: No I couldn't.

Holloway: I'm talking about where do you hide something this big. Hey, I'm sorry to shake your foundations, Quentin, but you have no idea where your tax dollars go.

Quentin: Free clinic doctors?

Holloway: Only the military-industrial complex could afford to build something this size.

Quentin: Holloway? What is the military-industrial complex? Have you ever been there? I'm telling you, it's not that complex.

Quentin: That your two bits worth…Worth?

Worth: For what it's worth.

Quentin: Somebody has to take responsibility around here.

Worth: And that somebody has to be you.

Quentin: Not all of us have the luxury of playing nihilist.

Worth: Not all of us are conceited enough to play hero.

Worth: Holloway, you don't get it.

Holloway: Then help me, please. I need to know.

Worth: This may be hard for you to understand, but there is no conspiracy. Nobody is in charge. It's a headless blunder operating under the illusion of a master plan. Can you grasp that? Big Brother is not watching you.

Quentin: Why put people in it?

Worth: Because it's here. You have to use it, or you admit it's pointless.

Quentin: But it is pointless!

Worth: Quentin, that's my point.

Leaven: If this were right, then we would be outside of the cube.

[Leaven looks around.]

Leaven: No, not outside of the cube.

Quentin: Oh. Guess that means we're not having dinner.

Holloway: How long did you know people were being put in here?

Worth: A couple of months.

Holloway: That's not long…if you consider your whole life.

Worth: I am.

Leaven: We'll come back for him...

Holloway: That's a lie, and you know it.

Quentin: Sure you can. It's your gift.

Leaven: It's not a gift. It's just a brain.

Leaven: This room moves to 0, 1, and -1 on the X-axis, 2, 5, and -7 on the Y and 1, -1, and 0 on zed.

Quentin: And what does that mean?

Leaven: You suck at math.

Holloway: It's so much worse than I thought.

Worth: Not really, just more pathetic.

Leaven: With those numbers, the room should be safe.

Quentin: [Laughing] Only one way to find out! [Calmly throws Worth into the room]

About Cube (film)

I knew that my first film was going to have a very low budget, and therefore it was probably going to have to take place on one set. But I knew that also that I was also not the kind of filmmaker who would do something like My Dinner with Andre. So, I had a little brainstorm one day, where it occurred to me, "Well, what if one set doubled for many?" So I would have the advantage of shooting in one space, but I would also be able to move my characters from place to place. This made me think of a maze of identical rooms, and therefore a symmetrical maze, and therefore a cube and so on. It took awhile to, from that kernel of an idea, turn it into a three-act structure. But with the help of some friends, I did…
When Cube came out, the American company that distributed it decided they wanted to do a sequel and they approached me. I said "No, thanks". First of all, I'm not a huge fan of most sequels. And then I just didn't think it was a story that sequelized well. I mean, it was hard enough making one movie out of that premise, and believe me, if you've ever shot in a cube, you don't want to do it more than once. It's not a lot of fun. It was actually a very hard film to make…So, I said "No, thank you", and in some respects, I regret having said that because now, people come up to me all the time and say, "Did you direct Cube 2 and Cube 3?"…that happens all the time. I mean, for better or worse. I'm not judging those films. I can't claim ownership over them and I don't like it when people assume I made them. So, that was a lesson. If by some incredible fluke Splice got a sequel, I would remain involved…
Honestly, maybe it's better that other people did it, because they were able to approach the material in a fresh way. But my feeling was and is that it's like Jaws. You're in the water with a shark and a couple people. There's only one story to tell, in my opinion. You could have spun off into some very esoteric, interesting, weird places…Once you went out of the cube, virtually anything could be out there. Probably it's not a cube at all. Probably it's something much more bizarre, and abstract. But honestly, I never put serious thought into it.
- Vincenzo Natali [1]

Taglines

Fear…Paranoia…Suspicion…Desperation
Don't Look For A Reason…Look For A Way Out
The Walls Are Closing In.

Cast

Nicole de Boer — Joan Leaven
Nicky Guadagni — Helen Holloway
David Hewlett — David Worth
Andrew Miller — Kazan
Wayne Robson — Rennes
Maurice Dean Wint — Quentin

External links

Encyclopedic article on Cube (film) on Wikipedia

Cube quotes at the Internet Movie Database

Cube film series

Cube · Cube 2: Hypercube · Cube Zero