8mm (film)
| 8mm | |
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Original theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joel Schumacher |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Andrew Kevin Walker |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mychael Danna |
| Cinematography | Robert Elswit |
| Edited by | Mark Stevens |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | US Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $96.6 million |
8mm is a 1999 American-German crime mystery film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald appear in supporting roles.
Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian, whose husband has recently died. While clearing out her late husband's safe, she and Mr. Longdale find an 8 mm film which appears to depict a real murder, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain.
After looking through missing persons files, Welles discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews, and visits her mother, Janet Mathews. While searching the house with her permission, he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. He asks Mrs. Mathews if she wants to know the truth, even if it is the worst. She says that she wants to know what happened to her daughter.
In Hollywood, with the help of an adult video store employee called Max California, Welles penetrates the underworld of illegal pornography. Contact with a sleazy talent scout named Eddie Poole leads them to director Dino Velvet, whose violent pornographic films star a masked man known as "Machine." To gain more evidence, Welles pretends to be a client interested in commissioning a hardcore bondage film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges a meeting in New York City.
At the meeting, attorney Longdale appears and explains that Christian had contracted him to procure a snuff film. Longdale says that he told Velvet that Welles might come looking for them. Realizing that the snuff film was authentic, Welles knows he is at risk. Velvet and Machine produce a bound and beaten California, whom they abducted to force Welles to bring them the only surviving copy of the illegal film. Once he delivers it, they burn it and kill California. As they are about to kill Welles, he tells them that Christian had paid $1,000,000 for the film. Velvet, Poole, and Machine received much less and that Longdale kept the major portion. In an ensuing fight, Velvet and Longdale are both killed; Welles wounds Machine and escapes.
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Wikipedia