Series 7: The Contenders
Encyclopedia
Series 7: The Contenders is a 2001 film
directed by Daniel Minahan
. The movie is presented as a marathon of the seventh series of an American
reality television
show called The Contenders, where six people, picked at random from a national lottery, are each given a gun and forced to hunt and kill each other for the cameras. The film is a dark satire
of the reality television genre. It stars Brooke Smith
as Dawn, the reigning champion from the sixth series. It shares similarities with cult Japanese film, Battle Royale
, 1986 Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man
, and several other films.
and, along with the winner of the previous series, comprise the six Contenders. Each series of The Contenders is played in the limits
of a chosen city or town
. Contenders are given a gun
, though they may acquire other weapons, and the last one left alive is the winner. Contestants are forced to play the game, regardless of whether they desire to. A contender who wins three tours of the game is freed from it.
The film purposely leaves many key details unexplained, as the viewer is supposed to be watching only what the creators actually aired in the fictional TV show. How the show became so powerful as to randomly select people to be killed is unexplained, but all the Contenders seem to treat it as something they cannot control.
Series 7 is set in Newbury, Connecticut
which happens to be the hometown of Dawn Lagarto. She is the longest reigning contender the show has ever seen. She has won two tours, and just needs to win one more to be set free. Dawn is eight months pregnant, and hopes to win the game for her baby.
The show then hosts a lottery. Contenders are chosen by whichever social security number appears.
The five contenders selected are:
Series 7 begins with a recap of the end of Series 6; the opening scene shows the heavily-pregnant Dawn enter a convenience store
and fatally shoot a man in a seemingly random act. The show credits then roll, its rules are explained in voice-over narration, and the contenders are introduced. Interview segments interspersed with several of the contenders' early attempts to attack each other offer insight and background on the contenders. Most unusually, Dawn and Jeffrey already know each other. They were high school sweethearts who broke up after Dawn became pregnant and had an abortion and Jeffrey came to believe he was gay. Jeffrey, now married to a woman, and Dawn meet and the terminally ill Jeffrey agrees to allow Dawn to kill him.
Lindsay travels to Franklin's trailer home and attacks him. They fire at each other, but neither is killed. Lindsay suffered a bullet wound to her arm.
Anthony tries to flee with his young daughter but is badly injured (supposedly from a "self-inflicted" knife wound to the back). Connie and Dawn track him to the hospital where Connie kills him by lethal injection. Following Anthony's death, the remaining contenders receive notes to meet someone from "The Underground" at a local mall to escape the game. At the mall, security confiscates Franklin's gun, but Lindsay is passed after stating she is part of the show. Dawn is near a Wick's n' Stick's store, waiting for whoever sent the letter to arrive. A short time later, she spots Lindsay, and so does Franklin. Franklin creeps up behind Lindsay and beats her to death. Franklin is then killed by Connie, the mastermind behind the massacre. The only contenders left are Dawn, Jeffrey, and Connie.
Dawn tracks Connie to her home but goes into labor. Connie reluctantly assists her delivery and Dawn is transported to a local hospital to deliver. She names the baby "Jeffrey" but he is taken from her shortly after birth because of game rules. Contender Jeffrey, despondent when Dawn did not return to kill him as promised, is also in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Connie attempts another lethal injection upon Jeffrey, who now wants to live. He shoots and kills her. Dawn races to Jeffrey's room where they realize they are the final two Contenders. They agree to meet at a neutral location for a final showdown. There, they profess their love for each other and turn on the camera crews following them.
The series finale traces Dawn and Jeffrey through surveillance footage and viewer tips to a movie theatre. There they turn on the camera they seized from the crew and take the theatre patrons hostage, demanding the return of Dawn's baby. At this point, the narrator advises the show's audience that all remaining footage was lost due to a technical error and that the events have been reconstructed as a "dramatic re-enactment." Actors playing Dawn and Jeffrey are shown with an official of the Contenders program. "Jeffrey" agrees again to let "Dawn" kill him but before she can "Doria" appears and kills "Dawn." A distraught "Jeffrey" then shoots himself.
The film closes with a "promo" for the upcoming Series 8, which shows Doria in prison denying that she killed anyone and reveals that Jeffrey has survived and is now the reigning contender.
Writer/Director Daniel Minahan's childhood friend, Dawn Lagarto, is given a "Special Thanks" credit. He originally wrote the story using her name for the main character, but when it came time to start filming the producers had legal concerns regarding the use of a real person's name. However actress Brooke Smith felt an affinity for the name and wanted to retain it for her character. Minahan called the real Dawn Lagarto and got her blessing to use the name.
The idea for this project came to Daniel Minahan after he worked for a reality TV show. Minahan pitched the fake reality show concept to a network executive as an actual series in 1998. The first round of notes came back from the executive. "Can it be more sexy and less violent?"
The soundtrack to Series 7 was released on CD in 2001 by KOCH Records
. It features music by rock
group Girls Against Boys
, along with other bands such as Joy Division
.
(All songs by Girls Against Boys
unless otherwise noted)
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Daniel Minahan
Dan Minahan
Daniel Minahan is an American television and film director and writer.Minahan has directed several episodes of the HBO original series, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, True Blood, and Game of Thrones; also The L Word on Showtime and Grey's Anatomy on ABC...
. The movie is presented as a marathon of the seventh series of an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show called The Contenders, where six people, picked at random from a national lottery, are each given a gun and forced to hunt and kill each other for the cameras. The film is a dark satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of the reality television genre. It stars Brooke Smith
Brooke Smith (actress)
Brooke Smith is an American actress. She is best known for her role on the TV show Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Erica Hahn and for her role as Catherine Martin in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.- Early life :...
as Dawn, the reigning champion from the sixth series. It shares similarities with cult Japanese film, Battle Royale
Battle Royale (film)
is a 2000 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku based on the novel of the same name. It was written by Kenta Fukasaku and stars Takeshi Kitano. The film aroused international controversy.A sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem, followed...
, 1986 Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man
The Running Man (film)
The Running Man is a 1987 American action film loosely based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown, and Richard Dawson....
, and several other films.
Cast
| Actor / Actress Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Brooke Smith Brooke Smith (actress) Brooke Smith is an American actress. She is best known for her role on the TV show Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Erica Hahn and for her role as Catherine Martin in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.- Early life :... |
Dawn Lagarto |
| Michael Kaycheck | Anthony Reilly |
| Merritt Wever Merritt Wever -Early life:She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and then Sarah Lawrence College. She trained in acting in New York and has appeared in Brooke Berman's play, Smashing and in Cavedweller with Deidre O'Connell, both Off Broadway.-Career:... |
Lindsay Berns |
| Richard Venture | Franklin James |
| Marylouise Burke Marylouise Burke Marylouise Burke is an American film, TV and theatre actress.Burke won the 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her appearance as Gertie in an off-Broadway-theatre production of Fuddy Meers in New York City, New York.... |
Connie Trabucco |
| Glenn Fitzgerald Glenn Fitzgerald Glenn Fitzgerald is an American actor who has had over 30 roles in movies or television series. He played the character of Sean in The Sixth Sense... |
Jeffrey Norman |
| Tom Gilroy Tom Gilroy Tom Gilroy is a writer/director/producer/actor from New York City.He has appeared in over 30 films, having worked with such directors as Ken Loach, Sidney Lumet, Jean-Luc Godard, Jim McKay, Christopher Munch, Cam Archer, Paul Auster and multi-media artist Robert Longo.He has written, directed and... |
Pat / Dawn's Cameraman |
| Angelina Phillips | Doria Norman |
| Donna Hanover Donna Hanover Donna Hanover is an American journalist, radio and television personality, television producer, and actress, who appears on WOR radio in New York City and the Food Network. From 1994 through 2001 she was First Lady of New York City, as the then-wife of Rudy Giuliani... |
Sheila Berns |
| Danton Stone Danton Stone Danton Stone is an American veteran stage, film and television actor.-Stage plays:*Fifth of July *Angels Fall *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... |
Bob Berns |
| Alex Yershov | Nathan |
| Nada Despotovich | Michelle Reilly |
| Stephen Michael Rinaldi | Craig |
| Joseph Barrett | Doctor |
| Mark Woodbury | Dairy Mart Clerk |
Plot
Five new contestants are selected in a seemingly random lotteryLottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
and, along with the winner of the previous series, comprise the six Contenders. Each series of The Contenders is played in the limits
City limits
The terms city limits and city boundary refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limits is sometimes called the city proper. The terms town limits/boundary and village limits/boundary mean the same as city limits/boundary, but apply to towns and villages...
of a chosen city or town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
. Contenders are given a gun
Gun
A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...
, though they may acquire other weapons, and the last one left alive is the winner. Contestants are forced to play the game, regardless of whether they desire to. A contender who wins three tours of the game is freed from it.
The film purposely leaves many key details unexplained, as the viewer is supposed to be watching only what the creators actually aired in the fictional TV show. How the show became so powerful as to randomly select people to be killed is unexplained, but all the Contenders seem to treat it as something they cannot control.
Series 7 is set in Newbury, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
which happens to be the hometown of Dawn Lagarto. She is the longest reigning contender the show has ever seen. She has won two tours, and just needs to win one more to be set free. Dawn is eight months pregnant, and hopes to win the game for her baby.
The show then hosts a lottery. Contenders are chosen by whichever social security number appears.
The five contenders selected are:
- Connie Trabucco - 57 years old, single, emergency room nurse.
- Jeffrey Norman - 33 years old, married, artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He is dying of testicular cancerTesticular cancerTesticular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
and Dawn's former love. - Anthony Reilly - 39 years old, married, unemployed asbestosAsbestosAsbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
remover. - Franklin James - 72 years old, retired.
- Lindsay Berns - 18 years old, studentStudentA student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
.
Series 7 begins with a recap of the end of Series 6; the opening scene shows the heavily-pregnant Dawn enter a convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
and fatally shoot a man in a seemingly random act. The show credits then roll, its rules are explained in voice-over narration, and the contenders are introduced. Interview segments interspersed with several of the contenders' early attempts to attack each other offer insight and background on the contenders. Most unusually, Dawn and Jeffrey already know each other. They were high school sweethearts who broke up after Dawn became pregnant and had an abortion and Jeffrey came to believe he was gay. Jeffrey, now married to a woman, and Dawn meet and the terminally ill Jeffrey agrees to allow Dawn to kill him.
Lindsay travels to Franklin's trailer home and attacks him. They fire at each other, but neither is killed. Lindsay suffered a bullet wound to her arm.
Anthony tries to flee with his young daughter but is badly injured (supposedly from a "self-inflicted" knife wound to the back). Connie and Dawn track him to the hospital where Connie kills him by lethal injection. Following Anthony's death, the remaining contenders receive notes to meet someone from "The Underground" at a local mall to escape the game. At the mall, security confiscates Franklin's gun, but Lindsay is passed after stating she is part of the show. Dawn is near a Wick's n' Stick's store, waiting for whoever sent the letter to arrive. A short time later, she spots Lindsay, and so does Franklin. Franklin creeps up behind Lindsay and beats her to death. Franklin is then killed by Connie, the mastermind behind the massacre. The only contenders left are Dawn, Jeffrey, and Connie.
Dawn tracks Connie to her home but goes into labor. Connie reluctantly assists her delivery and Dawn is transported to a local hospital to deliver. She names the baby "Jeffrey" but he is taken from her shortly after birth because of game rules. Contender Jeffrey, despondent when Dawn did not return to kill him as promised, is also in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Connie attempts another lethal injection upon Jeffrey, who now wants to live. He shoots and kills her. Dawn races to Jeffrey's room where they realize they are the final two Contenders. They agree to meet at a neutral location for a final showdown. There, they profess their love for each other and turn on the camera crews following them.
The series finale traces Dawn and Jeffrey through surveillance footage and viewer tips to a movie theatre. There they turn on the camera they seized from the crew and take the theatre patrons hostage, demanding the return of Dawn's baby. At this point, the narrator advises the show's audience that all remaining footage was lost due to a technical error and that the events have been reconstructed as a "dramatic re-enactment." Actors playing Dawn and Jeffrey are shown with an official of the Contenders program. "Jeffrey" agrees again to let "Dawn" kill him but before she can "Doria" appears and kills "Dawn." A distraught "Jeffrey" then shoots himself.
The film closes with a "promo" for the upcoming Series 8, which shows Doria in prison denying that she killed anyone and reveals that Jeffrey has survived and is now the reigning contender.
Alternate ending
In an alternate ending from the DVD release, Dawn and Jeff drop their weapons and flee the theater, but are surrounded by angry fans, displeased at the anticlimactic conclusion of the standoff, and are beaten savagely before they can escape. Jeff again wakes up in a hospital as the new reigning Contender.Technical Details
- Writing Details: Daniel Minahan
- Original Music: Robbie Kondor, Girls Against BoysGirls Against BoysGirls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...
- Release Date: 1 June 2001, 20 January 2001, (Sundance film festivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
) - Runtime: 86 mins
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1
- BBFC Rating: 18
- MPAA Rating: R
Writer/Director Daniel Minahan's childhood friend, Dawn Lagarto, is given a "Special Thanks" credit. He originally wrote the story using her name for the main character, but when it came time to start filming the producers had legal concerns regarding the use of a real person's name. However actress Brooke Smith felt an affinity for the name and wanted to retain it for her character. Minahan called the real Dawn Lagarto and got her blessing to use the name.
The idea for this project came to Daniel Minahan after he worked for a reality TV show. Minahan pitched the fake reality show concept to a network executive as an actual series in 1998. The first round of notes came back from the executive. "Can it be more sexy and less violent?"
Soundtrack
Koch Records
E1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
. It features music by rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...
, along with other bands such as Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
.
(All songs by Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...
unless otherwise noted)
- "It Begins"
- "One Dose of Truth"
- "Let's Get It On"
- "Unlucky Number"
- "Creeping Feeling"
- "I Knew Her"
- "Whole World Watching"
- "Phone In"
- "Tweaker"
- "Love Will Tear Us ApartLove Will Tear Us Apart"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by the British post-punk band Joy Division. It was written in August and September 1979, and debuted when the band supported Buzzcocks on their UK tour in September and October 1979. It is one of the few songs in which singer Ian Curtis played guitar...
" by Joy DivisionJoy DivisionJoy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences... - "Ray of Hope"
- "Sweetness of Mine" by Julie Stephanek/Eli Janney
- "The Set-Up"
- "Turn It Around"
- "Death Pact" by Robbie Kondor
- "Wedding Serenade" by MenKing
- "Dramatic Re-Creation"
- "Nine Lives"
- "The Contenders"