In the realm of cinematic oddities, few films pique curiosity quite like Being John Malkovich. A key element adding to its surreal charm is the infamous 7½ floor of the Mertin Flemmer Building. While the building itself exists only in the imaginative landscape of the film, the questions it raises about architecture and reality resonate deeply, especially within the context of films featuring John Malkovich’s uniquely captivating presence.
Concrete office buildings, in reality, are structured with practical interstitial spaces between floors, typically ranging from two to three feet. These zones house essential utilities – concrete slabs, plumbing, electrical systems, and lighting. The glimpse into the 7½ floor, revealed when the elevator doors creak open, showcases a drastically compressed space, far less than standard architectural norms. It’s immediately apparent that a fully functional, habitable floor squeezed into such dimensions is architecturally improbable. While specialized facilities like laboratories or hospitals utilize “interstitial space” – expanded zones of six to eight feet to accommodate extensive mechanical systems – a livable office floor of this nature defies structural logic. Estimating the 7½ floor’s height using the 6’2” frame of John Cusack, a prominent actor in Being John Malkovich alongside the eponymous John Malkovich, suggests a ceiling height of barely under five feet.
Interestingly, the film’s production design meticulously addresses this spatial anomaly. Doorways, trashcans, and all fixtures within the 7½ floor are scaled down proportionally, acknowledging the constricted vertical space. This detail echoes the orientation video presented to new entrants to this peculiar floor, which elucidates that the design prioritizes individuals of shorter stature. The deliberate production design choices underscore the film’s whimsical and slightly absurdist intentions, which are hallmarks of many films featuring John Malkovich, known for his willingness to embrace unconventional roles.
However, within the narrative tapestry of Being John Malkovich, the architectural implausibility of the 7½ floor quickly fades into the background as more fantastical elements emerge. The film’s central conceit – the ability to enter John Malkovich’s mind – dwarfs the strangeness of a half-floor office. The narrative plunges into increasingly surreal territories: characters traversing John Malkovich’s consciousness, John Malkovich encountering copies of himself within his own psyche, and journeys into the depths of his subconscious, navigating rooms that represent fragmented memories and moments from his past. Being John Malkovich, a standout amongst Films With John Malkovich, uses these spaces to construct a metaphorical map of the mind, where time and space become fluid, and doorways lead to different epochs within John Malkovich’s life.
In this context, as the film delves deeper into the labyrinthine corridors of the subconscious, the notion of a 7½ floor, initially jarring, begins to feel surprisingly rational. It becomes another layer in the film’s exploration of distorted realities and the malleability of perception, themes frequently explored in films that dare to venture beyond the conventional, much like the filmography of John Malkovich itself. Being John Malkovich, therefore, uses the 7½ floor not just as a quirky architectural detail but as a symbolic gateway into the film’s broader exploration of identity, reality, and the wonderfully bizarre landscape of the human mind, cementing its place as a truly unique entry in films featuring John Malkovich.
