Spaces trends the big screen

Glengarry Glen Ross is the name of the 1992 American film by James Foley, based on the play of the same name by David Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay. In Spain it is known as: Éxito a cualquier precio, and in Latin America as: El precio de la ambición.

This film tells the story of a Chicago-based real estate company that, because of its imminent decline into decadence, the owner proposes an interesting challenge: the best seller will win a Cadillac, and the one who sells the least will be fired. This will start an intense competition between sellers where cheating and cleverness will be the order of the day to avoid by all means (pun intended) being the one who is left without a job.

In this intense early 1990s film, the greatest film personalities of the time were brought together: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Pryce. Actors who achieved some of the best performances of the time, generating real emotions for the viewers, who could feel the intensity of the competition between the characters on screen.

But this is where a key element that is part of this film comes in, and it is its eighth protagonist: the real estate agency itself. This space where the protagonists spend a large part of the film is a symbol of what was happening at that time and within the characters. Worn-out desks resemble the same wear and tear of the protagonists, who sell dream homes while they sink daily between mountains of dusty papers and files.

Low-quality furniture, as well as uncomfortable chairs, are the daily life of these employees fed up with the monotony and boredom that surround their work activities. Everything that is in view on each of the desks is an example of the situation that these employees live in the company and gives an ironic touch to why even though it is not the most inspiring job in the world, these men start a fierce competition to not lose their place at work.

The creator of this 'eighth protagonist' was Jane Musky, a renowned designer of North American productions with an extensive career in the design of film sets. For her, being able to decorate the stage of this famous script by Mamet was a real joy because, according to her words, the language, texture, and meaning of the real estate fed and enriched creativity to give life to a space, which it was: 'a gift for a designer to define.'

It is with cases like this that we argue on whether or not film awards should consider spaces and places to have as much importance on setting up the mood of the movie and should be awarded for it as the main characters do.