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#20 – The Invisible Ray (1936)
The Invisible Ray (1936)
Film review #20
Director: Lambert Hillyer
A film about the impacts of scientific discoveries on the human mind…
Dr. Janos Rukh is a bit of an outcast scientist. He has invented a telescope that can see far into space- in particular, the Andromeda Galaxy. By picking up rays of light from the galaxy, he can use them to look at how Earth looked in the past. He has invited A group of people to witness his experiment, including his wife Diana, Dr. Felix Benet, Sir Francis Stevens, his wife Arabella, and their nephew Drake.
The experiment is a success, and the group view the Earth from millions of years ago. They witness a meteor crashing into the continent of Africa, which coincides with the other scientists investigation into the meteor, and now they have a location to search thanks to Rukh’s experiment. During this evening, there is also an instant attraction between Diana Rukh and Drake, which they both try to ignore.
The group has travelled to Africa on an expedition to find the meteor. Rukh has split from the group to find it himself. When he finds the meteor, he becomes exposed to the radiation of “Radium X”, of which the meteor is composed. Later that night, when it is dark, he begins to glow as a side-effect to the radiation, and he can kill someone just by touching them. He confides in Dr. Benet, who develops a counteragent that Rukh must take every day so the effects don’t return and kill him.
The radiation also begins to affect Rukh’s mind. When the group return to Paris, Dr. Benet uses a fragment of the meteorite to heal sickness and cure blindness (the cure also works on Rukh’s elderly mother), Rukh feels as though his discovery has been stolen, and begins plotting revenge. He fakes his own death, upon which Diana and Drake marry. Rukh intends to kill off the five people on the expedition who have betrayed him, and he goes after them one by one.
Eventually, only Ronald, Diana and Benet are left. They work with the French police to spring a trap to lure him in by staging a lecture and inviting a number of leading scientists. They will turn off the lights at midnight, and if Rukh is there, he will light up. Rukh infiltrates the party and kills Benet, and heads upstairs to finish off Diana and Drake. Rukh finds Diana, but finds himself unable to kill his former wife, and goes to find Drake instead. Just then, his mother appears and tells Rukh to stop. She smashes the bottle of the counteragent made by Benet, and he jumps out a nearby window, falling to his death, and bursting into flames…
I think that what we have is an interesting scenario in this movie: What are the human ramifications of scientific pursuits? Rukh is very much portrayed as a recluse, and a little bit of a mad scientist. This characteristic is the central point of the film, as he slowly loses his mind and desires to exact revenge on those who have stolen his discovery. The foreword to the movie reminds us that every scientific fact was once “a fantastic fire burning in the mind of someone called mad”. A scientist must be daring to challenge what is already considered fact, and change people’s understanding of the universe. In the past, this would have earned them ridicule and persecution from religious leaders, heads of state and fellow scientists (Although this happens less so today, there is no doubt that it still exists.
The movie asks us to keep an open mind, and speculate whether the events that take place in the film could happen. Could we really look back in time by capturing the light of distant galaxies? Does that light contain information to what it has seen? It would be easy to dismiss such a wild tale, but we know that the light we see coming from distant stars is perhaps thousands of years old, and by looking at the stars in the night sky, we are essentially looking back in time. Could that light contain information about what it has seen during its travels? Very unlikely, but this movie does encourage us to keep an open mind to the possibilities of new discoveries that could change everything we know about the universe. This is what science is: A self-correcting procedure, though perhaps it is misrepresented as a cold, infallible truth, which is simply not (for me) what science is about.
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#19 – Solaris (2002)
Solaris (2002)
Film review #19
Director: Steven Soderbergh
A psychological sci-fi movie delving into the human mind…
Chris Kelvin is a psychologist on Earth in an unspecified time in the future. One day he receives a visit from emissaries from the DBA, who give him a message from an old friend, Dr Gibarian, who wants him to come aboard the space station orbiting the planet Solaris to help them with the strange phenomena that is happening there, which is making the team not want to leave. The security team that went there did not report back, and Chris is to be sent as a last resort to rescue the team.
When Chris arrives at the station, he finds Gibarian has committed suicide, and most of the team have disappeared. The only surviving members are Snow, and Dr. Gordon. The survivors are reluctant to explain what is going on, and Snow suggests to “sleep with the door locked”. While sleeping, Chris dreams about his deceased wife Rheya, and how they met. When he wakes up, he finds her there: Seemingly real. He is reluctant to accept this, and tricks her into an escape pod and jettisons it into the planet.
When Chris falls asleep again, Rheya reappears, and this time Chris is more convinced and lets her stay. This creates a tension between him and Dr. Gordon, who believes these creations to be a threat to the human race, and why she does not want to return to Earth with one of them on board. Eventually, after learning of what Chris did to her the first time she appeared, she commits suicide. This is partly because she is made from Chris’s memories, and he remembers her as she was when he found her dead by killing herself. However, she begins to regenerate and heal herself. She has no more reason to live, and wants Dr. Gordon to kill her using a special device. Chris won’t allow it, but when he falls asleep, she goes the doctor and is destroyed.
After this, Chris and Dr. Gordon find the body of Snow, and they realise the one they have been talking to is an imposter, who killed the original Snow in self-defence when he first appeared. The use of the special device Gordon used to kill Rheya is causing the station to collapse into the planet, and the fake Snow they escape. On the way to the escape pod, Chris makes a decision to stay onboard, deciding he would rather stay with the memories of his wife. The film ends ambiguously, with the two reunited in a place where “Nothing that happened matters anymore”…
Solaris is an adaption of a Polish novel by Stanisław Lem, which was previously made into a film in 1972, to much critical acclaim. This adaption takes a different approach to the story, focusing more on the human interactions, rather than the original concept of the inadequacy of trying to communicate with an alien species. Because of this, the science-fiction aspects are very much toned down in favour of giving the movie a more “Hollywood-esque” appeal. Having an established actor such as George Clooney heading the cast is something one does not see in science-fiction films very often.
The film has a hint of 2001: A space Odyssey in its plot and set design. There is some ambiguity with regards to the reality of certain sequences, with dreams and flashbacks being neatly interwoven throughout the film (Which I have see before in films such as Brazil, Eight and a Half, and Nineteen-Eighty-Four). It is a very easygoing and light film: There are no intense action sequences or the like, but a bit of thinking and deduction are required on part of the viewer in order to work out everything that happens in the film.
The film is considered a decent one, even though it lost money at the box office (About ten million dollars approximately). It has appeared on lists of best remakes, and was generally well received. One person that did not approve of the film was the author of the original novel, who stated:
As Solaris‘ author I shall allow myself to repeat that I only wanted to create a vision of a human encounter with something that certainly exists, in a mighty manner perhaps, but cannot be reduced to human concepts, ideas or images. This is why the book was entitled Solaris and not Love in Outer Space.
The sacrifice of the scientific and philosophical elements of the original novel were perhaps necessary to getting the movie produced, and getting an “A-list” actor such as Clooney on board. While some of those elements still remain, it has been heavily diluted, and focus shifted onto a much more human-centric plot, which one reviewer described as giving the audience something science-fiction films don’t normally give: Emotion. So in conclusion, Solaris makes an attempt to create an emotional science-fiction and many believe it generally succeeds, though perhaps at the cost of being defined as science-fiction? That is up for debate…
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#16 – Brazil (1985)
Brazil (1985)
Film review #16
Director: Terry Gilliam
A science-fiction film where information is king…
In an unidentified country, a man named Sam Lowry often find himself dreaming about saving a beautiful woman. In reality however, he is a low-level government employee at the ministry of records. Information and paperwork rules society here, and mistakes are unheard of. However, Sam is given the task of rectifying a mistake that caused Archibald Buttle instead of Archibald Tuttle to be arrested and (accidentally) killed.
Sam goes to deliver a reimbursement cheque to the widowed Mrs Buttle, since any cost of arrest and detainment are met by the perpetrator. She is however, stricken with grief, and refuses to fill out the paperwork. Sam then sees the woman living upstairs and recognises her as the woman from his dreams, he gives chase and loses her, but learns her name: Jill Lawton. However, he cannot access her records because she is considered a suspect for trying to report the mistake of Buttle’s arrest to a government that does not admit to making mistakes. When he returns home, he meets the real Tuttle, who helps to fix his air conditioning when it fails and Central Services (the company that handles all the repairs) is short-staffed. Tuttle is a renegade repairman who fixes things without the assistance of Central Services, which is highly illegal.
Sam figures the only way to get access to Jill’s records and her location is to accept his Mother’s help to get promoted to the Ministry of information retrieval. He goes to see her while she is in the midst of more plastic surgery. When he arrives at his new office at the ministry, he retrieves the records and tracks her down before she is arrested, after declaring he is in love with her, he erases her records to classify her as deceased. After sharing a romantic night with her, Sam is arrested.
Sam is tied to a chair ready for interrogation for misusing his government position. His old friend Jack is carrying out the interrogation, where he tells Sam Jill was killed resisting arrest. Suddenly, Tuttle and the resistance rappel in from the roof and free him. They break out of the ministry and go on the run, where Tuttle seems to disappear in a flurry of paperwork. Sam then stumbles upon the funeral of his Mother’s friend who has died from excessive plastic surgery. Sam’s mother now looks younger than him thanks to the plastic surgery, and Sam escapes in horror, and is rescued by Jill in her truck, and the two drive off into the sunset. This happy ending turns out to be short-lived however, when the scene cuts back to the interrogation room, where Sam has gone catatonic from the interrogation, and the film ends with him humming “Brazil” as Jack and the information minister exit the room…
Brazil is a very British film, featuring an almost entirely British cast. The ministries and locations are reminiscent of something you would find in Britain rather than the US for example. The humour lends itself to become a black comedy, similar to other British films such as Monty Python or Time Bandits (Also produced by Terry Gilliam). This comedic element is a very fresh take on the science-fiction genre, since the two are rarely combined. The dystopic nature of the film too is also a different take on future society which is favoured by Britain over the utopian views of the US, as shown by British TV shows such as Doctor Who.
The direction and design are reminiscent of other films and future views. For example, the retro-fitted design of the city filled with neon lighting and tightly packed rooms filled with electronics is similar to Blade Runner, while the concept of government being flawless and all knowledgeable is similar to George Orwell’s 1984. It should be noted that While Blade Runner was meant to represent a near future (2020), Brazil is very much a reflection on the (then) present day government. In this respect, it relates to how 1984 was written about a futuristic 1984, but Gilliam notes it is a “Nineteen-Eighty Four for 1984”, seemingly eager to emphasise its relevance to contemporary society. Unlike 1984 though, it lacks any sort of “Big brother” figure who ultimately watches and rules society. the architecture itself seems to be somewhat similar to the movie Metropolis as well. The dream sequences in Brazil also have a similarity to the dream sequences in Blade Runner. Neither film really explains the dreams, but perhaps they show the desire for people to break out of the regimented control of society. The suits, hats and waistcoats wore by the workers gives the movie a 40’s “noir” feel too, and makes the film feel like a 1940’s vision of 1985, with some things the same, but some things quite different. This again gives the movie a strange uncertainty about its location in time. As we look back on movies from the past with a “comical aesthetic” and find the sets and props rather humours in their inaccuracy, it could be concluded that this is what Gilliam intentionally wanted for Brazil, which fits the black comedy nature of the script nicely.
As Brazil is perhaps more of a present day take on society than 1984 or Blade Runner (As the beginning of the film says it takes place “sometime in the 20th century), we do not really see futuristic technology on display, but we see a different way of utilising technology than we do now. For example, the telephones look like telephones, but seem to have a completely different way of working than how we would normally use them. The same goes with computers, which look like a typewriter with a strange transparent screen, although many people did not have personal computers in 1985, they did not look look like what they do in the film. The duct-pipes have a very distinctive style, with these long inflatable pipes running through every location. When we see the inside of the air conditioning of Sam’s apartment, we see a mess of ducts and pipes that is carefully hidden behind these large metal plates. I can’t help but think this is a commentary of how society and governments likes to hide all the inconvenient mess behind clean, shiny coverings…except in the working-class homes, the ducts have not tried to be hidden, but seem to snake around the homes and obstruct the people that live there.
Brazil was not much of a success at the box office (The US box office especially), probably due to its unhappy ending, and coming in at nearly two and a half hours. Despite this, it has been recognised as a “cult film” and is highly regarded by critics, regularly appearing in top 10 lists for best science-fiction, British or cult films, and seems to have had an influence in the development of films, for example the apartment of Max Cohen in the movie Pi was inspired by this movie. I personally think it s definitely worth a watch when you have a two and a half hours, as it is a good mixture of social commentary, science-fiction and black humour, which is really enjoyable.
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#15 – Things to Come (1936)
Things To Come (1936)
Film review #15
Director: William Cameron Menzies
A look at just what the future could hold in the next 100 years…
Christmas 1940: In Everytown, John Cabal finds it hard to celebrate because he fears impending war. His feelings are shared by his friend Dr. Harding, but their optimistic friend Passworthy insists that war will advance technological progress if it does happen. Their fears are confirmed later that night when a bombing raid on the town triggers global war. Cabal becomes a pilot and some time later, shoots down en enemy bi-plane. When landing, he pulls the injured enemy pilot from the wreckage, and reflects on the whole madness of war. A little girl runs up to them, closely followed by a poisonous gas cloud. Cabal puts on his gas mask, and the enemy pilot gives his to the girl. Cabal gives the pilot his pistol as he and the girl run, and the pilot shoots himself. The war rages on for over 25 years, resulting in the almost complete collapse of civilisation, with technology being exhausted from fighting and plunging the world into a new Dark Age. With the last few planes, the enemy spreads a disease which becomes known as the “wandering sickness”, of which there is no technology with which to develop a cure.
May Day 1970: In the ruins of Everytown, a man known as The Chief declares he has ridden the world of wandering sickness by shooting everyone who was infected. He still however, wishes to wage war, trying to defeat the “hill people” so he can gain control of the mines and their oil, which he wants to use to power his planes. When a futuristic plane lands outside town, John Cabal emerges and declares himself a part of the new civilisation “Wings Over The World”, based in Basra, Iraq. He says the new world order made of the surviving engineers and mechanics has eradicated war, and abolished independent nations. The Chief refuses to listen to him, and has him locked up. Gordon, a mechanic who The Chief has been ordered to fix the pre-war planes he has, wants to help Cabal, and with the help of Cabal’s old friend, Dr. Harding, fixes a plane and flies to the Wings Of The World headquarters to warn them of Cabal’s imprisonment. They mobilise a fleet, and uses their “peace gas”, drop it on the town and render the population unconscious, and killing The Chief, signalling the end of the old ways of war.
1936: Everytown, and the world is now a futuristic utopia, in which everyone works together for scientific progress and achievement, however a sculptor by the name of Theotocopulos is not content with society, he says man needs a “rest” from the rush of technological progress, with mankind about to take its first manned flight around the moon. Cabal’s great grandson Oswald Cabal is now head of the governing council. His daughter Catherine and her boyfriend Horrie Passworthy insist on being the ones to fly the spaceship. When Theotocopulos rallies a mob to attack the “space gun”, the symbol of the technological progress, Cabal launches the ship ahead of schedule, as the mob descends on the space gun. The movie ends with Cabal reflecting on the nature of progress and what part humanity plays in the quest for knowledge:
“Rest enough for the individual man. Too much of it and too soon, and we call it death. But for MAN no rest and no ending. He must go on–conquest beyond conquest. This little planet and its winds and ways, and all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him, and at last out across immensity to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the mysteries of time–still he will be beginning.”
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“If we are no more than animals–we must snatch atour little scraps of happiness and live and suffer and pass, mattering no more–than all the other animals do–or have done.” (He points out at the stars.) “It is that–or this? All the universe–or nothingness…. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?”
This film was written by famed Sci-fi screenwriter H.G.Wells (War of the Worlds), and it does what science-fiction does best: Imagines the future, and considers the philosophical implications of said future.
But just how accurate was H.G.Wells’ prediction? Well first of all, most ominously, he predicted the outbreak of a second world war only sixteen months from when it actually happened. The accuracy of which he predicted the use of aeroplanes and bombing raids is also rather eerie. The nationality of the enemy fighters is never mentioned, but it does not take much imagination to say they are German. Luckily, the Second World War only lasted six years rather than the imagined 26 years in the film, and we managed to avoid plunging the world into another Dark Age. Perhaps because of this, we were able to land on the moon a lot earlier than 2036 (1969).
A lot of questions are raised in the film about the relationship between humanity and science: Is there a balance between science and humanism? Mankind must continue to build its knowledge and broaden its horizons, even if there is no limit to what may be learned. So how are we still able to retain our humanity in the face of the overwhelming face of progress? Is war a part of being human itself? These are all questions that still hold relevance today (and always will). The fact that an artist questions the society of 2036 is a point of interest. Is it the artists role to reinforce humanity and to address the problems of society?
The cinematic design of the movie is very well done for its time. The silhouettes of marching soldiers, air raids, and building montages that segue the different sections of the movie really set the mood of the movie and what is happening as the dates and years scroll by on the screen. The changing architecture of the fictional Everytown in Southern England where the town is set also allows the nature of time passing to be seen, from 1930s city, to post apocalyptic ruin, to future metropolis. The same town undergoes a radical transformation over the 100 years that the film depicts.
So in conclusion, Things To Come is an ominous look at the future as seen in 1936, from imagining WWII, to the recovery from the collapse of society from war, the question always remains of how humanity copes with progress and science, and just what being human means in the age of science.
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#14 – The Death Ray (1925)
The Death Ray (1925)
Film review #14
Director: Lev Kuleshov
A Soviet sci-fi spy thriller from the 20’s packed with action…
In an unnamed “fascist” country, Tomas Lann is imprisoned at a “helium factory”, but manages to escape during a revolt. He flees to the home of Professor Podobed, where he wishes to get the “death ray” he has been working on to fight the fascists. However, one of the fascists, Father Revo, breaks into the Professor’s home and steals the death ray. Lann then chases down another one of the fascists named Fog in order to get the death ray back.
First, I should note that there is no English translation for this film, so my understanding of the movie is a bit limited, and as you can see from the stills above, the only surviving copy of the film is a bit poor in quality. Nevertheless, ever since I heard about this movie, I’ve wanted to watch it. Apparently, there are portions of the movie missing as well, which makes it even harder to understand the narrative.
This movie offers a different take on filmmaking in the 1920s. Before even Metropolis was released, The Death Ray (Luch Smerti in Russian) was released in the USSR, a film by “popular” Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov. Film making in the USSR at this time was tightly regulated by the government, and apparently this film was criticized greatly by them because of a lack of soviet propaganda, and it was too “American” in terms of its production, with a lot of focus on stunts and action.
On that subject, the sheer amount of action in this movie is insane. The actors are jumping from 3-story buildings, hanging from wires suspended on rooftops, crashing through tables and doors, jumping from moving cars, falling down stairs and even running towards oncoming trains and lying down on tracks in front of them, with the train changing tracks at the last second. Now, I’m pretty sure there were no stunt doubles in this movie (or at all back then), so these actors must have been made of strong stuff, and had no sense of fear when filming these sequences. The action takes place in car chases, bike chases, and even a plane sequence, all culminating in a gun/knife fight at the end. Perhaps one of the reasons it is hard to follow the plot is because there is a lot more emphasis on action.
Throughout the film, the so-called “facist nation” is labelled as the antagonist of the film, and although no actual name is given to it, the use of swastikas throughout the movie by them strongly indicates that it is probably Germany or a mid-Europe country. This of course, would serve the USSR regime of painting the Europeans as an enemy of the soviet union rather nicely. Obviously the nazi movement was still in its early stages in 1925, but clearly it was still something the USSR wasn’t very keen on. Looking back on it in the present, we can see this film in the wider context of soviet life, and how they perceived other countries. Another interesting aspect to this is the leader of the fascist nation: Father Revo, is seen as a religious leader. This again puts it in line with the soviet objective of eliminating religion, and portraying the antagonists as religious in this movie tows the USSR’s policy very well.
The film ends with Lann retrieving the death ray and using it on the enemy fighter planes, and finally liberating the prisoners of the factory where he first escaped. Though we never get a close look at the death ray (It is always locked up in a box), the idea of such a weapon being used to bring down the enemies of the USSR was a nice way to end a movie like this which was used as propaganda by the government.
Apparently this movie was also screened in America, though it is difficult to find where and when. I wonder what Americans thought of such a movie, riddled with the Hollywood action sequences and developed on the other side of the world? Either way, the death ray is a rare example of soviet cinema that may lack in plot, but more than makes up for it in terms of action.
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#13 – Just Imagine! (1930)
Just imagine! (1930)
Film review #13
Director: David Butler
A science-fiction romantic comedy musical…Wait what?
In the year 1980 (fifty years in the future when this film was made), the world is a different place: People ride in planes around the cities, and can travel around the world in minutes. People also have government issued numbers instead of names, and the government decides who you can marry based on your success, which the basis for this movie.
J-21 is a pilot who wishes to marry LN-18, but MT-3 has also filed a request to marry her. A court rules that by law MT-3 gets to marry her, since he is the most successful man (Though it’s said he just published a paper his Father wrote before he died). LN-18 is unhappy with this arrangement, since she loves J-21 and she only accepted MT-3’s request for marriage on the behest of her Father. He is told he has an appeal in four months in which he will have a chance to win LN-18’s hand in marriage.
J-21’s roommate RT-42 is going with his girl D-6 to see an experiment where scientists are attempting to revive a man struck by lightning in 1930. J-21 tags along to the experiment, which is a success. The man, now revived, has nowhere to go, so J-21 invites him to stay with them. He picks himself a number: O-0, and so he is referred to as “Single O” from now on.
Single O is introduced to a world where babies are bought, and food and drink comes in pills. J-21 sneaks into LN-18′s apartment, but Single O’s drunken antics get him caught by MT-3 and he is thrown out. While walking round the city streets alone in sorrow, he is greeted by a man that offers him an opportunity. He takes J-21 to see the great inventor Z-4, who says he needs a pilot for his “space plane” to be the first person to go to Mars. J-21 is reluctant, but after Z-4 reminds him that this accomplishment would allow him to win his appeal in marriage to LN-18, he agrees to do it.
J-21 and RT-42 set off for Mars, and when they have launched, they find Single O has stowed away because he has nowhere else to go. The three of them arrive on Mars, and set about exploring. They stumble upon a Human-like tribe who communicate primarily through gesture. When the three heroes are captured by another tribe, they realise that everyone on Mars in born with a twin: One is good, and one is bad. They launch a daring escape and hurry to their ship before they miss their launch window. Back on Earth, J-21s appeal is starting, and he has not returned. D-6 tries to stall for time, while the three heroes arrive. He says he has been to Mars, and the judge requires proof, which Single O provides in the form of a captured evil twin from Mars. The judge rues in J-21s favour, and he and LN-18 are reunited and allowed to marry. Also, Single O is happily reunited with his son Axel, now an old man.
Now, when this film was released in 1930, the great depression was in full effect, and this film was intended as a pick-me-up for the public, hence the comedy musical elements. It provides an interesting perspective on the “future” of 1980, in which the speed of life develops even further, and becomes more automatised and regimented. Despite the clear control of the government in people’s lives, there is still an overall sense of optimism in the futuristic New York City. As I mentioned earlier, this is probably due to the film being a pick-me-up during the Great Depression, and I suppose this movie wanted to show that life would get better. The movie of course didn’t quite predict 1980 correctly, we don’t all have planes and roads in the sky, or buy babies from the government. But it is an imaginative view of 1980 regardless.
The production and effects in Just imagine are quite impressive for their time. It was one of the first films to use large-scale rear-screen-projection. All the skyline shots of New York City are done this way, and it very well done. The beginning sequence in the sky as well is put together nicely. Bits of technology such as the view-screen phones are imaginatively presented. It’s all the little bits of technology that really hold the believability of the film intact. With all of this, the film was very expensive in its time to make, and achieved reasonable success at the box office. It’s a shame it isn’t well known because it seems to be a very landmark film in terms of its production (Maybe the fact it has never had a VHS or DVD release is part of that problem?). In the 1930s, where there was perhaps little appetite for science-fiction, integrating it with the comedy and musical genres was a smart idea to garner wider appeal.
Of course, when the film came out, humanity was nowhere near getting to Mars or even launching anyone into space, so I imagine there was very little to go on when they were designing the Mars set. Looking at it in retrospect, we can safely say that the Mars in Just imagine with it’s vast jungles and human population is nothing like the actual planet Mars with it’s barren red landscape and no trace of life to be found.
As is par with the science-fiction genre, addressing social issues such as feminism crops up throughout the film. While it seems that men still hold the most powerful positions (The judge, inventor and the various extras are all men), there are women, such as the census taker at the start of the film, that have full careers, which would probably have been quite controversial for its time.
So overall I found Just imagine to be a really fun watch, it gives us an interesting look at the issues surrounding the 1930s, and just what society at that time was like and what they saw in the future. The blending of so many genres might seem strange, but it has a lot of charm, and incorporates them all very well. It is a shame this film isn’t well known or recognised, because in terms of its ambition and production, it seems to be an important example of western film development, and I would highly recommend a watch.
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#12 – THX-1138 (1971)
THX-1138 (1971)
Film review #12
Director: George Lucas
From the creator of Star Wars comes a science-fiction film exploring the darker side of the imagined utopia…
THX 1138 envisions a future where everything is automatised. It is a departure from the traditional utopian visions of American culture, such as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, of which a clip is shown at the start of the movie. This is a very clever way of questioning our pre-conceived notions of the future.
The story centres around a man named THX 1138, who is a resident of a futuristic society, where the populace is forced to take drugs to suppress their emotions in favour of efficiency, productivity and order. THX unknowingly stops taking his drugs thanks to his roomate LUH, who he starts to have feelings and impulses for. He also meets SEN, who is able to hack into the mainframe of the city to get things he wants. After THX nearly causes a meltdown after not taking his drugs and therefore being unable to perform at his job, he is put on trial and sentenced to confinement. After which he tries to escape the city and find LUH.
I think the most important aspect of THX 1138 is how de-humanised everything is: Sterile white walls cover everything, the only colour being in the pills the citizens take. There are no personal effects, the living quarters are as empty as everywhere else, and everyone has a shaved head, so identity is suppressed at every level possible. This shows in the dialogue in the movie too, which is staggered, fragmented, and just plain unnatural. Even the police force which enforces the law is made entirely of robots: People building there own regulators and taking the notions of justice out of their own hands seems to show a system where technology has taken control. The film could perhaps be seen as a commentary on communism and the power of the state too?
Even the notion of religion is seen as controlled by the all powerful computer. OHM 1190 is the state-sanctioned religious icon, and booths are available around the city for the residents to talk to and confide in, to which OHM will occasionally spout computer generated phrases such as “Yes, I understand” or “Excellent”. These booths are adorned with an image of Jesus as depicted in Hans Meming’s painting Christ Giving His Blessing (1478), which further that notion of a religious icon. Though one has to wonder what use a religious icon is in a city where every aspect of humanity is suppressed? Perhaps its random computer generated responses are appropriate for a population without humanity, and it is another way for the state to spy on people…Being made in 1971, the movie still stand the test of time well, possibly because there is not much in the movie which can age. Everything is neutral and bland by design, and so is resistant to ageing in the eyes of the movie-goer. Another reason for its lack of ageing may be the fact that I watched the directors cut, which has updated CGI and some re-filmed sequences, of which the director George Lucas is notorious for editing and touching up his old films (See the uproar over the constant remastering of Star Wars).
So overall, we have a very disturbing vision of society in the future in THX 1138, its strange, inhuman concepts address just what it means to be human amidst our technology, and whether that technology could ever control us? It seems to me that as a departure from the views of the future in American culture at that time, THX 1138 serves as a powerful alternate perspective on the future and still maintains that relevancy today.
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#10 – Kronos (1957)
Kronos (1957)
Film review #10
dir. Kurt Neumann
An old B-movie sci-fi from the 1950s. Kronos is not very well known, but has some interesting aspects to it.
When a strange asteroid is spotted in space, two scientists at Lab Central try to work out it’s origins. When it makes unnatural movements and deviations from it’s course, Dr Leslie Gaskell and Dr. Arnold Kulver suspect there may be something more to it. At the same time, a strange spark of light has taken possession of the Labs director: Dr. Hubbard Elliot. The asteroid continues on a collision course with Earth and panic spreads across North America, fearing it will crash onto a city. These fears are unfounded, when it crashes into the Pacific Ocean, near Mexico.
The scientists, along with Vera Hunter go to Mexico to investigate, and while they’re there, a strange construct appears. This “monster” (named Kronos by Gaskell, after the monster of Greek mythology), proceeds to march upon a power station to absorb it’s energy. Dr. Elliot is fighting the influence of the alien intelligence intermittently, and after Kronos absorbs the energy of a H-bomb, he regains control of himself to reveal the purpose of Kronos: To drain the planet of all it’s energy. In a race against time to stop Kronos from reaching the atomic weapons facility and its nearly unlimited energy, Leslie and Arnold engineer a plan to reverse the charge of Kronos’s energy convertors, effectively destroying itself.
The plot may seem a bit confusing, but it addresses issues such as energy consumption before many other films or TV series did. The science of the movie moves between factual and fictional rather seamlessly, making it hard to pinpoint where the real end science ends, and the fictional science begins. This, however, is probably a good thing for movies such as this, which are released onto a general public that really isn’t that clued in on science, namely the American movie-goers of the 1950s.
On that subject, the movie is very much an American movie. Movie staples such as the spinning newspapers aid the transition of science into the cinema mainstream. A sound move perhaps, since movies in the same genre from the 50’s, such as The Day The Earth Stood Still don’t rely much on the technical science, and generally put an alien or scientific spin on common human dramas, which is not the case for Kronos.
The main characters are very much the same as every other movie character at that time in America, with a little cowboy attitude, and the relationship between Leslie and Vera, which seems very normal, talking about going to the movie themselves, and frolicking on the beach. Perhaps this humanises the notion of what sort of person a scientist is, as their perception at this time would be of someone who develops weapons of mass destruction, rather than someone who furthers knowledge and understanding. The character of Dr. Arnold Kulver probably fits the traditional scientist model more so, with his glasses, and bow tie, and how he seems to have more of a relationship with the computer SUSIE than an actual woman. He plays more of a “sidekick” role, which fits with a lot of American drama at the time, putting the role of the “brainbox” as the assistant, and never as the star. Though Leslie is a scientist too, he rarely plays to the traditional convention of one like Arnold does.
Apparently, the entire movie was filmed in just two weeks. Which seems rather quick even for the 1950s. There is a lot of stock footage, and there are only a few actual locations/sets used, and the special effects are quite underwhelming. Lab Central has a very postmodern look to it, with its dome lighting and physic models, and a rather impressive looking computer called SUSIE (short for Synchro Unifying Sinometric Integrating Equitensor…sounds either very complex or just nonsense depending on your perspective). This computer may look rather grand and complex, but its function could probably be accomplished now using a computer about a tenth of its size. Back when it was produced though, when people had no concept of personal computers, this is what computers would have been recognised as: Large sets of blinking lights and switches that occupy entire rooms.
There’s a small religious reference in this movie. When the scientists go to Mexico, they stay with a man who (though he speaks entirely Mexican), is clearly religious, with a cross on the wall, and who kisses the cross on his neck when Kronos appears. It seems science-fiction movies from this era always find a way to shoehorn religion in their movies somewhere. Like The Day The Earth Stood Still as well, it addresses the danger of atomic weapons, though not in their destructive power, but how they feed Kronos to make it more powerful.
So while nothing particularly special in terms of production, Kronos offers a view of the perception of science in the 1950s. The plot is riddled with scientific jargon, and the plot requires some deduction since it isn’t explained until very late on. A disaster movie that is powered by, and eventually stopped by science.
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#9 – The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Film review #9
dir. Robert Wise
Classic sci-fi movie from the 1950’s. The plot is a classic sci-fi trope of the self-destructive nature of man and its far reaching consequences.
When an unidentified object is spotted in Earth’s atmosphere, people around the world rush to identify its origins. Like many movies where first contact is imagined, such as Contact or Close Encounters…people’s reactions to the unknown is one of fear and terror. When the alien lands, it is surrounded by military personnel and tanks. The alien is accompanied by his robot “Gort”, and is then (accidentally) shot, and it turns out he is very much human in appearance. As the movie progresses, the Alien injects his fresh perspective on some of the sights in Washington, and its inhabitants. He says he has a message for the people of the world…and a warning, which must be heard by all of the inhabitants of the planet…
The Day The Earth Stood Still takes a rather simple approach to representing aliens. The alien (Klaatu) is identical to humans in appearance, he even gets a check up in hospital which seems to confirm his physiology is similar to humans as well. Being able to learn our language through broadcasts is a feasible premise, though. It’s easy to look back at movies such as this (which was considered a big budget movie at the time) and criticise the interpretation of aliens and first contact, but they really set the benchmark for films of this kind, and were successful upon their initial release.
As with a number of other sci-fi movies that deal with the whole “first contact” situation, religion surprisingly makes an appearance again. The one line which stands out in this respect is when Klaatu is revived and is asked whether he has power over life and death, he replies: “that power is reserved to the Almighty Spirit.” Strange, ambiguous words from an alien. Apparently, this line was inserted because the MPAA thought Gort’s power over life and death to be too God-like, and an affront to religious beliefs.
What I didn’t pick up throughout the movie (and it seems not many do) is Klaatu’s similarities to Jesus. Arriving from the sky as a messenger…Powers to perform miracles…Even when he pretends to be human he adopts the name “carpenter” (The profession of Joseph, Jesus’s Father). The screenwriter figured these associations would be “subliminal”, but it seems very few people see them the first time watching the movie. Perhaps when you’re watching a sci-fi movie such as this, religious connotations aren’t exactly things you might expect to find…
The maths and science behind the story doesn’t add up in some places (This film was made before the first satellite was launched into space, let alone the first man), but the accuracy isn’t really the point of the movie, it is about the consequences of continued war and aggression on the planet, and how it could easily end in our untimely eradication. A stark message…and warning indeed.
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#8 – Primer (2006)
Primer (2006)
Film review #8
dir. Shane Carruth
An independent film all about time travel. Two guys working on a range of bizarre inventions stumble upon the secret to manipulating time itself…
For an independent, low-budget movie, Primer should be noted for it’s very complex and technical plot. As each step in the development of this time travel experiment is discussed and laid out in the dialogue, it is obvious that there is a lot of technical thought that has been considered. Even when stepping into the scientific unknown of time travel, there is still a lot of technical background, which although works nicely within the context of the script, it may take scientific and mathematical liberties at some points, but with the sheer amount of technical information pouring out of the script, it is difficult to determine the real and fake science, which I would say work’s in the movie’s favour.
There is a real trash aesthetic throughout the film. Being an independent film about two guys working from their garage, this is probably what you should expect. The cobbled-together machines give no clue or framework for understanding what is going on, so it requires an attentive viewer to decipher how everything works.
As you can guess, it is pretty easy to get lost in this movie. If the techno-jargon doesn’t get you, the amount of different timelines that start piling up most certainly will. Just google search “primer timeline” and you’ll get a large number of graphs and charts which people have used to try and decipher the events of Primer. Interesting fact: I never heard the word “time” or “time travel” anywhere in the film.
If there is one clear message to take away from Primer, it is this: Time travel is messy. Just by doing one simple journey backwards in time throws up so many complications, and even with the precautions the main characters take to remove themselves from the continuum, everything still manages to pile up so much that they have to leave their old lives behind while another version of themselves goes on in their place.
It’s very much a Pandora’s box: Once you open it, you can’t really put it back. Perhaps the “time machine” (this definition is never used in the movie by the way) being in the shape of a box signifies this rather nicely.
So is it possible to answer the tag-line question: What happens if it actually works? Not in my opinion. What happens seems to be far out of the control of two guys working in their garage.
