Review #8 - Contagion

Contagion Review

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS BREIF SPOILERS

“The average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute. In between that we’re touching door knobs, water fountains and each other.”

 A quote that quite simply should make you think about what you last touched and what exactly you’re touching now. Slowly becoming aware of how many times you have touched your face whilst you have sat there and with your ears pricking up when someone coughs. Thinking to yourself about that cup you have was handled by someone before you and you question what they had touched...
Suddenly your thoughts are multiplying like bacteria. Contagion is a movie which scares you by its realism.

The first scenes for Contagion were immediately impacting on the viewer. Shooting all over the world to various cities across the world London, Paris, San Francisco, Hong Kong and more revealing the statistics for the population in those areas. Throughout the movie we get a day count of population statistics to show us how fast a virus can spread. Followed by the first death of the movie and what this epidemic starts we see Gwyneth Paltrow being ill on the plane back from Hong Kong to America. Quickly driving us into the story of Matt Damon and their family and how the epidemic affects them.
 With such big names in this movie: Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishbourne, Jude Law and Monique Gabriela Curnen all playing big parts to this infectious story.

With this said and such big name actors/actress’ in the movie you may believe that having too many gets you confused at which storyline are you meant to follow however this is not the same for this movie. Each storyline is combined by the epidemic and throughout the movie you never feel the need to cross each of the stories as it brings them together allowing you to understand what is happening as the story thickens.  These storylines are merely devices which allow the real story to be told in a serious – almost documentary style.
 The characters throughout the movie were caught in positions where there were choices to be made and you as the viewer can feel the struggle they have to go through when deciding what they will do. With each of the choices made you can really see the different effects it has on others – even though these consequences may not happen on screen within the movie you know at that time what it will do to the people involved. Like everyday each choice you make will affect others and this movie shows that within its storyline on a dramatic scale.

 On the note of seeing the realism within this film of making choices another thing that comes across really well is the fact that all through the movie you see scenes of devastation through people looting, killing, kidnapping and the mobs that follow a serious epidemic such as this which was portrayed really well.  One scene which stuck out most was when Matt Damons character was waiting in a queue for to receive rationed food by the army – and as predictable as it would get – the food runs out. At which point the queue quickly falls into chaos and the mob of people rush to where they think food would be (another truck). Without giving too much away ill end that bit there so you can find out and see the importance of that scene.

 Along with the mobs and so on myself and Jess liked the way that different aspects of an epidemic  were shown such as the profits of drug companies, money involved for projects and the meetings people would go through, the numerous scenes of equipment being used in the lab to find out what the virus was. Even including the internet into the film and see how bloggers – yes this was important to us – use their influence to make people believe certain things. One quote which sticks out and made me laugh was “blogging is graffiti with punctuation”. I think Jess and I agree that this the team behind this move has pulled off scenes that most production companies would have left out.

 With blogging in mind it brings me to Jude Laws part in the film. Both Jess and I found that this particular storyline was a little confusing to follow especially when it is wrapped up towards the end. We were confused to whether he was paid to post his blogs – we got this idea from a few lines through his scenes – as if he was being paid to mislead people. I think I’ll have to re-watch this movie to fully understand what was going on with his role.

One thing Jess had picked up on was the point that this movie even included the humble hero as part of the main story. We follow Monique Gabriela Curnen character that represents all the people who have risked their lives for humanity and she indeed does the same in Contagion. We get a real feel for the selflessness of this character.

One point which Jess was worried about at the beginning – due to the fact we arrived a little late by like 2 minutes - we assumed we had missed the beginning of the epidemic which in fact was not the issue as the last scenes were in fact showing the very start of the epidemic and piecing together everything all in one answering any questions anyone may have had. Both Jess and I loved the fact that this was thought about and myself particularly appreciated the fact that movies make you want to ask questions but then answer them to leave you knowing the complete story.

As the movie comes to an end you realise that how long it has gone on and yet how quickly the virus can spread through populations across the world – slightly worried about how vulnerable we are? Me too! If you are thinking about seeing this movie then do not go for the fact you think it will enjoyable! However if you’re interested in the idea behind the film then do go see it well worth the watch but can feel slow and long through parts of the movie.

 I rate this movie at 4* - watch it and make your rating!

Review #7 - In Time

At first the trailer for ‘In Time’ seems to be promising a thought provoking, stunningly framed exploration of a dark and complex future, but suddenly everything changes and the trailer, as well as the film itself, and becomes something totally different. The concept behind ‘In Time’ - a future whereby nobody ages past 25 but the price to pay is that time itself has become the new currency - is a fascinating, if a little confusing one (people spend their time yet it continues to constantly elapse). However my immediate reaction was that this concept was not explored enough, somehow the film didn’t seem to live up to it’s potential. I have read Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty Four and various other dystopian novels, stories set in a bleak future that teach us something about our lives in the present, and expected a similar plot from ‘In Time’ only to be slightly disappointed. Don’t get me wrong though! The film was great despite this aspect being fully taken advantage of, however what was great could have been fantastic.

   The most striking element of the whole movie is certainly the general framing of shots. Colour and style has obviously been considered very carefully as every shot was very artistic and elegant. Joey noted how the colour scheme was adapted depending on the setting, for example the Ghetto had browns, greens, reds whereas the wealthier New Greenwich had greys, blacks, silvers and so on. A particular scene which caught our eye was that of the ocean scene in which Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) and Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) hiding behind the rock together with the moon light dropping onto the water and the reflection of their time (the green clocks on their forearms) bouncing off the water onto the rocks and them. The experience for the character Weis was one of taking a risk, making the most out of the time she had despite how much time that was, yet it remained reflected on her face – a reminder that time is always there, ticking away.

    Joey and I were less impressed, however with the limited amount of locations. It gave the film a claustrophobic feel, particularly referring back to the same bridge over and over again. There was little exploration between the two different worlds and perhaps drawing attention to the stark contrasts between these zones would have made the audience feel more sympathetic towards the characters and brought in an emotional element that the film lacked. This would have strengthened the “robin hood” idea that the film develops into with Will Salas stealing time from the Weis banks to give to the poor, the idea being that “No one should live forever if one person has to die”* He seemed to be doing it partly because his father had a similar belief (a sub-plot I feel was never fully explained), partly because he believed people deserved an equal amount of time, partly to save himself and partly for no other reason than he doesn’t have much other choice. He was trying to be a hero and at some points appeared to be so but because his reasons were so blurred I found it hard to really believe in his cause. It was only when the timekeeper mentioned crashing the system that he admitted that he hoped to do so but otherwise it was never really his aim, he just kind of…ended up doing. All that was really needed to pull everything together was a link back to Henry Hamilton’s (Matt Bomer) line “Don’t waste my time”.

    As it happened the film kind of strayed into a strange mixture of action and romance, the romance side of which Joey felt dragged the film down. Joey commented that “The scenes with Justin and his mum were not good at all however the running to each other was fine as the time was running out it was the crying that ruined it- it just ruined the whole bit Justin cannot cry”. I didn’t mind this particular scene too much although I felt it was a little weird to repeat it at the end with his lover, especially when the first scene was confusing enough with his mother looking 25. The action side of the film worked well but mixing it with romance had a peculiar effect especially when the romance is based on a combination of skinny dipping and being kidnapped-an unusual way to fall in love to say the least. Our general opinion was that trying to be a Action/Romantic film did not help the scenes with the action side as when the story was un-ravelling they would split it up by shoving in the romantic scenes. An alternative would have been to explore the differences between the class and the concept of time as a currency, except as it was these things seemed more like a background for the action rather than the focus of the film, had it been, ‘In Time’ could have been a truly brilliant film.

    This films broad range of actors and sleek filming style makes it worth watching. Taking it at face value ‘In Time’ is a pretty good action film and the romantic aspects are obviously there to appeal to a large audience. Yet in the back of my mind I kept thinking  “V for Vendetta was a brilliant film! And In Time could have been a film like this”, especially with such an intriguing concept behind it, however I felt like it fell short of it’s potential. There was so much to be explored that was unfortunately shoved to one side in favour of a simpler, yet slightly more confusing, plotline. I would love to read ‘In Time’ as a novel but as a film it was only good. It just about reaches a cinema-addicts rating of 3.5 stars.

  

*May not have remembered this quote accurately.