so if you don't know me very well or at all you may or may not be concerned to find out that i have a fascination with things that will fuck you up. deadly bacteria that eats your flesh? interesting. parasitic viruses that liquefy your insides? fascinating. debilitating mental abnormalities that possess you to believe you are the second coming of jesus christ? awesome. this is why abnormal psychology was my favorite psych class. and why i really looked forward to reading the hot zone. if this freaks you out too much to be my friend anymore, so be it. i'm sure you like something messed up too. get over it. now i should mention that part of the reason i like things that mess you up is because i find it interesting to see how society reacts to such things. this is also why i like dystopian movies and books. i like seeing who freaks out first, who rushes to help, who turns into a raging sociopath and how many people just lie down and take it. judge me if you want to.
anyway after reading the hot zone and the andromeda strain last month to prepare myself for this awesome movie (that i have been WAITING for) i was pretty psyched to see it opening weekend. and thankfully i was not disappointed!
along with about 6-9 (depending on your degree of film snobbery) big name stars, contagion had almost everything i like in a movie. it was smart, scientific, thought provoking and thrilling. it had some touching moments and even had a few appropriate jokes/funny comments. now sometimes big ensemble casts scare me away from a movie. it has the chance to just be a competition between the actors as to who is the biggest star and who can take up the most screen time. contagion didn't have that problem. each actor more or less had their own storyline to deal with. there were a few crossovers but nothing competitive. but with almost 5 separate story lines can't it get confusing? sure. but not here. everyone is working towards a similar goal. to not get sick. to not get other people sick (with the possible exception of jude law's character depending on how you look at it). however it does make for a lengthy summary. i'll do my best to keep it short by just highlighting the main plots around each group of characters. (spoilers abound but nothing too big)
gweneth paltrow is the first person we see come down with the virus. we don't know how she contracts it or where from but it rapidly destroys her. flu like symptoms then a murderous seizure. boom. dead. 2-3 days after exposure. no mercy. then her young son gets it. dead. matt damon is gwen's husband and step father to the boy, who also has his own daughter. doctors become worried that he has been exposed and puts him in quarantine for 10 days. he's immune. he then takes his daughter and locks them in their house to try and wait out the impending shit storm.
lawrence fishburne and kate winslet are doctors for the CDC and the epidemic intelligence service (i WANT that job) who try and find where the virus came from, how it spreads and how to prevent further spreading.
jude law turns out to be a semi-annoying little shit who writes a conspiracy theory blog. he advocates the use of some homeopathic cure-all and people subsequently go all homicidal for it. jude represents the douche bag who will do what he can to get ahead even in times of devastating crisis.
marion cotillard is a WHO epidemiologist who travels to china to try and find out where the virus came from and who the first person to come down with it was. some not-so-kosher shit goes down in her travels.
i was pleased that the movie wasn't too dumbed down. there was enough scientific discussion and facts to give it credibility but it was delivered in such a way that people with no medical background could understand most of it. the societal implications and outcomes seem to be just about right. people would, in general, lose their fucking minds. there were plenty of disturbing scenes in barren grocery stores and of rioting, looting and pillaging. all of which WOULD HAPPEN if something this catastrophic came to fruition. and eventually i'm sure it will. i'm not an overly paranoid person but upon leaving the theater i wanted to stock up on antibiotics, gas masks and various means of self-defense.
i can't say much else without giving away the whole movie but really the only thing i wasn't completely satisfied with was the lack of elaboration of the symptoms. for example there was a part where they cut open someones skull and when the doctor saw what this virus did to her brain he told the other doctor in the room to back up and get out. and here i am in my seat subduing the urge to claw my way through the rows in front of me in order to try and get a better look at whatever it was that they didn't show. i refrained from screaming "SHOW ME!! I WANT TO SEE IT!" but thought that would be mildly irritating to those around me if not outright terrifying to them.
all in all this was a realistic and therefore disturbing movie. one i highly suggest you go see if only so you can see what a possible future might look like should any virus this disastrous get loose among the human population.
contagion :: a
No comments:
Post a Comment