The
Road John Hillcoat, 2009
The road begins with
very colorful shots of a man and an unknown woman in a beautiful home with
flowers and a horse. However, these images do not last very long, as a scene of
something horrible happening in the middle of the night immediately interrupts
them. This transition can be confusing and does not explain anything, which was
intentional, but still I felt it could have been more useful to show more cause
and effect.
This film features a
grim world destroyed by fire. A man and a son struggle to live a normal life
looking for food and shelter. This nameless family has lost their mother in the
middle of the night. The mother is afraid that she will be r aped and the
family will eaten by cannibals that they do not kill themselves. She cannot
bear to see her child suffer any longer so she leaves in the darkness with
intentions of death. She tells her husband that she does not want to simply
survive.
The father carries a
loaded gun with two bullets, one for him and one for his son. This shows us
that the father would rather die by his own will then dying of starvation or
cannibalism by other people. Cannibalism has become a last resort food source
in this film due to the lack of farming and animals. There are people with guns
that travel around looking for victims to capture and eat. In this dystopian
world, desperation and hunger have left people no other options.
The man and his son
were sleeping in a car when all of a sudden a group of armed bandits arrives.
One of the bandits gets a hold of his son and the father has no choice but to
kill him. This family now knows the dangers of living in this destroyed and
chaotic world. In a life they no longer live happy and comfortably but only to
survive. Constantly on the move sleeping and filth and eating whatever scraps
they can find laying around. You rarely see them eating anything and they seem
weak and unhealthy.
As the father and his
son travel along the road, they find a house that seems like it may be in good
shape. After breaking in the house, they go in the basement and find people
locked up starving and naked. The cannibals suddenly arrive and the father
almost kills his son out of desperation and fear of being captured by the
cannibals or eaten.
This father and son
family have little to no hope of living a normal or happy life ever again. The
planet seems dead and hopeless, without sunlight, vegetation and living
animals. In this world, you survive by eating anything you can find including
people. This family is fearful of all people as they are all threats.
The road can seem like
a very depressing film as you watch the characters struggle just to live each
day. Human contact with others is often in conflict and by gunpoint. The lack
of food has left everyone in desperation and without hope. The father looks out
for his child and their survival. However, the boy takes pity on other people
and wants to help them in any way he can. There is a struggle between surviving
and being kind to others as if the two cannot coexist.
In the end, the father
dies from a fatal arrow attack. A new family finds the boy but we do not know
if they will eat him. This is less for interpretation and judgment of this
desperate humanity. The boy is kind and has a gentle heart, something rare left
and a horrible world.
Escape from LA
Escape from LA is one
of the cheesiest, stupidly funny movies you will find from the 1990s. In this film,
America is compared to prisons. The rise of crime and LA has led to the
formation of the police force. The president announces that an earthquake will
wash away all of the sinful people of LA. When the earthquake hits a huge
tsunami hits LA. Pres. Lynchburg is now the president indefinitely. Having a
permanent president means that laws and government will be under the power of
one man’s ideals and beliefs. I believe if this were to r happen in America,
there would be a rebellion against the government.
LA is no longer a part
of the United States and is now the deportation point for all undesirable
people to live in the new moral America. The police force guards the shoreline
of LA to make escape impossible. That is idea alone could have been taking more
seriously if it was not for the comedic, goofy tone of the film.
This film features
cheesy special effects and a ridiculous storyline that glorifies an antihero
Snake Plissken., Kurt Russell plays snake wearing an eye patch. As he is escorted
to deportation, he is told that prostitutes, atheists, and runaways are all
trash being thrown out? Snake is scratched on his hand on the way to his cell.
He is shown a hologram tape of the president’s daughter stealing a top-secret
prototype. They tell him that she hijacks Air Force 3. In this scene snake is
surrounded by the hologram as if he was there. The president’s daughter name is
Utopia, which is ironic as she is seen as a threat to the country. Snake
refuses the offer only until they tell him that he has been exposed to a deadly
virus. If Snake does not complete his mission, he will die by a genetically
engineered virus.
Snake puts on his new
gear dressed like a New Age outlaw from the Wild West. Although this film is
quite corny, the scenes have decent composition and lighting. Snake travels in
the sea by submarine on his way to LA to retrieve the data device.
This film has a western
dystopia style to it. Snake travels around LA solving all his problems with his
guns. Every negotiation and standoff is through the barrel of a gun. In this scene,
a comic book style villain called the Surgeon General captures Snake. The
henchmen are wearing costumes and makeup so they look deformed. Many wacky
aspects to this film take away from the films potential. This movie could have
been more serious with its use of a dystopian theme if John Carpenter wanted to.
Future Almost Lost by Redmond
Technophilia and violence, how do they co exist in dystopian films?In minority report there is a society driven by technology. The police men fly around to stop criminals. In Thx1138 technology observes everyone through monitors and the policemen are robots that beat people violently. Why is technology a key key role in a majority of dystopian films.The idea that technology will save the human race actually is used in reverse to suppress,conquer and attack the very people it was suppose to save.In actuality technology is the key to holding the upper hand in wars and keeping the peace by brute force and fear that the authority will use might and overpowering technological superiority.
