The Matrix: A Retrospective

It's no exaggeration to say that this film helps define our generation. When it came out it was revolutionary. I rewatched it and I still think it's revolutionary.

The philosophical element is possibly the reason The Matrix stands out so clearly from others around it. This film changed the way people think about the world. We take it for granted how easily this film is used to help people think about existential concepts. The phrase, "y'know, like in The Matrix?" is commonplace. Ordinary.

However, it's also easy to read this and think that's the only reason this film is so great. After rewatching it, I've found greater appreciation for its story-telling and, more importantly, its style.

The Matrix is incredibly referential. Some influences are far more obvious than others. Most notably Cyber-punk and Kung-fu films. It's interesting that the Wachowski brothers have chosen such vastly different styles to form the overall aesthetic.

These elements seem to be fairly self-contained within individual locations. This is especially clear in the training scene where Morpheus fights Neo. The dark, grey, harsh asthetic of the 'real world' is juxtaposed against the fluid, airy wire-fights of the 'training world'. Ancient Chinese Zen clashes with futuristic Western dystopia - Crouching Tiger versus Alien.

'The Matrix', the training programs and the 'real world' all feel completely different. Each is clearly distinguished by its cinematography, character movement and music. The green filters used during scenes in 'The Matrix' world are iconic, becoming almost synonymous with this film.

There are other notable cinematic references. Much of the gun-oriented sequences are reminiscient of old-fashioned Spaghetti Westerns, most obviously in the final show-down with Agent Smith. There's a lot of mirrored imagery here that is very Sergio Leone.

There are a LOT of religious references too, mainly Christian, although some Buddhism and general Eastern philosophy too. To name a few: Zion, Judas Iscariot (Cypher), The Nebuchadnezzar, (Holy) Trinity, Neo rising from the dead and 'Spoon Boy'. Much of this seems incidental, but it's clear that the brothers have an interest in (and significant knowledge of) Christianity.

The most overt literary influence is Alice in Wonderland, which plays such a large part in the story. Neo follows the white rabbit, Morpheus asks him if he want to find out "how far the rabbit-hole goes" and Neo takes a pill in order to alter reality.

There's a lot of influence from classical literature too. The use of oracles and prophecies borrows from everything from Macbeth to Oedipus. There's also philosophy mixed in too. These elements are used as devices to explore the nature of destiny and free will. Neo is clearly a strong voice for Libertarianism, whilst Morpheus and The Oracle offer a more Compatibilist viewpoint.

However, simply listing everything that The Matrix has stolen from does not give the film-making duo the credit they deserve. Much of the content is entirely original. Who can forget the feeling when they first saw bullet-time, or the lobby-scene or even the crazy one-armed fight with Agent Smith at the film's climax? This was ground-breaking stuff!

All of these styles are layered over each other to form a hybrid that works exceptionally well. The Wachowski Brothers took influence from many other works and fused it with their own innovation and creativity to create one of the greatest and most influential films of our generation.

Paranormal Activity

This film is scary. Shit scary. I like to think of myself as a fairly hardened horror fan, but I still nearly crapped my pants watching it. Throughout the film is a constant atmosphere of complete tension.

If you haven't heard anything about Paranormal Activity before, it's a horror film shot using the cinéma vérité style à la Blair Witch and Cloverfield. Rather than acting as a window through which the viewer observes, the camera is a device within the story itself. This technique has appeared more and more frequently in the horror genre and personally, I welcome it. It creates a far more immersive experience and allows the viewer to truly connect with the characters. This makes for far scarier films than the slashers currently saturating the market.

Much unlike slasher films, Paranormal Activity contains very little violence. The tension instead comes from the fear of violence. Much of the film is taken up by expositional dialogue, revealing much about the couple's relationship and history. They are not one-dimensional archetypes, but real people. Their reactions to the increasingly frightening events are similarly real and believable.

I found myself empathising with them entirely. I really cared. With most horror films, I can distance myself from the action and tell myself it's just a film. That was impossible here. I was scared out of my mind, but also compelled to keep watching. That is the mark of a great horror film.

An Education

I have been intending to see this for quite some time. I know I shouldn't be put off by the opinion of others around me, but I was told this film wasn't as good as it appeared and so never got around to seeing it in the cinema. My sister suggested watching it tonight and I was interested.

I didn't know much about it (and the little I did had been long forgotten in the months since the film's original release) so I was a little surprised to see Nick Hornby's name flash on screen during the opening credits. Apparently he adapted the screenplay from the memoirs of a British journalist. I'll admit now that I'm not a huge fan of Hornby. His works are very likeable, but never spectacular. That's exactly what I felt about this film.

The story is simple and almost classical. A cautionary tale for young girls that fall in love with older men. The tale is one oft told and the characters are all archetypal. The strict father, the sympathetic mother, the charming gentleman come to take the virgin daughter away. This isn't exactly a criticism. I think this is one of the best executed versions of that story I've seen. However, it does mean that the film is somewhat limited in what it can achieve.

I loved Carey Mulligan. I happened to watch the Doctor Who episode, Blink right before watching An Education and was already in love with her. She's very charming and instantly believable as an intelligent but impressionable young girl. So much so, that there were some genuinely uncomfortable moments in which David's (Peter Sarsgaard) perverseness is illustrated. It really did feel paedophilic when David lusted towards her.

This was one of the better aspects of the film. They didn't shy away from making David seem creepy. Her wide-eyed childishness juxtaposed against his sinisterness was very effective.

Now onto the bad. The characters are completely one-dimensional. Using caricatures does allow for the film's large cast to be introduced well in the short runtime (90 mins) and some humour too, but it's also the film's greatest limitation. I just feel it's too easy to make an audience feel comfortable and tell them a story they've heard a thousand times before. I like to be made uncomfortable (presupposing it actually serves a purpose) and this film just doesn't do that enough.

A few thing just niggled at me when the end-credits rolled. My main issue was that the world Jenny (Mulligan) initially saw wasn't proved to be false. She believed the world was full of dull people getting along doing things they hate for no reason at all. When the film ended this was still proven true, although somehow she was now completely able to join in with it. It was a surprisingly depressing 'happy' ending. Is that the true message of the film? Life is mostly dull and no-one likes their jobs but it's best to just shut up and get on with it?

Reading this, it must seem like I really didn't enjoy the experience, but I assure the reader that the abundance of negativity is mostly due to the cathartic effect it can have. The film has some great direction, brilliant costume design and generally looks incredible. The story is predictable but enjoyable, much like some of Hornby's other works. If you liked About A Boy, you'll find this to be a much better offering.

Akira

I first watched this film several years ago. I think I was around sixteen and had only just started to hear about anime. I didn't know much about it, but the name Akira popped up a lot and so I thought I'd give it a go. It really creeped me out. And rightly so, it's not a film for the feint of heart. Since then, I've had strange feelings towards it - part fear and part dislike. The experience I had watching the film only left me with a bad taste in the mouth and I couldn't say it was a film I liked or enjoyed.

I'm a fair bit older now and I wondered what I might think, now that I have age and wisdom on my side. After having rewatched it, I don't think my discomfort was at all unwarranted. I can completely see how I felt so disgusted and terrified. In fact, I think that's how you're supposed to feel. If you don't, you might want to seek help. Nevertheless, I think now I can say that I really loved it.

The plot is pretty simple, but not obvious. It's quite easy to get lost as very little is explained about who people are and what the world is like. This can be quite confusing if you're watching this for the first time. This is the case with many anime I've watched and the only remedies I know are to just watch it twice or read the wikipedia page. This actually works in it's favour as it allows more time to focus on the story. I hate films that patronise you by explaining every single in and out of the plot as if you can't just figure it out for yourself. Here, the integrity of the fictional world comes first. If the characters know what's going on and you don't, tough. You'll just have to use that grey stuff and work it out.

The world itself is just incredible. There really is some great artwork on display here. Neo-Tokyo has this dark, dystopian vibe that for some reason doesn't seem to exist in films anymore. I guess that was the 80s vision of the future - all black, neon and people dressed like futuristic punks. You just don't see the style that films like Alien, The Terminator and Blade Runner used any more. We just get this (Wait, surely I'm not that old that I'm already harking on about the good ol' days. I wasn't even born when any of those films came out).

This film really did take this concept far further than any of those examples. This was one of the (if not most) darkest settings I've seen on screen. Gang culture, political instability and frequent acts of violence. Take every possible social problem you can think of, mix it all together and you've got Akira's Neo-Tokyo.

The most obvious theme is that of 'power'. Tetsuo and Kaneda's relationship is imbalanced, leading to Tetsuo's inferiority complex. As he discovers his new abilities, Tetsuo seeks to reverse this dynamic, leading him to cause incredible damage to the world around him. This power was only granted to him by those who wished to exploit him and his power. The scientist seeks knowledge, the Colonel seeks military strength and the politicians seek money and well, more political power. The whole film involves all these elements colliding together, all struggling to gain this power as the world falls apart around them. It's Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned.

There's a lot of obvious reference to the creation of the A-bomb and the danger that power has. The film was written during the Cold War and there's definitely a lot of that fear of a dark future worked into it. The opening sequence shows the destruction of Tokyo during World War III, a reference to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pretty bleak stuff.

It's handled really quite well too, in a melodramatic sort of way. Nezu is laughable at times, because he's just so over-the-top, but the message gets through.

On that note actually, I far recommend the Japanese to the English dub. In fact, as a general rule with anime, Japanese > English. The exceptions that prove the rule are the really big budget films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Studio Ghibli films are mostly high standard. Most others just suck. I don't know where they get these people, but the English voice actors sound like they've never acted before in their lives. Every character is just overplayed. I cringe at the thought of Nezu in that version.

Whichever version you watch, you're in for an interesting ride. Amazing atmosphere and powerful story-telling. You will feel uncomfortable, you will be shocked and that's the point. If you like this, check out the manga too. From the little I've read it's even better.

Silent Running

So I'm feeling adventurous. I remember watching Mark Kermode's film blog and him mentioning Doug Trumbull's Silent Running and how amazing it is. The name didn't exactly ring any bells, but apparently he did the special effects for 2001. At the very least, I expect some interesting visuals.

The film is slow. Really slow. There's also something about early 70s cinema that my brain interprets as 'time to fall asleep' (I've nodded off during A Clockwork Orange. Twice). It's the minimalistic visuals, the music and the melodramatic acting style. They just do something to me. This film was no different and it really was quite the uphill battle.

The story is pretty simple sci-fi stuff. Far in the future people have destroyed all of nature and humans are able to survive on synthetic products alone. The last remaining flora have been sent into space by the 'corporations' and are maintained in biospheres on huge space-stations (that look exactly like those from the Doctor Who episode, The Waters of Mars). Freeman Lowell has spent the last 8 years of his life alone, tending to these 'space-forests' that no-one seems to care very much about any more. It consumes him. He gives up everything to maintain the last trace of non-human life.

Initially it's all a pretty hippy, 'save the forests' message. Lowell waxes lyrical to his crew-mates about how great 'real' fruit is and how terrible the synthetic crap they eat is, but they're never even remotely interested. The strength of his beliefs only serves to alienate him from them. The truth is that Lowell is a bit insane. He seems a little off his rocker at the start, but when the order is finally given to jettison the biospheres and return home, he decides to take severe action. Mutiny. He kills his three crew-mates and takes over the ship.

Lowell's motives are really hard to understand (hence me just calling him insane earlier). He saves the trees and even kills for them, but there isn't much he can do with them. No-one is interested in living things any more so he can't bring them back to Earth. All he can do is remain with them for as long as they survive. There is no purpose to his murderous acts. I suppose what this leads me to conclude is that the environmental message isn't what the film is about. The film is about the isolation of space and the real reason for the murders is just plain old cabin fever.

This was a disappointing really, mainly because I feel like I've seen this done far better before. Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend just explored the nature of isolation so well that I can't help but be disappointed. Silent Running just doesn't measure up.

The film has some brilliant visuals that alone are worth the watch, but it's pretty poor sci-fi. It has a boring central character and an inconsistent, confused message. Ignore this and watch Moon instead.

Shutter Island

From the first 5 minutes of watching this film, the twist was obvious. I was fairly suspicious of the twist from watching the trailer and when it was eventually revealed I felt the bitter-sweet of being right and the deep dissatisfaction that comes from not being proven wrong.

The sad thing is that the film is set up to be a thriller with this twist being the centre of the experience - the joy that comes from finding the answer to a riddle. Having it figured it out so early on only left me feeling impatient and frustrated as they dropped little clues throughout the film. This frustration lasted an incredibly long time as the film's runtime is almost 2h30. The better part of two hours is spent building up to this conclusion that didn't have the resonant effect that it should have. Worse still, this portion of the film suffers from poor characterisation, confusing plot-points and vain attempts at misdirection. I was really really bored. And hungry. And bored.

The irony here is, that when the twist is eventually revealed, the films picks up drastically. The end half hour or so is really quite emotional and the reveal showed some really interesting character development, excellently acted by DiCaprio, even if it served as a pretty lousy plot-point.

There were some interesting issues discussed. The nature of madness and the power of delusion. Also an interesting discussion between Daniels (DiCaprio) and the Warden in the car. Sadly, these are few and far between.

I may be alone in seeing the twist so early. I watched it with a friend who was entirely unaware until it was clearly stated at the end, but it certainly marred the experience for me. The film should've been much shorter and there should've been far more exploration into the natures of madness and sanity. It needed far more A Scanner Darkly and far less Enemy of the State-conspiracy-theory-thriller-paranoia-type-stuff.

Brick

I first heard of this film from a friend who quite simply described it as 'noir, but in a high school'. A succinct and accurate analysis, but also hard to know what to expect. To be equally succinct, I loved it.

This idea of 'noir with teenagers' isn't exactly new. I loved Veronica Mars, a show that uses many elements of noir in its story-telling and presentation. Nevertheless, I was surprised to see how well the 'noir' story translated into this setting. The melodrama, promiscuity and the drugs seemed quite plausible when there are hormonal timebombs involved.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more the high school setting seemed perfect. The traditional American highschool has always represented unfairness, brutality and hierarchy. Well, at least that's what TV has led me to believe. Highschool has always seemed like an incredibly harsh environment.

The highschool in Brick is a microcosym of society in the early 20th Century. The jocks and cheerleaders represent the elite and amoral upper class, whilst the poor, unpopular loners play thugs and small-time criminals. Maybe I've become too cynical about American highschools but the violence and crime seems to fit well. I'm reminded of Columbine, scenes from Elephant and The Wire, all of which highlight the potential of young American adults to commit acts of violence.

Nonetheless, this isn't real. Highschool rivalries and friendships don't generally lead to betrayal and murder. The best way I can think to describe this is 'highschool on crack'. Feelings and relationships pushed to extremes, and with equally extreme results.

There are some really powerful emotional scenes, such as Brendan finding the body and his eventual grief-induced breakdown. However, the film doesn't take itself completely seriously. There are several moments during the film in which I laughed aloud. Most of this humour is entirely visual, done by set design, clothing or character movement that's reminiscent of silent cinema and vaudeville.

The dialogue is fast and very witty and there's some demonstration of self-awareness in regard to the contrived set-up. Teenagers are not adults and yet they play them - it's all a bit Bugsy Malone (but actually good). The scenes with Brendan and the Assistant Vice Principal in particular are very funny.

"You got a discipline issue with me, write me up or suspend me! [turns to walk away] I'll see you at the Parent Conference."

This balancing act between comedy and drama, is incredibly difficult to maintain, yet the film does it throughout without compromising either element. A thoroughly entertaining story, brilliant dialogue, acting and interesting direction. The film also deservedly won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at Sundance. Highly recommended.