SOURCE CODE (2011)
Science-fiction. This genre has gone through many changes. Metropolis (1927) is now regarded as a masterpiece and a landmark film for the genre. In Hollywood, the genre was stuff of B-grade. Films like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), It Came From Outer Space (1953) weren’t really called “great films”. Then came, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) which is one of the five greatest films ever made and made science fiction a serious film genre. Star Wars (1977) then catapulted it into the mainstream. Summer movies would never be the same again. The Matrix (1999) reinvented this genre after two decades. Suddenly, the cool summer science fiction visual effects masturbation movie was also an intelligent one. (Not the Matrix sequels, that much).
But science fiction developed another sub-genre. That of time travel. H.G. Wells’ Time Machine was made into a film, of the same name (1960). Chris Marker’s Le Jetee (1962) is another milestone. The Terminator (1984) and Back to the Future (1985) were the Star Wars for this sub-genre. These movies took time travel very seriously and explored its dark implications. Source Code isn't "time travel" as Dr. Rutlegde (Jeffrey Wright) divulges in the film. Instead of going back in time, this is going into a parallel universe which is not real (I love the ending of this film!)(which obviously I mustn't reveal). I would have to be at my most articulate to explain exactly what Source Code is but I'll give it a shot.
Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in a pod after he has died in a train bomb explosion, an act of terrorism. (Not very articulate was I?). Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) explains that this is an experiment called Source Code. He will have to keep revisiting the last 8 minutes of a man who died on that train. Stevens was never on that train. He is an Army helicopter pilot who 'disappeared' which only means that he is expendable. By accessing the last 8 minutes of the memory of the deceased person they could find the out who the bomber was. This would be revolutionary as the next terrorist attack could be prevented.
Now comes one intriguing scene after another and you are at the edge of your seat. The film slowly reveals its wonders, we have to catch up and when we do it is exciting and rewarding. Jake Gylenhaal is impressive. So are Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga, terrific casting. I love how casting the perfect faces itself garners half of the audience's empathy. Michelle Monaghan who plays the unreal last-minute love interest is getting better with each film. (Come on we all knew that would happen? At least one thing we did)
Some recent movies tried to tinker with adding brains to this genre unsuccessfully (The Butterfly Effect, Timeline) and successfully (Inception, Eternal Sunshine). The latter reinvent the genre and keep it from dying out. A movie like Source Code is one of those. Duncan Jones tries to do some very interesting things here. From the first scene, it is made very clear you have got to keep up with this film. Nothing will be spoon-fed, the passive science fiction fanboy needs to be pro-active for the next hour and a half. I love it when films demand you to pay more attention. This way you can choose whether you want to or not.
But the true reason why I love these films is because some of them make you want to get sucked in and keep up. You want them to hold out their hand for you to grab. Christopher Nolan has that quality. Jones, with Moon (2009) tried to venture into the cerebral sci-fi genre. Or hard sci-fi. But with Moon and Source Code under his belt, Duncan Jones has got a one-two slam-dunk. You can see the crumbs left by the auteur in just two films. I couldn’t be more excited to see what he does next.
Rating: **** ½ out of *****
Recommendations:
Recent good sci-fi:
Minority Report (2002)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Inception (2010)
The Fountain (2006)
Children of Men (2006)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Solaris (1972)
Time travel/ time loop:
Back To The Future (1985)
The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992)
12 Monkeys (1995)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
La Jetee (1962)
Blind Chance (1987)
Timecrimes (2007)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Run Lola Run (1998)
Somewhere in Time (1980)
No comments:
Post a Comment