I've read so many bad reviews that complain, like children smashing their keyboards, "Tell me EVERYTHING that is happening" and "Why did the movie suddenly end?" Are you genuinely this thick?
Do you really need to be spoon-fed every single answer to every question? Are you really so two-dimensional that you cannot use your own thoughts, your own predilections, your own imaginations, to determine the point of the movie?
We live in a cinema age where "great films" are comic book adaptations, where there is an A-B-C plot and storyline, where characters can be easily categorised as "good" and "bad" with nothing or little in-between. We go to the movies and we expect a beginning, a middle and an end, because we've been told since the dawn of time that this is the essence of story telling. We have characters that find out all the questions to all the answers and, by the end of the movie, everything is wrapped up in a nice, neat little package. Endings are made to give us hope, to lull us into some form of security that everything's going to be okay.
But this is not life.
Life throws us challenges. We have friends and family members who get diagnosed with cancer and, guess what? A lot of them die. Do they deserve to die? Do they die because they didn't fight hard enough, or because they didn't believe in God enough, or because of some other one answer reason? Or, maybe, just maybe, people die regardless of all these things. And there is no ending afterwards. No happy resolve. Some of us will carry that grief and never move on. Others will destroy their relationships or careers or whatever. Because life doesn't have an A-B-C storyline. Life doesn't have an easy, simple, straightforward ending.
So what is the point of this rant? The point is this movie. This movie isn't about "a" disaster. It's not about finding out what is happening. It's about what happens during such an event. Our own fears, of each other, of ourselves, of the chaos of the situation. It's about decisions we make, connections that either will prove who matters to us or how fickle they can be. We are not consistent in our behaviour, and nor are the characters. "The mum hated the owner, then she suddenly likes him - that just doesn't make sense to me." Really? I've had teachers that I couldn't stand when I first went to school, but by the end I loved them because they challenged me, raised me, forced me to think critically. I've had workmates that I've liked only to find out how shallow they can be, or how selfish they can be when I've needed them.
What this movie does is challenge the viewer's notion of a) relationships, both with those we love and those unfamiliar to us, b) what we would do (which is why the characters keep changing their next steps) during a disaster when we're only getting little bits and pieces of information, c) our reliance on knowing everything based on technology, and our belief that technology has somehow made us god-like in being able to find answers to every question, and d) how easily we can go from pretending to love and respect and accept one another to all out war with ourselves.
If you don't understand that, that's fine - it simply means you don't like movies that challenge your perspectives.
Oh, and the ending IS PERFECT! If you paid attention, you'll have enough answers you need to continue the story in your own mind. But if you need to be spoon-fed every answer to every question, maybe stick to watching The Avengers.
Do you really need to be spoon-fed every single answer to every question? Are you really so two-dimensional that you cannot use your own thoughts, your own predilections, your own imaginations, to determine the point of the movie?
We live in a cinema age where "great films" are comic book adaptations, where there is an A-B-C plot and storyline, where characters can be easily categorised as "good" and "bad" with nothing or little in-between. We go to the movies and we expect a beginning, a middle and an end, because we've been told since the dawn of time that this is the essence of story telling. We have characters that find out all the questions to all the answers and, by the end of the movie, everything is wrapped up in a nice, neat little package. Endings are made to give us hope, to lull us into some form of security that everything's going to be okay.
But this is not life.
Life throws us challenges. We have friends and family members who get diagnosed with cancer and, guess what? A lot of them die. Do they deserve to die? Do they die because they didn't fight hard enough, or because they didn't believe in God enough, or because of some other one answer reason? Or, maybe, just maybe, people die regardless of all these things. And there is no ending afterwards. No happy resolve. Some of us will carry that grief and never move on. Others will destroy their relationships or careers or whatever. Because life doesn't have an A-B-C storyline. Life doesn't have an easy, simple, straightforward ending.
So what is the point of this rant? The point is this movie. This movie isn't about "a" disaster. It's not about finding out what is happening. It's about what happens during such an event. Our own fears, of each other, of ourselves, of the chaos of the situation. It's about decisions we make, connections that either will prove who matters to us or how fickle they can be. We are not consistent in our behaviour, and nor are the characters. "The mum hated the owner, then she suddenly likes him - that just doesn't make sense to me." Really? I've had teachers that I couldn't stand when I first went to school, but by the end I loved them because they challenged me, raised me, forced me to think critically. I've had workmates that I've liked only to find out how shallow they can be, or how selfish they can be when I've needed them.
What this movie does is challenge the viewer's notion of a) relationships, both with those we love and those unfamiliar to us, b) what we would do (which is why the characters keep changing their next steps) during a disaster when we're only getting little bits and pieces of information, c) our reliance on knowing everything based on technology, and our belief that technology has somehow made us god-like in being able to find answers to every question, and d) how easily we can go from pretending to love and respect and accept one another to all out war with ourselves.
If you don't understand that, that's fine - it simply means you don't like movies that challenge your perspectives.
Oh, and the ending IS PERFECT! If you paid attention, you'll have enough answers you need to continue the story in your own mind. But if you need to be spoon-fed every answer to every question, maybe stick to watching The Avengers.
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