This is a tough film to say "I enjoyed it" but the film has so many compelling points to make, it was thrilling viewing.
Having read that this is the second time the 1950s poem has been adapted as a science fiction film, the story does feel modern and explores what it is to be human and a new appreciation of the wonderful planet we live on.
I got the same vibes from the game Bioshock. An idealistic setting that soon turns into a nightmare. One of the main characters of the film was the ship itself, Aniara, although the ship was a macguffin as the story was all about clinging onto hope in the face of adversity. Although one could complain that this is science fiction on the cheap as the sets were all real places like shopping malls, theatres, airport lounges and so on and the people were wearing clothes from 2017 (when the film was made), that really is not important. The film was trying to impress on you the claustrophobic sense of dread that comes from being in a prison, even if it is a gilded cage. It was thought provoking in that the ship was self sustaining but the passengers needed more to make living worth while. If one were to view the Earth as a spaceship, what gives us hope and purpose that the passengers lacked (ideas on a postcard please)?
One of the few criticisms I had was a lack of decrepit we see on the ship. I would like to have seen even more misery thrown on to our hapless victims as systems on the ship start to break down and resources become scarce. If the ship was relying on 3D printers or some future replication tech, it would have been cool if that was referred to. Also, the ambient rumbling sound of the ship was not necessary, especially of the external shots, as the deathly silence of space would have been even more scary (like 2001 A Space Odyssey).
There were some superb ideas like the ship's hallucinatory AI that decided it simply had enough and committed suicide (the first of many that followed from the humans) and the alien probe which was inconceivable to understand and ended up destroying all sense of false hope the survivors clinged to.
The direction and cinematography were good as were the actors. Given the subject matter, it is not a film I would rush to see again but it is definitely worth revisiting.
I loved the ending.
Having read that this is the second time the 1950s poem has been adapted as a science fiction film, the story does feel modern and explores what it is to be human and a new appreciation of the wonderful planet we live on.
I got the same vibes from the game Bioshock. An idealistic setting that soon turns into a nightmare. One of the main characters of the film was the ship itself, Aniara, although the ship was a macguffin as the story was all about clinging onto hope in the face of adversity. Although one could complain that this is science fiction on the cheap as the sets were all real places like shopping malls, theatres, airport lounges and so on and the people were wearing clothes from 2017 (when the film was made), that really is not important. The film was trying to impress on you the claustrophobic sense of dread that comes from being in a prison, even if it is a gilded cage. It was thought provoking in that the ship was self sustaining but the passengers needed more to make living worth while. If one were to view the Earth as a spaceship, what gives us hope and purpose that the passengers lacked (ideas on a postcard please)?
One of the few criticisms I had was a lack of decrepit we see on the ship. I would like to have seen even more misery thrown on to our hapless victims as systems on the ship start to break down and resources become scarce. If the ship was relying on 3D printers or some future replication tech, it would have been cool if that was referred to. Also, the ambient rumbling sound of the ship was not necessary, especially of the external shots, as the deathly silence of space would have been even more scary (like 2001 A Space Odyssey).
There were some superb ideas like the ship's hallucinatory AI that decided it simply had enough and committed suicide (the first of many that followed from the humans) and the alien probe which was inconceivable to understand and ended up destroying all sense of false hope the survivors clinged to.
The direction and cinematography were good as were the actors. Given the subject matter, it is not a film I would rush to see again but it is definitely worth revisiting.
I loved the ending.
Tell Your Friends