Perfect Sense

First of all: This movie has a lot going for it. Powerful imagery, good acting, generally good pacing, as has undoubtedly been discussed before. However, after watching it I was mainly annoyed by the gigantic plot-holes and strange idiosyncracies the movie contains. What happened to cell phones, sms, or even the internet? Why antagonize the viewer with the overly stupid behaviour exhibited by the main protagonists when the disease starts looming in on their relationship? And the final annoyance to tip the scales was the **SPOILER** superbly corny reunion scene, using so many over-used "near-miss" techniques, compounded by the characters' inability to hear, all of which could have been avoided by a single sms. These people were using cellphones before. ***/SPOILER*** So in the end the weird mix of realism on the one hand and a strangely unrealistic string of events didn't leave me convinced. The movie felt like the script writer had a few distinct scenes in mind which were to happen at various points in the script, and then somehow forced everything to fit together. This has NEVER worked well. A good scene that is made to happen by contriving some obscure constellation of events ends up just as contrived as the rest of the construction. ***SPOILER*** And finally the movie leaves you with a profound feeling of "So what?". It's really an apocalypse film that focuses on dealing with the inevitable consequences, but the final outcome really IS the end of the world, in spite of the final words of the narrator. It would have been more powerful if the movie had ended with a less catastrophic final phase for the disease. As is, you are now left to imagine how everyone stumbles around until they inevitably starve. ***/SPOILER*** The only way this movie sort of works is as a strange moral piece on taking things for granted and coping with the loss of them.

I had seen this a few years ago but decided to watch it again after seeing Birdbox. There is a dystopian heaviness that hangs over each of those movies. This one is not exactly a thriller. It is a gut wrenching sci-fi love story. It is also a lyrical commentary on humanity. The music is lush, narration is poetic. The plot is nightmarish with a jarring edge of realism. It is not especially fast paced so those who want crossbows and zombie blood will not like it. This is the "thinking man's" end of the world type flick.

The one thing I can say about this movie is that it is consistent with the pessimistic view of the human race when presented with something out of the ordinary. For all of the movies with apocalyptic themes, the only consistent factor is that humans are generally evil, and all we need is one small bump in the universe to turn us all into raving lunatics. As I was watching, I was reminded of 'The Happening'. Wonderful idea of a world taking revenge on its inhabitants, and this movie could have been following the same theme, but it's done differently. I love the progress of the character development, especially when Michael experiences the same selfish narcissistic tendencies (or so he thinks) in his new love interest that he has portrayed in the past. The blatant exposure of self when the loss of sensory perception shows how transparent and weak we actually are really brings a perfect sense of reality to those watching. True, the character acting is superfluous, but with the actors available, what else would you expect (I was completely ready for Eva Green to die of consumption whilst Ewan MacGregor sings an Elton John tune at the top of his lungs... COME WHAT MAAAYYYY). True, the plot has holes, but being caught up in the emotion of each of the tragedies, and anticipation of the arrival of the next, provides an escape from the rigors of perfection of plot (and, honestly, if they wanted to fill in all of the holes with Tom Clancy-ish type descriptions, the movie would have to be 4 hours long... this story could have been done as a one-hour special on TV). This one was definitely worth the 88 minutes, and I would be open to watching it again.

"There is darkness. There is light. There are men and women. There's food. There are restaurants. Disease. There is work. Traffic. The days as we knew them. The world as we imagine the world." That's the epic intro. After watching the movie, you will start to realize the things we do and the things we don't do. The conclusion will be to start taste the joy, hear the colors and see the sun. The acting by Ewan McGregor and Eva Green is fitting very well to the plot. I think 2012 will be a good year for BBC films. A perfect way to start 2012!