Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Contagion (3 1/2 Stars - 4 Stars)



            This was a huge surprise for me when the first couple of minutes showed up in this movie. I never had much thought about this movie when it was first announced in the trailer. I thought Matt Damon's character was a little off, and the dialogue was clunky. I saw Outbreak, and I thought this movie would have the same premise. I was considerably wrong.

            There was something special with this movie by just the way it started. It starts with a black screen and a bunch of sound effects that we, the audience, hear in our daily lives. Whenever we move from point A to point B, there is always someone coughing and/or sneezing. Someone in the movie mentions that we touch our face about two to three thousand times a day. In the beginning, we see montage of how the virus is spreading across the globe, from Hong Kong, to London, from Japan, to Minneapolis. With each passing day, there is an emphasis on the text that reads "Day 2" or "Day 137," showing the progression of the virus and how it starts to escalate into a pandemic. At the end of the movie, we get to see "Day 1," where the curtains pull back and we, the audience get to see what the people in the movie don't get to see, reminding me of "Citizen Kane."

            This movie looks and feels like an apocalyptic movie, but sad fact of the matter is, it's one of the few apocalyptic movies that can actually happen. The Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 killed 1% of the world's population, and because our mode of communication has vastly increased, what would happened if the CDC didn't know what they're up against? Everything in this movie felt real. We see the situation of the people in the CDC and how they're trying to find the genesis of the virus, as well as studying its nature. All the while, we have them trying to maintain and establish order when everyone knows about the virus. Even if a vaccine was discovered, problems would still arise with producing it for the masses, as well as distributing it without creating a riot. There is the conflict over who gets it first.

            Meanwhile, we have the strict point of view from Mitch, played by Matt Damon, who witnesses the virus firsthand as well as how civilization is tearing itself apart. Beth, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, shows that she's sick and probably got it during her business trip in Hong Kong. All of a sudden, the doctors announced her dead without knowing what happened. It turns out that she was the first to get sick by a virus that would soon spread all around the world. Mitch's daughter comes and stays with him, causing Mitch to be overly protective. Mitch appears to be immune to the virus; however, he doesn't know whether the daughter is immune or not, therefore not taking any chances.

            It's always a scary thought to know how a virus can be airborne, as well as through bodily contact. It's a scary fact when you hear the news that the nurses and the doctors don't even know what to do. It's a scary thought on how a virus can destroy civilization, even with all of our technological advantages at our disposal. There is a haunting image of an empty airport terminal, showing how the virus has impacted people's lives mentally. You can argue that this movie is emphasized on a CDC's worst case scenario, but this movie is certainly not about Swine Flu. I scoffed at the media's interpretation on the H1N1 virus and how it was blown out of proportion. This movie, on the other hand, is no laughing matter.

            Steven Soderberg has his misses and hits; however, this movie is very similar with his Academy Award winning film Traffic, where we see different stories on how the drug war is affecting three different non-related lives. In effect, this movie's narrative is told the same way with different protagonists and how their lives are affected by a pandemic through the business side, as well as the personal side. I was a bit skeptical about the casting choices for most of these actors and how they would serve as Oscar bait only; however, Soderberg seems to know how to direct these A-listed actors into making a great movie where story comes first. Soderberg knows how to make a pandemic thriller without the shock and awe. There is no blood or gore on screen, or anything horrific that people will dare each other to view online. It's a wonderfully made thriller that focuses on the "what if's" from a grand worldly scale, to a small family. However, because the story is set in a grand scale and all of the main characters are all over the world, it would help if we can have a better satisfying ending with all of the characters. Mitch's ending was done perfectly, Dr. Ellis' was a bit ambiguous.

            The movie is based off of fear realistically. Every time someone touches a door knob, a credit card, food, poker chips, rails, shopping carts, anything, the camera will linger on it, emphasizing and evoking a germ-a-phobic sense of paranoia. While I was in the theater, someone was coughing, and I bet there were a couple of heads turning. I have a sense that hand sanitizers will be used and sold after this movie.

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