|
The Many Layers of Science-Fiction
The recent news of Warner Bros. acquiring the rights to Dan Simmons’ visionary Hyperion novels got me thinking about the state of science-fiction in contemporary film and how things have changed for the better and the worse. What’s great about the technological advances today is that filmmakers can really explore their imaginations without any limits. What’s unfortunate is that a lot of these movies are not actually science-fiction. For instance, Back to the Future isn’t a science-fiction film even though it contains a time-traveling storyline. It’s a great comedy with a fantastic element, but the premise doesn’t really serve a thematic purpose, it exists only as a high-concept to move the plot. I’ve decided to compile a list of what I consider the most thought-provoking sci-fi films. These are movies with essential sci-fi ideas explored with real depth and vision by their writers and directors. So you won’t find Star Wars or ET on this list. I also decided not to repeat directors. Some of the names listed below have made more than one sci-fi classic, but for the sake of variety, I felt like listing different names for each ranking.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
That was easy. It’s difficult to argue against the brilliance and influence of Kubrick’s timeless masterwork. From a purely technical standpoint, 2001 is clearly a revolutionary accomplishment. The visual effects not only hold up today, but they still surpass a lot of what we see with CGI technology. The imagery, the music, the atmosphere - it doesn’t get much better than this. Kubrick’s sensibilities were the perfect match for Arthur C. Clarke’s spiritual, existential themes. The surface plot involves the concept of alien existence and the complexities of artificial intelligence, but the film is much deeper than that. 2001 is about the great unknown. It’s about the mystery of the universe and a contemplation of the existence and evolution of intelligence itself, whether human or something beyond our comprehension. It’s fascinating, haunting and beautiful, a work of art unlike any other.
2. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
Stalker seems to be as obscure as 2001 is famous. But it’s no exaggeration when I say that this film is on the same level as Kubrick’s classic. Imagine the sensibilities of Kubrick, David Lynch, Franz Kafka and Soren Kierkegaard all rolled in one and you have Tarkovksy’s Stalker. Like 2001, the story involves a mysterious, unknown, possibly alien entity that re-defines human existence. It’s the source of man’s downfall and yet the last piece of salvation. This centerpiece of the story is a place known as The Zone, a heavily guarded tropic paradise that contains a room where your deepest wishes and desires come true. Stalkers are paid to illegally guide their customers into The Zone and The Room, and to see that they safely return to the bleak, apocalyptic landscape of the outside world. The thing is, entering The Room is no easy task. As the Stalker says, “you have to respect the Zone or it will destroy you”. It’s a maze of sorts. The Stalker leads a professor and a writer into this crazy labyrinth, and faith, philosophy and survival is tested to the extreme. It’s an existential masterpiece, a film that demands repeat viewing in order to fully grasp the many layers of meaning and metaphor.
3. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
I think the tagline says it all: “There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator”. Metropolis is arguably the most visually influential sci-fi film ever made. Fritz Lang’s visionary futuristic silent film is the essential story about man and technology, how vanity can lead to disaster. The plot centers on the class struggle between the workers under the city and the thinkers who live luxuriously in the high-society above the ground. Unfortunately the different classes have different ideas about how this struggle will be resolved. At the same time a scientist has built a robot that can play an important, possibly dangerous part in the revolution. This has been an often copied but never matched cinematic epic. There’s a Japanese animated film based on the same premise that’s quite spectacular, but nothing can top the artistic vision of Lang’s original.
4. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
Ridley Scott’s poetic miracle was re-released last year as the “Final Cut”, and it’s never looked so good. An iconic, landmark sci-fi thriller, Blade Runner used a concept by Philip K. Dick to present a visual and thematic wonder. Rutger Hauer’s final speech still stands as one of my favorite moments in all of film, not just science-fiction. I’m not sure why ambiguous sequences or themes frustrate people, but the whole point of the film is to ponder the things you see. The best science-fiction inspires thought and examination, it doesn’t tell you the answers directly.
5. Dark City (Alex Proyas, 1998)
There’s a growing audience for Dark City, but I still feel like it’s one of the most under-appreciated films of the ‘90s and that Alex Proyas deserves much more support and attention from the industry and audiences. When he’s given the freedom to make the films he wants to make, it’s special. Dark City is clearly influenced by Lang’s Metropolis, but the story still bursts with its own originality and imagination. Themes of consciousness, memory, questioning the nature of reality - these are common ideas in sci-fi but have never been formed into something so beautifully stylized. As much as I love the work here by Rufus Sewell, William Hurt and Jennifer Connelly, it’s Kiefer Sutherland’s character who raises the most interesting thematic questions about the human soul. You could say he exists for the purpose of exposition, but I think there’s more to him than that, sort of like Morpheus in The Matrix. There’s a sympathetic and tragic quality to Sutherland’s Daniel Schreber, and I think the film is ultimately his.
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
Great science-fiction doesn’t have to include artificial intelligence or extraterrestrials. Make no mistake, Eternal Sunshine is very much a sci-fi movie even though it’s primarily considered a romantic drama. The story uses a fictional scientific device in order to explore very powerful sci-fi themes regarding the nature of memory. It never becomes a bland concept, it’s integral to how the film’s themes come together. There’s a line from Before Sunset that perfectly captures what this film means to me. “Memory is a wonderful thing if you don’t have to deal with the past”. I can’t think of a better film that deals with the idea of second chances. Beautifully shot and performed, this is one of the best examples of science-fiction as real, adult, intimate storytelling.
7. The Matrix (Larry and Andy Wachowski, 1999)
Honestly, I feel like the sequels raise more interesting thematic questions than the first movie, but those films aren’t quite as satisfying or complete in combining both philosophical speculation and sci-fi thriller. The first Matrix has one of the classic sci-fi twists. It's Alice in Wonderland mixed with Philip K. Dick and John Woo. Writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski blended so many different ideas into this thing that I still wonder how they managed to make the first movie so lean and precise. A breathtaking metaphorical adventure, The Matrix (and its sequels) take classical sci-fi themes and give them a refreshing, visually electrifying new form.
8. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
I was taken by the technical brilliance of this film more than its themes on my initial viewing, but after watching it a second and third time, I found the ideas behind Children of Men to be incredibly effective. It’s an optimistic film with a bleak setting, but that optimism and hope shines bright. Or at least it does for me. That Cuaron does this without compromising the characters is why the film is so emotional. Easily one of the best films of this decade thus far.
9. THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971)
I’ve praised this brilliant debut by George Lucas several times on the site and will continue to do so. THX-1138 is an experimental thriller about a futuristic society where civilians are under constant surveillance and control. Emotion is suppressed by a drug everyone takes as part of their normal, daily routine. When THX-1138 (Robert Duvall) begins to feel sexual desire and love for his female roommate, he’s charged for his crimes and then goes on the run. His escape naturally leads to a few shocking discoveries. It’s because of this movie that I still have hope Lucas will return to those “small, personal art movie” he keeps talking about.
10. The Face of Another/Seconds (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966/John Frankenheimer, 1966)
I’m listing these two films together because they’re about the exact same thing and came out the same year. The Face of Another and Seconds are both terribly haunting movies about identity and image, about the consequences of using science for selfish purposes and buying another chance to re-start your life. The difference between the films is in the lead characters. In Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another, Tatsuya Nakadai uses his new image to seduce his wife as a stranger. In Frankenheimer’s Seconds, Rock Hudson begins a new and prosperous life only to realize his happiness is all because of an elaborate construction by the company who gave him his new identity. These are both masterful movies, highly disturbing and completely gripping.
|
