The film tells the story of a young female scientist, Iona, who is kidnapped and disappeared in Paris in the future. Iona works for a big company called Avalon, which makes products that make people youthful and beautiful, and advertised everywhere. Iona's sister Bislin and the police detective in charge of the case, Callas, tracked down Iona's whereabouts. Through various clues, they finally tracked down Iona's mentor, Mueller. It turned out that Mueller discovered the secret of "immortality" when he was conducting progeria research that year, and he has been keeping this secret strictly until now being discovered by Iona. But Mueller kidnapped Iona to prevent leaks, and he felt that the discovery would do more harm than good to mankind, because "human life is precious when human beings die." After Mueller told Callas, he chose to die to keep it a secret. In the end, Callas found Iona, but Iona wanted to put this "undead" secret into practice. As she walked up to Avalon's spy, Callas remembered Mueller's advice and shot her dead.
Wrapped in the fierce style is a profound and even heavy theme about the essence of human beings. Human youth is eternal and even immortal, which is the eternal exploration, pursuit and imagination of human beings. From the ancient Egyptians building pyramids and mummies for immortality, to contemporary scientific research (genes, genetics) to explore the mysteries of human beings, all contain human’s yearning and love for life, and at the same time have a desire to face nature and life (death). Awe and fear of conscious insignificance. Under normal conditions, who doesn’t want to keep their youthful energy forever, and who doesn’t want to live longer, so who can clearly understand the seemingly sincere saying that “human beings die before life is precious”?
The Paris in the film is full of Avalon advertisements: a woman who grows old and becomes young and beautiful, she tells you that it can make you "healthy, beautiful, and longevity." This is an irresistible temptation, tempting the primitive desires of human beings. In the face of desire, the director gives his understanding and explanation through the characters in the film. Mueller, the man who discovered the secret of the "undead", is not simply a scientist, but plays a prophet-like role in the film. He is wise, kind, strong, and knowledgeable. He is not only the discoverer (inventor), but also has his own clear and far-sighted understanding of people and life. He knew Iona, but he couldn't deal with her. He bravely chose self-sacrifice and praised the beauty of life loudly before he died. He gave Karas the secret along with the mission, which he believed he could do. Callas is the defender of order representing the justice side. He believed in Mueller, was persuaded and moved, but he could not persuade Iona. In desperation, she was killed. He made a secret completely a secret, and at the same time added a new one, and it was even more painful for him, he wanted to love the person he loved - Iona's sister Beslin, who has been looking forward to The one whose sister came back safely - lied about Iona's death. In our words, it is the sacrifice of the ego to fulfill the larger ego. This is a person like Karas who shoulders the responsibility and strength, and at the same time has no choice but to bear it.
Another special character, Mueller's younger brother, a man most directly related to the "undead". He suffered from progeria at the time, and because of Mueller's research, he got "immortality" instead (whether he is really "immortal", I'm not sure, because the film is in French and the translation is not very good). But his life has not been better, not even enviable. It's still the same skinny figure and a terrifyingly aging face. He burned pictures of his childhood when he cooked a fire with a group of homeless people. The fire burned not only the photos, but also his feelings and memories. The break between himself and himself, although he is alive, his heart has been annihilated.
Besides Iona, she is someone who wants to live forever, and she is just a representative. Behind her is the huge enterprise Avalon, and even bigger is the people waiting for Avalon products, the desire of all, the fantasy of all.
At the end of the film, there's that ad again. People's pursuit of "health, beauty, and longevity" is still the same. Is the disappearance of secrets an end, or a new beginning?
Although there is an example of immortality, the film does not fully explain "human beings have death, and life is precious", not explained to the people in the film (except Callas), nor to the audience ( Obviously the audience is in a very different position from Callas). Although the director's ambition is big, it is only a little bit of water and a little ripple.
Maybe not, maybe not,
maybe afraid of death, maybe even more afraid of the unknown eternal life.
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