A good disaster film doesn't need sensationalism

Kacie 2022-04-21 09:01:25

Now that I am stuck at home by the epidemic, I will watch this film again, and I will inevitably have a wonderful feeling. Sigh, rejoice, sad and so on.

Also on the theme of infectious diseases, compared to South Korea's "Influenza", it is obvious that Soderbergh's film has more than 100 steps in terms of thinking and presentation. I have always felt that a good disaster film does not need to be deliberately sensational, because when you show the disaster real enough, everyone as a human will have unspeakable empathy, which is often more shocking.

The record of the spread of the virus, even the calmness, is a bit like a documentary, with multiple clues unfolding at the same time, and the situations and coping strategies of different people in the face of disasters highlight various human natures. Most people are selfish in the face of their own calamities, but there are still people who are selfless and have a higher morality than the average person, and we cannot deny that. The commendable thing about the film is that the director did not stand in any angle to subjectively evaluate a certain character. He recorded everything with calm and restrained shots, neither praising virtues nor criticizing and accusing him, as if he was a calm bystander, and it is this that makes this film stand out among many disaster films that force positive energy.

There is no obvious decency or villain in the film. The doctor played by Kate Winslet is obviously the part of the person with noble character. When he learned that he was infected with the virus, he thought of informing the hotel to isolate the people who came into contact with him, so as to save the lives of more people, even if it arrived. At the last moment of my life, still thinking of handing my blanket to someone else. But she was not able to escape the clutches of the virus in the end.

Lawrence played a doctor official who called his wife before the lockdown to tell his wife to leave Chicago, the epicentre of the outbreak, and was vague as a government official in a later TV interview. I saw some Douyou movie reviews saying that he finally injected one of the two vaccines he received from his superiors into the children of the cleaners out of sacrifice for his own humanitarianism. I don't think so. Obviously, with the character of this official, he has already been vaccinated, as can be seen from a conversation with him and the female doctor. He gave the precious vaccine to the cleaner's child, apparently because the cleaner was the only witness who heard him calling his wife, and he gave the vaccine to the child largely to bribe the witness and for the sake of his future career. After the wife was robbed, their conversation was also very subtle, and everyone who knew it would understand. In other films, he would probably be portrayed as a bureaucratic, selfish negative figure, but again, the director did not deliberately bring any rhythm.

The ordinary person played by Matt Damon, I think although the director did not clearly point out, he should be the one who finally entered the house with a mask and robbed the official's wife. Ordinary people who have justice in their hearts, but when justice is absent and can only survive for the sake of their families, may represent most of us. When the doctor notified him of his wife's death, his first reaction was not to cry, but to say can I talk to her. It's really too real. When most people lose their loved ones suddenly, the first thing they feel is incredible, even subconscious. Unacceptable without feeling sadness. So later, when he saw his wife's photo, the pain hits people's hearts incomparably.

Today I was still joking with my friends in the group chat: "After 2020, we can only live by luck".

I am not from Wuhan, and I have not lost friends and family because of this outbreak.

I consider myself extremely lucky.

But so I also know that I have no right to judge or blame anyone for the choices made for me and my family. Whether it's those who choose to flee Wuhan, or those who use privilege and money to protect themselves and their families, I think they all just want to live a good life. The world has never felt the same way. Those who scolded people who escaped from Wuhan on the Internet are likely to be the same group of people who looted supplies in their honest supermarkets. I don't know what I will do when disaster strikes me. I may try to be a noble and selfless person, but I may also make some choices that go against my heart in order to live. But until that day arrives, I won't draw conclusions.

Listen more, talk less, and do what you think is right. I think this is the most important thing each of us should do now.

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Extended Reading

Contagion quotes

  • Dr. Ellis Cheever: You know where this comes from, shaking hands? It was a way of showing a stranger you weren't carrying a weapon in the old days. You offered your empty right hand to show that you meant no harm.

  • Dr. Ellis Cheever: But right now, our best defense has been social distancing. No hand-shaking, staying home when you're sick washing your hands frequently.