By Mary ThorntonThe first in a series about how The End of Civilization is handled in different generations of science fiction. CONTAINS SPOILERS I decided to watch the movie Snowpiercer as part of my NaNoWriMo attempt, which has since expired in a blaze of last-minute furious typing and me swearing not to even look at the story again until I'm full of enough goodwill and post-Christmas eggnog to get through the editing process. I expected to enjoy a thrilling science fiction saga of humanity's triumph in survival at the end of a global apocalypse, but instead found myself drawn into questions of what the end of the world really means and how the genre of sci-fi is uniquely equipped to handle them.
There is a lot I could talk about in this movie, but what got me thinking the most was the vision of a bleak and desolate world inhabited by the main characters and, in the end, the remaining survivors. Oh yes, final spoiler warning. Rather than leaving us with a triumphant moment where the sacrifices and bloodshed along the way is redeemed by a successful rebellion, the final shot lingers on two children who miraculously survive the wreckage of humanity's railroad arc. The only sense of hope we have is when the teenage girl sees a polar bear among the snowy peaks, suggesting that life was able to find a way even in the bitterest cold. I found it fascinating that the chosen ending for what could have been a fairly straightforward, if innovative, science fiction action film implied not only the destruction of almost the entire human race after alluding to the cannibalistic nature of their survival in an enclosed space (and yes, that does end up being literal), but also the isolating effect that freedom from that system imposes on those who are the weakest. A child and a teenager who until recently was imprisoned for drug addiction aren't the ones you would expect to survive in the catastrophic conditions laid out for them, but director Bong Joon-ho believes the ending to be optimistic, saying "...extinction is a repeated word throughout the film. But outside the train, life is actually returning. It's nature that's eternal, and not the train or the engine, as you see with the polar bear at the end." As far as apocalyptic predictions go, the relative permanence of machinery, class-ism, and steel is rife with possibilities. While I felt the futuristic elements of the movie were used to great effect both in making this world and justifying the action of the characters, I've noticed many reviewers are loathe to use the term "science fiction" at all when it comes to this and other similarly "cerebral" films. Denying the use of science fiction genre tropes does nothing but take away important vocabulary with talking about why movies like this work.
1 Comment
Ming the merciless
12/17/2014 10:51:48 am
The end of the world really?In my day when I was battling the Hawk men,flash gordon,the clay people and other worthy adversaries we did'nt consider that when we conquered earth we would be concerned about class considerations.And Polar bears?Please.Science fiction should adhear to basic tenants.While I was always defeated by Flash Gordon and his girl friend that pesky Dale Arden in her skimpy outfit we never thought about trope and nature being eternal.Good old ray guns and space ships with sparks coming out of their exhaust pipes was always the best scene stealers.And optomism.We all knew I'd be back next week with another brianiac,hairbrained idea to take over earth.Even my friends on Barsom with Burroughs at the helm kept it simple without alot of fudy duddy cerebralism.A simple plan always is thrawted by a equally simple defence.That was my method and it always resulted in my defeat.Drat.But it kept things fresh.Did the train at least have spraks coming out of it's exhaust pipe?Good review Mary but keep it simple.Remember science and simple start with the same letter.M.M.
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