CULTURE
27.03.2020
CONTAGION
Yesterday, I watched "Contagion", a movie from 2011, and all I can say is that I loved everything about it. From the plot, to the cast, to the soundtracks and the visuals in general, this movie overcame all my expectations, and I deeply recommend it to anyone that wants to take a sip from the liquid that is great cinematography.
Covid-19 is upon us, infecting and killing people, compelling quarantine and "social distancing." Planes are empty. Conferences and tennis tournaments are being scrapped. In the best of times, we civilians are unlikely to have a clear sense of what to expect from our leaders and government agencies. So in addition to looking to our leaders for clarity in these stressful times, lots of us have turned to Soderbergh. "Contagion" offers gymnastic catastrophe - it kicks, glides and throbs; it sticks the landing.
The movie hit me squarely in my entertainment cortex, this funny, scary, stylish, soapy, plausible speculation of life during a global outbreak. The appeal now is how it's proving to be an instructive worst-case scenario of our current freak-out. We've turned to it, in part, to know how bad things could get.
The film's virus seems a lot worse, for one thing. Six characters die in the first 12 or so minutes. One of them is Gwyneth Paltrow, our patient zero. When a pair of doctors cut her skull open, they peer inside with bewilderment that radiates through their layers of protective gear. One asks, "Should we tell somebody?" And the other replies: "Tell everybody."
"Contagion" explains the terror; it's an explanatory drama. After 45 minutes, my delight subsided. And the gravity of it all set in - deeper than something terrifying, although not as moving as I expected. "The movie's potential death toll - 70 million, somebody says - seems high compared to what officials are surmising about Covid-19. But people are dying. The striking nurses and empty gyms, malls and airports; the panic to flee: It all feels real.
The movie doesn't predict the racism and xenophobia that have broken out in the world. Instead, it has desperate Hong Kong villagers kidnap an important white lady in order to get them to the front of the vaccine line.
Speaking for those who've rehelped ourselves, I'm glad I did. There have been moments in the last few weeks when I've felt we might be paranoid. Everything smells of hand sanitizer and people are testing their core strength to surf the bus-car turbulence lest they have to grip a bus pole.
To conclude, I enjoyed the movie, and even if the concepts behind "Contagion" and the recent COVID-19 pandemic and different, after all, the atmosphere is the same, as we are all scared, nervous, desperate.
30.02.2020
A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR
If cinematography is not for you, or you simply prefer reading instead of watching movies, then I have a great recommendation for you.
"A Journal of the Plague Year" is a novel written by Daniel Defoe during the plague of the 1665 that took place in London and affected most of the country.
Although the action is placed during one of the worst diseases the humankind faced, the book is not so horror due to the fact it was written as a journal and narrates what happened during that year. The novel, apart from mentioning the information mentioned above, it also tells some story, some sadder than others, showing the worst aspects of that event.
The author tells, for example, the story of different families with small children or pregnant mothers; stories of how people that had their houses shut up escaped or by threatening, bribing or attacking the "watchmen" and how they spread the infection in other villages. But, there are also some stories that show people that managed to face the situation and did their best to survive such as the story of the seaman and his family and how he worked hard and gave all his money to the sick wife and also the story of the 3 men left from London in order to survive and how they stayed near a village the whole autumn.
In the book there are also presented the trade problems that England faced during that year and also some time after it. The novel also presents how certain people left London before the infection was devastating neighbourhoods and also how certain people pretended to have the cure for the Plague and how they fooled many people into buying it.
I recommend this book not only because its action is very dynamic and entertaining, but also because it makes you understand a pandemic better and empathise will the book's characters and the whole situation. Moreover, it is a great lecture because it helps you outline a brief overview of the difficult aspects of life and appreciate peace and heath more.
Thus, I consider " A journey of the plague year" to be one of the best options of books about pandemics you have, and surely my favorite.
31.03.2020
OUTBREAK
Another great movie about events similar to the COVID-19 pandemic is Outbreak, a movie from 1995 which centers around an infectious disease that has entered a small town in Northern California through an African monkey.
Ferociously virulent, the virus destroys the body's major organ cells at a stormtrooper's pace, killing its victims within hours of infestation. It's a strain that has been seen before, in an African village in the late '60s, where it was contained by a fire-bomb destruction of the village by U.S. military.
In this plausible, terrifying scenario, it's a race against time as top Army doctor and virology expert, Dr. Sam Daniels, struggles to find the key antidote to thwart the plague-like virus. More chilling, Daniels has other demons to battle, the hidden agenda of the armed services who want to protect the secrecy of the virus because it is, in fact, one of their weapons of biological warfare, as well as his own personal demons, namely the disintegration of his marriage to a fellow virologist.
Admittedly, this packed scenario sometimes strains against itself, but, overall, the screenwriters have synthesized the all-important personal dimension out of the furor of this large, catastrophic story. Further, Petersen's vigilant, enlivening direction never allows the story's death-of-mankind topic to undermine its personal powers, deftly mixing in humor, as well as other tonal lighteners, to nurture it.
In comparison to Steven Soderbergh's similar film Contagion, Outbreak's deaths are as dramatic and disgusting as possible. All the victims stagger about, reaching up with their pustule-covered hands, crying for mercy. Moreover, I consider this movie as being way more dramatic and horrifying itself, and this is why I probably like it that much, because overall it is more realistic. From the cast, to the music used for making the soundtrack, to the special effects and visuals, I loved this movie and I recommend it to anyone who want to watch qualitative cinematography.
If I were to choose between watching Contagion again or watching Outbreak again, I would rather watch Outbreak because it is more dynamic than Contagion and it portrays without censorship an epidemic, with all its horrors.
Hence, have fun watching this movie, and take care of yourself! Only by staying home and respecting all the preventive measures, we can defeat this virus!
2.04.2020
SMALLPOX 2002
Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon is a fictional docudrama produced by Wall to Wall, showing how a single act of bioterrorism leads to terrifying consequences globally.
The documentary tells the story of one man who, in 2002, creates the smallpox virus himself, infects himself, and touches ten people in New York City. This eventually leads to a pandemic across the world. Nevertheless, despite being defeated, the pandemic killed over 60 millions of people.
Overall, I enjoyed the documentary, mostly because it was very cinematic and dynamic. In my opinion, it represented a simple but effective composite of narrative techniques which was employed by the producers to tell a chillingly plausible tale of a deliberately engineered worldwide outbreak of a communicable disease.
The documentary focused on the emergency responses to such a crisis despite its broad scope , and gained much of its impetus and power by highlighting the discrepancies between public health policies and individual perspectives. My favorite aspect of the entire documentary was the inclusion of a video diary of an ill-fated teenage boy and the effects of the epidemic on his mother and sister as they isolated themselves within the four walls of their estate flat, as I found that story very emotional and impactful. However, I had initially considered this to be a vaguely satirical touch, a tip of the cap to the documentary in all its forms. Yet this somewhat hackneyed element coupled with scenes of rioting, strikes and shootings in the street ably portrayed a typical human response to the encroaching disaster, which sure enough was in stark contrast to the "required" response desired by the authorities. All in all, I think that the emotional part of the documentary was the one which made it as good as it is, and I deeply enjoyed that touch.
From my perspective, the best reason why you should watch this documentary is the interesting way in which they have presented the horrifying and dismal parts of a pandemic, such as the presence of cosmetic boils on victims' faces. However, after a brief analysis of all 4 parts of the documentary, I support the idea that overall the documentary did not focus that much on the cinematic presentation of the events and special effects, but on the story and the impact of such tragic events on our society, and this is the most important reason why it has to be watched.
Moreover, the way in which all the measures against the pandemic were presented was also very well done. As the programme moved on to address the means by which the authorities would work to eradicate the epidemic, contemplating the dilution of vaccine stocks to increase availability, this documentary was interesting to watch, mostly because, by using the concept of a "silent weapon" as a departure point, this was a showcase of seriousness and intelligence; and an utterly credible and compelling contextualisation of that old chestnut of human idealism versus pragmatism.
To conclude, I recommend this documentary to anyone who is interested in watching a great cinematic presentation of a pandemic which has in its center the perpetual clash between ethical dilemma and economic forces, but also to curious people who want to enjoy a great documentary about a pandemic during another pandemic, as in my opinion, as Smallpox 2002 is one of their best options from this domain of cinematography.
Hence, have fun watching this great recommendation and do not forget to #STAYHOME and take care of yourself!
23.04.2020
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
If you are very interested in history and its comprehension or are a fan of romantic themed movies, the "Doctor Zhivago" is the best choice for you. It is a 1965 epic romantic drama movie which covers about 30 years of Russian history, from just before the Revolution into the '30s. Overall, the movie focuses on the clash between man and the state, the individual refusing to be patterned in a moment of the Revolution's violent birth. However, even if the general picture records the Soviet attempt to obliterate the individual, to make him part of the machinery of the state, the story is also dominated by a very intense love story, a nuance of the movie that I have really appreciated.
The plot of the movie is presented in flashback mode during later Communist years by Yuri's half brother, Yevgraf, a Soviet Army officer, to the young woman, Tanya, who may be the long lost daughter of Yuri and his lover, Lara.
The protagonist of the movie is a married doctor and poet who's struggling between loving his faithful wife and another lover, being burdened in the same time with the height of the Russian Revolution. I have deeply enjoyed the way in which this love story was portrayed during times of crisis, as it is equally raw in its depiction of wartime hardships as it is enchanting about its core romances. From trying to take care of his two families to being drafted as a medical doctor constantly on the front lines, Zhivago endures some serious emotional and physical battles. When he does get a chance to return to his poetry, he writes with pure humanism and childlike wonder.
Zhivago, although an orphan, is raised in a happy, prosperous household. During his existence, the subterranean rumblings and muffled explosions that have begun to shatter the flawed facade of Romanov Russia have had a great impact on him, however, the biggest problematic of the whole story is not the existent external political war, but the internal burden that Yuri has to carry on his soul as he finds himself in a love triangle.
Yuri Zhivago later in life meets Tonya, his future wife. Pasha Antipov is introduced as another admirer of Lara and plans on marrying her. Regardless of his attempt to get between them, Komarovsky fails and the two of them end up getting married and conceiving a daughter named Katya.
There is a great antythesis between the two women in Yuri's life, Tonya being an aristocratic wife, who is well bred and has been schooled abroad a warm, loving and devoted wife and mother whom Yuri loves, and Lara, a volunteer whitin the army, a genuine, resourceful and strong spirit which inspires Yuri in writing his poetry. While Tonya is the woman that he loves, Lara serves as his muse, respresenting for him a flamable passion and even a way of escaping from the cruelty of the world.
Shakespeare's 116 Sonnet "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds" does perfectly outline the essence of Yuri and Tonya's love story, as it represents the extreme ideal of romantic love.
Yuri never stops loving Tonya and he never stops choosing her, being determined to forget Lara and be with his wife. Moreover, even when he was kidnapped, Tonya was the one he thought he had seen and ran after her.
This movie does not attempt to evaluate the communist theory and practice in Russia, but to record the Czarist oppression that produced the revolution. pointing out some of the situations that occasioned the Soviet tyrannies. It is a story of romance, war, happiness and tragedy, presented in an amazingly done movie.
I loved everything about this movie so much, and I consider it a mastepiece of the 20th century cinematography. From a great, dynamic plot, to an amazing, very talented cast, to a perfectly suited soundtrack, this movie is the recipe of cinematic perfection, and I profondly recommend it to everyone.