Not a moment is wasted in Mad Max: Fury Road and not a moment is spent anywhere else but on the edge of your seat. George Millar reboots his post-apocalyptic franchise thirtyfive years after the original Mad Max was released and spends over ten years in pre-production in order to get this film made. But the outcome is well worth the wait. George Millar constructs exhilarating visual candy with a surprisingly strong narrative. The excursion you embark on as a viewer is something entirely different from the previous Mad Max trilogy.
Mad Max harnesses the most oscar wins in the year 2016 boasting six little gold men for the visual and sound aesthetics of the film. George Millar’s wife, Margaret Sixel, leads the editing team to victory with what Millar exclaims to be the very needed “touch of a women.” Millar claims that the editing differentiates the film from every other action flick of the time. Within the 120 minute runtime there is over 2700 individual cuts compared to an average film that tops out around 700 cuts. Needless to say the film is paced at an exhilarating fast rate that doesn't give you a moments rest in the full two hours. But Mad Max is a far distant relative of any chaos cinema counterpart that can be epitomized by any Michael Bay film.
The cutting is congruent making the narrative easy and a thrill to follow. This is due to Sixel who keeps the action center framed in every cut. The viewer's point of interest never changes throughout the film, and what Millar wants the audience to see will come barreling right at them. With each cut also comes a new pulsating sound effect. In every action packed scene (almost the whole film), cuts will jump out like a jack-in-a-box. With a film that boast such visceral triumph one would imagine a lacking narrative. Simply not the case.
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, as Furiosa and Mad Max, lead stellar cast of men and women. In a story where a group women fight against ownership from their cruel tyrant leader Immortan Joe, gender is characterized with flexibility. We are introduced to men and women in the beginning under the reign of Immortan Joe, where they are defined as objects. Men are used for war and violence while women are used for childbearing and caretaking. But as the film progress we see some many of our characters break these normative gender barriers.
Mad Max passes the Bechdel test with ease but it is important to mention that this film isn't apart of a “feminist agenda” that some point it out to be. Although it does have strong feminist tones with a staff that boasts the likes of Vagina Monologues creator Eve Ensler, its effects are subtle. Much of the films “made for feminists” make the mistake trying to advocate for the importance of women by telling audience rather than showing. Mad Max is visceral masterpiece and subtly reinforces the importance of gender equality and destruction of “normative” gender roles. Nothing feels forced. Nothing feels overdone. Mad Max: Fury Road puts audience member in A Clockwork Orange’s torture chair, eyes glued open and all, without anyone ever realizing.
Watching Beasts of the Southern
Wild (BOTSW) is an experience I would compare to walking through downtown
and stumbling upon the greatest street performance of your life. You walk away
perplexed and full of questions. Why isn’t this being performed all over the
nation? Where did these performers obtain their skills? With an unknown
director, an unknown cast, and unknown writers BOTSW stimulates a
similar effect. An original, heart wrenching, spiritual journey, through the
magical insight of a six-year old girl in a very real demise of her world.
Narrator and protagonist of the
film, six-year old, Hushpuppy captures audiences with her uplifting charisma
and intuition, from moment the film begins. She is played by the unknown,
Quvenzhane Wallis, who gains a well worth oscar nod and propelled acting career
from her stellar debut. Wallis shares the big screen with another unknown whose
performance also lands him a future career in acting. Dwight Henry makes his
debut with a raw and captivating portrayal of Hushpuppy’s hot tempered father
Wink. Their relationship propels the magical realism narrative that first time
maestro director Benh Zeitlin navigates perfectly.
A third unknown and arguably most
important character of the film is the fictional community the Bathtub.
Although not a human, the Bathtub boast more personality, life, and identity
than any other character. It is where Hushpuppy and Wink reside and what gives
them their identity. Zeitlin choreographs an introduction to the Bathtub (and
film) that paints a beautiful picture of what a world untouched and separate
from modern society would look like. A world where gender is fluid, class is
singular, and race is non existent. Men wearing dresses and women wearing
suits, of all ethnicities embrace each other in celebration. The celebration is
abstractly light by the fireworks they light in glee, mystifying the
Bathtub.The opening scene lets viewers know that this community separate from
government agenda and religious creed is the work for fantasy.
Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar choose to
show the demise of a fantasy location (the Bathtub) in opposition to the
clearly paralleled destruction done by Hurricane Katrina. Their decision is
dexterous in reaching audiences members, fantasty can be used within narratives
in order to bend the mind of it’s audience. In BOTSW this fantastical
world opens audience member’s perspective to see climate change as a real
threat within the narrative. Also it allows for the juxtaposition of the
Bathtub to modern day America. The comparison can be seen through Hushpuppy.
We are introduced to Hushpuppy as a
part of joyous community that accepts her for who she is. Which is a tough,
stubborn, fierce, compassionate, lively soul. Everything we came to understand
Hushpuppy to be in the Bathtub is stripped of her when she is withdrawn from
her home by the government and installed into their society. We see her dressed
to be what society expects a little six-year girl should look like. Hushpuppy
is stripped of her identity in order to fulfill the normative expectations of
America.
Martin Niemoller has a famous quote where he expresses the
ideology of human nature to not be concerned with an issue until it’s their
own, he express this using the holocaust as his platform for example. This
ideology is is also institutional, the government does not concern themselves
with the issues of the poor members of the Bathtub until it becomes their issue
(when Hushpuppy destroys the levee). Hushpuppy understands that it is her
individual duty to “take care of things smaller and sweeter than
you are.” BOTSW reminds the public that we must take care of the
building issues in our world today before they become catastrophe. Even if our
part is small it is still important. Hushpuppy’s spiritual insight tells us
that “when you're a small piece of a big puzzle, you gotta fix what you can.”
What’s going to save you from the inevitable climate catastrophe
that will wipe all human existence? Al Gore? Mars real estate? A time machine?
Dennis Quaid? Well according to director and writer, Joon-ho Bong of the film
Snowpiercer (based off the graphic novel Le
Transperceneige), it will be a train. A train that circles the earth along
an endless loop, running off a self sustainable system that requires a clean up
every so often. It is upon this train, run by the callous Wilford, that Bong
takes us on a trip through “the whole wide train”. On this journey viewers
explore a dystopian hierarchy that may cause some real world reflexive
‘autonomy’.
We are first introduced to the back of the train along with its
poor scavenging residents. The back of the train compresses more filth and
squalor into one claustrophobic space that you can’t imagine any part of the
train getting worse. But in a sense of the word, it does. No living situation
can top the back of the train. But as Bong pushes us along to the front of the
train he paints a picture of a dystopian class structure that gets worse and
worse. Each section of the train seems to reveal something more twisted than
the last. When we finally get to meet the tyrant Wilford he explains that
“everything must be in place” and in order to maintain this structure the train
must be ruled by “pain, fear, and horror.”
Bong does a fantasticate job transferring this “pain, fear, and
horror” onto the audience as he uses immersive visual narrative. Bong has
viewers following the protagonist Curtis, played by Chris Evans, putting us in
his preordained boots. At many points in the film Curtis is faced with
difficult moral decisions as the leader of the rebellion. Every Frame a
Painting’s video essay (link below) is keen to point out the use of Bongs
camera movement from left to right in order to portray a decision that Curtis
has to make. Using the camera instead of dialogue to display Custis’s options
is a way to absorb the viewers to see his perspective.
The audience sympathizes with Curtis as we see him being
suffocated by the limited lateral decisions he has to make. We excuse his
dehumanizing decisions as he believes it to be for the greater good of the
train. As the film progresses we learn the options aren't limited to forward or
back. Middle passengers of the train include Namgoong and his daughter Yona
played by, Kong ho-Song and Ah-sung Ko who bring an international flair and an
enlightened vision to the film. Middle passengers of the train have access to
windows. Contrary to front and rear passengers, they have a panoramic
perspective like no other characters. They are able to see the horrors of the
back of the train, the corruption of the front of the train, and wonders of the
outside nature from the train. Together they realize that changing the order of
the train is useless for humanity. They know the answer isn't in the front of
train but rather outside the train.
The middle passengers are used to represent the middle class. The
ones who are given the the full panoramic perspective and a sufficient
education. Although what we learn from the school, in the middle of the train,
is that sometimes education is a facade for what is really propaganda. Bong
teaches us that the best history teacher, the best educator, is the artist. The
artist who is pure can teach us more than any book, this is exemplified by The
Painter, played by Clark Middleton. Stay informed through the artist and pay
attention to what directors like Joon-ho Bong have to show us.
Alex Garland makes his directorial debut with his science fiction film, Ex Machina. Garland takes a step backward in storytelling, as far the extravagant, in order for the genre science fiction to take a step forward. In the world of film audiences have become accustomed to the excessive amount of big budget science fiction epics that Hollywood produces each year. With this tendency towards big budget films, there has been emphasis on action and what is visual stimulating rather than substance. Garland was clear with the budget he wanted to work with for Ex Machina, claiming that movies with bigger budgets can at times lose their vision. He feels strongly that this was the case on the film, Sunshine (2007), which was written by Garland (Baker). Alex Garland is not new to film and has written screenplays such as 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Dredd. He is assertive when he says that the filmmaking process is nothing new to him, in fact he doesn’t even view directing as a new role for him. When asked about his switch to directing, Garland responded that “I just see it as film making. I don’t attach huge importance to directing.” (Flicks and the City). Garland see’s film making as something fluid, he doesn’t believe in titles restricting yourself to one role in making film. So according to his definition of “film making”, he has been apart of the process for 15 years now. For Garland, this Ex-Machina “debut”, wasn’t really a debut. And this certainly shows in the film, as it felt like it was made by a veteran of the game with immense style. A style that takes other filmmakers years to develop.
The film resonates a style that is reminiscent of David Fincher’s work. Each shot feels calculated with precision when considering the substance at hand. Although there is no showiness, the shots are simple in a way that creates for larger ideas. It is through this simplicity that Garland takes a commanding force and paces audiences through the movie, never letting them fully settle in. Garland sets the mood and tone within the first five minutes of the film, wasting no time at all. A following shot of Caleb watches him walk into Nathan’s estate from the vast nature around him. The camera follows him to the door but then stops when Caleb goes inside. Audiences watch as the door closes shut in front of them and the light outside it turns from blue to red. Immediately there is a feeling of no escape from whatever Caleb is walking into, this obviously becomes more evident later in the film. This beginning sequence also introduces two important motifs of the film. The symbolic use of color (especially blue and red), and the juxtaposition of nature and the artificial (Nathan’s Estate).
Most of Nathan’s Estate is made out of glass walls allowing the beautiful bare shots of nature to be in the frame while the characters interact inside. Nature represents freedom in this film, it’s Ava ultimate goal at the end of the chess board. As Caleb describes the difference between an A.I. and a human with the “Mary inside the black and white room” story, this becomes evident. It is only in nature, when Mary feels what it's like to see colors, does she become human. Nathan’s estate is an artificial source that created consciousness, while the lush outdoors is the natural source that created consciousness. Ava wants to be in the natural source to truly feel human. With the constant visual comparison of nature with Nathan’s claustrophobic estate the importance of the two opposites are clear with the theme of humanity in consideration. Another constant comparison seen throughout the film is between the colors blue and red.
In the very first scene Caleb is sitting at his desk wearing a blue and red shirt, immediately establishing this contrast. I think this shirt is used to demonstrate Caleb’s character. Throughout the history of storytelling colors have been used as a form of symbolic representation. Often blue is shown to represent a state of stability, while red shows a state of anger. Caleb’s red and blue shirt shows his complexity as a character with the duality of someone who is both angry and stable. This juxtaposition of characteristics also shows that Caleb is character who isn’t fully comfortable with himself, he holds a inner struggle within him. This all becomes very clear later on in the film when Caleb begins to question his own humanity and begins to make rash decisions based off his anger. It is his compassionate anger that eventually leads to his downfall, as Ava makes clear to him red is not his favorite color.
Blue is also a color known to represent trust. One would be keen to recognize Nathan’s company's name is Bluebook. A giant tech company (showing similarities to Google) that the general public trust in using, without knowing that Nathan is exploiting all their information. This concept of putting too much trust into giant tech companies like Bluebook is an unmistakable fear shown in the film. There is a fear of A.I.s established from the very beginning of the film where Garland uses a POV shot from Caleb’s phone showing it obtaining data on his face. Fear of A.I.s, questions of humanity, and the concept of duality are all themes introduced very early in the film by Garland. The skill to introduce such themes with subtle symbolic devices and later have them pay off with deeper meaning is lacking in Hollywood.
Garland explores his central themes later on in the film by continuing with different visual techniques. Much of the story is told in the seven “sessions” Caleb conducts with Ava, as a part of a turing test by Nathan’s request. But it is immediately clear that Ava is not the one being tested but it is in fact Caleb. Caleb is put in a glass box during their time together like a zoo animal. In their first session together Ava walks around the glass box observing Caleb as if he is a puzzle needing solving (which he is to Ava). Although Caleb is the actual test subject in the turing test, Ava and him take turns integrating one another in this game of information. Garland makes this clear by positioning the camera inside or outside of Caleb’s cube. If the camera is inside the glass box looking out at Ava, she is the one being interrogated. If the camera is outside this “looking glass” so to speak, then Ava is the one doing the interrogating.
These scenes are a constant mental tug-of-war powered by dialogue and deception. Garland is able to use simple but precise cinematography to let viewers know who is controlling this mental chess game between human and machine. In times where Caleb is controlling the conversation, Garland uses a low angled frame on Caleb and a high angled frame on Ava. The low angle frame on Caleb establishes a sense of power and the high angle frame on Ava creates a sense of submissiveness. He does the vice versa of this when Ava is in control, making Caleb appear the submissive. Whether she is being presented as obedient or aggressive how do we know if she is being genuine?
The concept of duality as a key aspect of humanity is central to this film and Garland is able to imply this with the use of reflections. Reflections through mirrors and glass are everywhere in this film but most prominent during Ava and Caleb’s sessions together. The use of reflections hints to viewers when Ava is being sincere and when she is being manipulative. When Ava’s face is reflected by the glass it is an implication of her being two-faced and deceptive. When Ava’s reflection doesn’t appear in the shot it is a moment of genuineness. Exemplifying this concept the best, is Ava and Caleb's third session together. When Caleb asks Ava where she would go if she wasn't trapped inside Nathan’s Estate, she replies “a traffic intersection.” When she speaks of going to the traffic intersection Garland uses an intimate medium close up, with no reflection. She then says that they can “go together”, and Garland uses a medium long shot, with Ava’s reflection central in the frame. We learn at the end of the film that she was being sincere when she said a “traffic intersection” is the first place she wanted to go. We also learn that she was lying when she said that her and Caleb could “go together”, as this turns out to not be the case. In order to win the game of chess presented in front of her she had to demonstrate duality, a key component of being human.
In the last ten minutes or so leading up to Ava at the traffic intersection, Garland brings his film to a close. But he doesn’t completely close the door, many ideas presented in the film are left open for interpretation. He brings these themes into speculation once again using visuals. Throughout the last ten minutes of the film there is only one word of spoken dialogue. There is no overriding spoken narrative at the end of the film trying to summarize to viewers what you just watch in the last hour and half in a couple of forced misplaced lines of dialogue. Garland does his reinforcing by showing his viewers instead of telling, a concept that feels fresh in the world of film at the moment. With little words being spoken there is a quiet ominous tone hanging over the film that we felt from the very beginning. The tone that Garland sets is perfect for exploring the complicated and frightening subjects he touches upon. It also gives more power and emphasize to the visuals he uses.
In the closing sequence we watch as Caleb stares at Ava through “the looking glass” one last time as she achieves her final deception. Ava is in the other room picking apart the closet of subjectified fembots for her own personal skin. The scene evokes a certain twisted sexaulity as an entranced Caleb watches Ava seductivily put on her new skin. She is once again deceiving him with her attractive feminine qualities. Ava’s face is reflected in the many mirrors surrounding her, illustrating her fraudulent actions. Caleb is so blinded by the spell that Ava has put on him that he does not question what is happening. Caleb then ultimately finds himself left behind by Ava in a room lit only by his favorite color, red. The choice to have the room be lit by the vibrant red light works as a visual reminder to the choices Caleb made, consequently putting him there. It is Caleb’s choice to follow his compassion and buried emotions rather than logic and reason (the characteristics of Caleb we are originally introduced to), that leads to his entrapment inside the estate. The visual representations throughout the film truly help with character development like in the case of Caleb. Visual representations also help in enforcing themes, like the concept consciousness and being human.
We watch as Ava steps into nature for the first time from Nathan's estate as a symbolic representation of her becoming human. She wears a white dress in the scene as she walks into sunlight. Garland uses white here as a representation of purity and innocence. She feels the warm sun on her mechanical body and truly embodies Mary in the black and white room, feeling something instead of just understanding it for the first time. Garland follows up this shot with Nathan trapped in the estate, realizing his soon demise. There is an eerie sense of horror and beauty in the comparison of Ava and Caleb’s end result. The horror of Caleb’s result, by Ava’s contriving, exemplifies her possessing knowledge in the black and white room. She was able to trick and deceive Caleb into loving her without ever feeling love herself. Ava feeling sunlight for the first time shows her attaining the knowledge that is only possible through the conscious experience. She posses all the qualities of a human, and in the last shot of her in the traffic intersection she is indistinguishable from any other human there. But we see her through a reflection just as a reminder that she is deceiving those around her. So is Ava human or machine? If machine, then are there any ethics when dealing with an A.I.?
These are the questions that Alex Garland is able to pose in his film Ex Machina. There is style amongst substance and complexity amongst simplicity. With the emphasize on visual storytelling through interactions rather than explosions, Garland is successful in developing an argument. He is able to prove himself as a visionary who can build a narrative with commanding precision using powerful visuals. Ex Machina brings something fresh to world of science fiction today similar to the impact of Blade Runner in the 80’s. In order for Garland to make an impact in the science fiction genre he had to take a step away from the norm and walk into the unusual, which he does with confidence in his directorial “debut”.
Works Cited
Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia. "'Ex Machina' Director Alex Garland Talks Gender and Artificial Intelligence." The Daily Dot. Daily Dot Geek, 08 May 2015. Web. Mar. 2016. <http://www.dailydot.com/geek/alex-garland-ai-ex-machina-oscar-isaac-dance-interview/>.
Flicks and the City. "Ex Machina Director Alex Garland Interview." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Mar. 2015. Web. Mar. 2016. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMxhUU8rLI>.
