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nTitle: Elysium (2013)
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nDirector: Neil Blomkamp
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nCast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, AlicenBraga, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura
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nElysium comes to us from director Neil Blomkamp, the guynbehind the critically acclaimed box office hit District 9 (2009), a fantasticnfilm in my book because it speaks about racial differences and the need for differentnraces to show empathy towards one another. In that film, aliens arrive on earthnand are initially welcomed by humanity, but after a few years, that welcome wearsnoff and transforms to xenophobia. It isn’t long before the aliens are segregatednand end up living in these refugee camps that have turned into ghettos. Thenmain character of the film is a human immigration officer named Wikus, a mannwho has been appointed the task of giving the aliens eviction notices that letnthem know they are now being relocated. One thing leads to another and Wikusnends up turning into an alien. He quickly learns what it means to benpersecuted, he feels the unfair treatment; he gets to understand what being onnthe other side is all about. Blomkamp figures that the best way to know whatnracism feels like is by experiencing it yourself, which is what is so brilliantnabout District 9, you feel racism first hand, you feel it’s happening to you. Racismnis something humanity has yet to outgrow; Blomkamp knows it and wants you tonexperience it. On Disctrict 9 the main character is part of an oppressing force in society, butnthen he becomes the oppressed, he becomes the one that’s persecuted, hensuddenly knows what it means to be on the other side of the equation. And thatnwas just Blomkamp’s first film! District 9 made such an impact that the filmnwas nominated for four academy awards including Best Picture and Best AdaptednScreenplay, something of a rarity for science fiction films. So of course henwas going to move up in the film world, of course we were going to see anothernfilm by him. So here comes Elysium, Blomkamp’s sophomore effort, his secondnfilm. How was it?
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nOn Elysium the world as we know it has gone to shit,nessentially, earth is one giant dumpster, the poor live down here on earth,nwhile the rich and privileged live on a gigantic spaceship hovering close tonearth called ‘Elysium’. The story revolves around Max, a blue collar worker whonends up having a horrible work related accident and is suddenly faced with thenfact that he only has five days to live! What can he do in order to survive?nWell, if you were rich and lived on Elysium you’d simply get inside somethingncalled a ‘Med-Pod’ and cure yourself, but that’s only if you live in Elysium,nif not, then you die because you are not one of the privileged, you my friendnare scum. But what if there was a way to make these machines available toneveryone? What if someone could infiltrate Elysium, reboot the whole system sonthat everyone can benefit from these Med-pod’s? This becomes Max’s mission, fornhe is not about to die any time soon!
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nFirst thing I noticed right away was how similar Elysium isnto District 9 in terms of themes. This film is also about one group of peoplenbeing neglected and oppressed by others. The whole thing with the rebels tryingnto get into Elysium felt a heck of a lot like Mexicans trying to cross thenAmerican border, so in that sense, it is also felt like it was addressingnracial issues. The difference between both films is that while District 9npresented us with themes of xenophobia and racism, Elysium focuses more on themesnof classism. But then again, class issues and racial issues function in thensame ways, so yeah, the films are very similar in this way. We’re basicallyntalking about one group of humans thinking they are superior to another whichnis kind of disgusting because we’re all humans on this spaceship called earth,nso what’s the point? Why do some humans feel the need to bring others down? Inpersonally find the idea repulsive and nauseating, as should every one of younout there my friends. We should aim to help each other, not exploit each other.nSo I immediately found the themes in Elysium fascinating because they speak ofnthe world we live in today. After the success of Elysium, Blomkamp said that he’snbeen asked about how he sees the future, how he thinks the world will be andnhis answer was that the film isn’t so much about the future, that it’s aboutnthe world as it is NOW, which is a fantastic reply. This lets us know thatnElysium is the best kind of sci-fi, it’s the kind that reflects society, itnholds a mirror to it.
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nI mean, wouldn’t it be better if those that achieved successnand wealth in the world used that power for the good of all humanity as opposednto propelling a society that is built on the idea of exploiting those lessnfortunate? This is what happens in the world today, and it’s just another formnof slavery if you ask me. We don’t have people putting literal chains onnothers, but there’s symbolic chains, you know what I mean? The way society isnconstructed benefits the wealthy and ignores the poor. One of example of thisnare the roads in my country of Puerto Rico. You go into a rich neighborhood andnyou see the streets paved, the street lights illuminating every street corner,nthe garbage picked up, but if you go into a poor neighborhood you see streetsnfilled with gigantic holes (because the government doesn’t pave them) you seendark streets because light posts are shut off and the streets filled withngarbage because the government doesn’t bother picking up the garbage on anregular basis. So yeah, there’s a difference in the way classes are treated. Wouldn’tnit be better if everyone was treated fairly? I’m talking about my country here,nbut I’m sure this is the same in many countries; the poor side is ignored andntreated unfairly, this is why ghetto’s exist. It’s a place to dump the poor sonthey don’t have to live next to you. Sadnpart is all those poor people pay taxes as well; their money should pay for thencleaning up of their town as well. It should be enough to light all the streetsnand avoid dark areas that breed criminal activity. But alas, this is the worldnwe live in and these are the lives were living.
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nAnd so, the same can be said of medical attention, which isna major issue in Elysium. On the film the Med-Pods are these miracle machinesnthat can cure any decease, hell, they can even bring you back to life! Accordingnto the film, you can live forever if you are a citizen of Elysium! This part ofnthe film talks about expensive medical plans that many people cannot afford tonpay and the ridiculously high priced medicines. Ever had to take a pill thatncosts more than 70 dollars? I know people who have. Many can’t even affordnpaying a medical plan; they live life frightened of getting sick or needingnmajor medical attention. Shouldn’t medical plans be more affordable? So thensituations depicted in Elysium aren’t farfetched at all, only the wealthy getnthe best medical attention, the poor get the worst or none at all. The poor getnsick and die faster. Why are things this way? Maybe this is the kind ofnsituation that the powerful want? For poor people to die faster? Things tonthink about, and so, this is the main theme of Elysium, making quality medicalnattention affordable to everyone! How hard can it be? The same can be appliednto education which is also kept expensive so only a certain group of people cannget quality higher education, this is a vicious circle from which only thenwealthy can benefit from .
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nVisually speaking the film is impressive, I mean, Elysiumnitself is a wonderful creation. It’s this gigantic spaceship/city hovering innspace. By the way, this idea of a giant spaceship that harbors livable spaceninside of it reminded me a lot of Arthur C. Clarke’s amazing novel Rendezvousnwith Rama. Anybody read that one? It’snone of my favorites of Clarke’s and basically, it’s about this giganticnspaceship that one day parks itself next to earth. The government then organizesna search party to enter it. They discover that inside of the ship there is anhabitat, including a city, an ocean, artificial sunlight and plants…basicallynthe same idea we see in Elysium. I’m thinking Blomkamp maybe read Randezvouznwith Rama and was a bit inspired by it. Though the idea of spaceships withnhabitats inside of them is nothing new, I mean, this premise was also explorednin Disney’s The Black Hole (1979), only in a far cheesier fashion. Thesensimilarities with Clarke’s novel got me thinking that Blomkamp would be thenperfect director for a Rendezvous with Rama adaptation. By the way, Elysiumnalso has elements from George Orwell’s 1984, and George Lucas’s THX-1138 (1971),nespecially when it comes to the whole thing with Max working in a robot factory,nand the whole thing with the robotic police force. It also shares similaritiesnwith Johnny Mnemonic (1995).
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nAn amazing cast brings this one to life, Matt Damon is greatnas Max, he pumped up for the part and looks like a tank for it. Jodie Foster isneffectively icy as Delacourt, the person in charge of running Elysium. She’s a nice lady to her rich costumers, the people of Elysium, but an icy cold bitch to those who want to try and enter into her special private little kingdom, kind of like the governments of the world who only cater to the wealthy. SharltonCopley, the actor who played Wikus on District 9 reunites with Blomkamp oncenagain. He plays Kruger, a killer/mercenary that the government hires to execute Max,ninteresting how the film alludes to the idea that governments sometimes rely onnthe help of criminals to achieve their goals. Copley really gives it his allnhere, dare I say he actually kind of outshines every other actor in the film. I was also glad to see Diego Luna on thisnshow, though he has a small part. So anyways, I’ve gone on long enough about Elysium,nit’s a fantastic sci-fi film, the best kind, the kind that talks about thenworld we live in through its fiction. The success of the film has probablynassured Blomkamp’s next film which will be called Chappie, looking forward tonit. I’m happy that Blomkamp has rejected working on established science fictionnproperties like Star Trek or Star Wars (yup he’s gone down saying that) innorder to stick to his more original stuff. What a fantastic concept, a directornaiming to do something new and original, how about that?
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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