Limelight:
Escape to the future
By
Lubna Abdel Aziz
In our present society of political, moral and economic turmoil our anxieties have become our constant companions -- a permanent feature of the human condition. Fantasy films disburden us, they ease and soothe our anxieties and smooth the ruffled brow of care. Moreover, they are more entertaining and less costly than the psychiatrist's couch. That explains the resurgence of fantasy films making them today's favourite cinematic genre.
Faithfully reflecting life's hopes and fears, film borrows from our past, our subconscious, our imagination, to provide us with the escape mechanisms that relieve us of the heavy burdens of our existence. For more than two decades film has offered a conscious escape to the future (Star Wars, Minority Report) and a nostalgic nod to the past (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gladiator), transporting us into forbidden grounds of a dazzling future world, or taking us back to the velvety comfort and soothing familiarity of our past.
The "fantasy" trend started in the 30s as a means of escape, for a society troubled by political and economic concerns. Today, hounded by similar pressures we seek refuge in the confines of a dark movie theatre as the screen lights up with images of other men, other lands, other woes, other wars.
Filmmakers with vision and intelligence have diagnosed our ailments and prescribed the cure. After decades of sampling, picking, tasting, mixing, they produced the perfect blend of fiction, science and science fiction; of the natural, the unnatural and the supernatural. One common denominator always surfaces; man's struggle with the forces of good and evil. This concoction of the choicest piquancy has been the ultra spectacular visual extravaganza which continues to mesmerize crowds of all ages. The leaders of this popular genre are known as the "Wonder Twins", Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Their creative inventiveness has offered us "brilliant gifts of bright fancy, placing lamps at our feet and joy in our hearts".
Man's insatiable sense of curiosity extends beyond the past, stimulating his desire to forecast the future. Wild fantasies of science fiction writers have been vindicated through the years as we found wings to fly in the air, and fins to survive under water, paying visits to the moon and Mars and employing robots to do our bidding.
Beginnings of science fiction go back to prehistoric myths and tales of fantastic voyages and adventures. In the AD 100s, the Greek writer Lucian of Samosata transformed these adventures into science fiction with his descriptions of trips to the moon. In the early 1900s science fiction predicted the technological and scientific marvels of the atomic and space ages. It gained a wider audience after WWII ended in 1945. Its popularity grew as developments in nuclear energy and space exploration showed that much science fiction was more realistic than many people believed. The most powerful and most dominant of man's creations is Artificial Intelligence so prominent in our daily lives. Our popular and regular use of our computers makes them our constant companions, our inseparable mates. But can the tables be turned? Will the day come when we shall be serving them? Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey (1968) remains the classic by which all sci-fi features are measured. It is a thought-provoking mind- boggling adventure of man's battle with the technology he created. It's dazzling special effects and the threats of computer HAL make it a one of-a-kind experience.
If Spielberg and Lucas are the lords of science fiction fantasy, the reigning monarch is Joel Silver, one of Hollywood's most flamboyant filmmakers. His brand of hard-hitting entertainment is a favourite amongst world audiences. He claimed the art of action-fantasy filmmaking genre as his own in such features as Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator (1987), Commando (1988), Total Recall (1990), Bruce Willis' razor-sharp thriller Die Hard and sequels, and Mel Gibson's gritty Lethal Weapon and sequels. In 1999 he charged again with an action sci-fi fantasy combined with martial art, written and directed by the brothers Larry and Andrew Wachowski. They called it The Matrix. The film transported us to the 22nd century where we are slaves in a computer world dominated by machines. The only reality exists in our minds, fed to us by the machines. Everything we experience, everything we do is unreal. We are confined to incubators or The Matrix and used as a power source for Artificial Intelligence. Confused? So was everyone else. But while critics hated it, audiences loved it and spent half a billion dollars to see it.
In depicting man's future struggles with machines the writers borrowed much from our past, mixing mythology, mysticism and religion. Some critics go so far as to parallel the life of Neo to the life of Jesus Christ struggling alone to destroy the evil world around him. A group of humans who have escaped Matrix's domination are locked in a struggle with the menacing machines. The destruction of those machines is the only salvation for mankind. Their leader Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) and his assistant Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss), pick a computer hacker as the 'chosen one', the only hope to save the world from slavery to Artificial Intelligence, Thomas A Neo (Keanu Reeves). With the help of Morpheus he tries to destroy The Matrix from within. Aimed specifically at young male computer aficionados, this challenging sci-fi adventure continues its punch, with Neo racing to launch a final battle, pitting the last remaining humans versus the machines. The sequel Matrix Reloaded, is to be released worldwide and premiers at the Cannes International Film Festival in France on 15 May . The excitement is rising and according to previews, audiences will again delight in The Matrix. The sequel ends with a cliffhanger setting up the finale to be released this November in sequel number 3 The Matrix Revolution. Such is a daring move by producer Joel Silver and the brothers Wachowski, who claim that audiences should not have to wait for a whole year to see the rest of the trilogy.
The one with the exotic name, Keanu Reeves, a Canadian national, was born in Beirut, raised partly in Australia, partly in Hawaii and New York. Of English mother, Hawaiian father and Chinese grandfather, Keanu considers himself a citizen of the world. He has made close to 50 films in the last 2 decades and reached superstardom with his action thriller Speed (1994) and The Matrix (2000). He does his own kung-fu stunts, lives in hotels, and is now one of Hollywood's brightest stars. When not busy filming, he travels with his rock band playing his electric guitar.
As crowds await the return of The Matrix we are reminded of man's constant desire to create alternate worlds. All our stories are struggles of heroes in constant search of truth, peace and freedom. Imagination makes up more than half of our existence, in books, films, television, and our own imagination that knows no boundaries. We shall never run out of ideas and neither will filmmakers. If they do, sequels follow until the next big idea comes along. "X Men II" is now breaking records at the box office- surpassing "X Men I".
Imagining The Matrix is somewhat disconcerting. Picture a world of men with pale faces and dejected mien, eyes hidden behind round black glasses, dressed in long black flowing robes, living in spotless cleanliness of cold sharp steel machines, with hushed quiet vistas of empty long corridors, no flowers, no breeze, no birds singing, no violins sighing.
If such is the future, let us look instead at the past with rose- tinted glasses, with vistas of garden flowers and multicoloured butterflies fluttering in the breeze, to the soft gentle sound of singing birds. To each his own world and his own dreams. Imagination is god's gift to man to brighten his days in his hours of darkness. Please, do not chide when school-children daydream. Albert Einstein said "Imagination is more important than knowledge," and who can argue with Albert Einstein!
