Aniara. (18.)
Directed by Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja.
Starring Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjel and Emma Broomé. Swedish with subtitles. 106 mins. Released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video.
A Swedish spaceship sci-fi based on an epic poem by a Nobel prize-winning writer; how can you resist? The interior of the space ship Aniara resembles a cruise ship with restaurants and malls and all possible entertainment amenities. The dress code is more air cabin crew uniforms than spacesuits and helmets. Escaping eco-catastrophe on Earth, a group of 800 passengers head off to a new life on the Mars colony. Their trip is supposed to take 3 weeks, but when a collision knocks them off course the inhabitants find themselves on an unending mission to go where no consumers have gone before. As they travel into the void they try to keep themselves amused as best they can. And this being a Swedish sci-fi this inevitably includes the sex party, yah? Lovely to see old 70s stereotype making it all the way out of the solar system.
A nitpicker might question how it is that a giant space platform with thousands of people on board and designed for a three-week flight can maintain life for years on end. A supply of algae is offered up as a solution to the food situation but they must be using it for home-brewing too because the bars seemed to be well-stocked for years after the change of course.
It's a little bit rough around the edges. This is no-set sci-fi; almost everything was filmed at night in shopping malls and ferry ships and school kitchens and lecture halls. The special effects that are employed are very effective though. There is a horror to it that is all the more effective for being entirely unforced. In the face of hopeless despair, this selection of humanity hold it together quite well really all things considered, but their desperate scramble to find meaning for their existence carries a dreadful poignancy.
The film owes a lot to its central performance (Jonsson) who resembles Amanda Plummer. She would probably be annoyingly perky in any other situation but her optimism in the face of the crushing emptying void is touching. It isn't enough, but the film recognises its value. The film has a lovely equilibrium to it. It is a chronicle of humanity's inevitable decline, our journey to extinction set in amongst all the consumerist crap we have ill-advisedly decided to put value in. We are chastised for our foolishness but with the lightest of touches. We messed up and messed up badly, but it was easily done. The mood is regret rather than anguish, which makes it all the more poignant watching us slip away into nothingness.
Extras
There are interviews, a commentary, a making of that are all very good but the pick is a half hour Zombie short made by Kågerman and Lilja in 2010 called The Unliving that is top quality. It's set in a society that has subjugated and monetised the undead and highlights their ability to make something that is visually slick and has a concept that embraces numerous allegories.
Directed by Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja.
Starring Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjel and Emma Broomé. Swedish with subtitles. 106 mins. Released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video.
A Swedish spaceship sci-fi based on an epic poem by a Nobel prize-winning writer; how can you resist? The interior of the space ship Aniara resembles a cruise ship with restaurants and malls and all possible entertainment amenities. The dress code is more air cabin crew uniforms than spacesuits and helmets. Escaping eco-catastrophe on Earth, a group of 800 passengers head off to a new life on the Mars colony. Their trip is supposed to take 3 weeks, but when a collision knocks them off course the inhabitants find themselves on an unending mission to go where no consumers have gone before. As they travel into the void they try to keep themselves amused as best they can. And this being a Swedish sci-fi this inevitably includes the sex party, yah? Lovely to see old 70s stereotype making it all the way out of the solar system.
A nitpicker might question how it is that a giant space platform with thousands of people on board and designed for a three-week flight can maintain life for years on end. A supply of algae is offered up as a solution to the food situation but they must be using it for home-brewing too because the bars seemed to be well-stocked for years after the change of course.
It's a little bit rough around the edges. This is no-set sci-fi; almost everything was filmed at night in shopping malls and ferry ships and school kitchens and lecture halls. The special effects that are employed are very effective though. There is a horror to it that is all the more effective for being entirely unforced. In the face of hopeless despair, this selection of humanity hold it together quite well really all things considered, but their desperate scramble to find meaning for their existence carries a dreadful poignancy.
The film owes a lot to its central performance (Jonsson) who resembles Amanda Plummer. She would probably be annoyingly perky in any other situation but her optimism in the face of the crushing emptying void is touching. It isn't enough, but the film recognises its value. The film has a lovely equilibrium to it. It is a chronicle of humanity's inevitable decline, our journey to extinction set in amongst all the consumerist crap we have ill-advisedly decided to put value in. We are chastised for our foolishness but with the lightest of touches. We messed up and messed up badly, but it was easily done. The mood is regret rather than anguish, which makes it all the more poignant watching us slip away into nothingness.
Extras
There are interviews, a commentary, a making of that are all very good but the pick is a half hour Zombie short made by Kågerman and Lilja in 2010 called The Unliving that is top quality. It's set in a society that has subjugated and monetised the undead and highlights their ability to make something that is visually slick and has a concept that embraces numerous allegories.
