Contagion (Bilingual)

 

 

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I saw the movie in the theatre and could not believe that there were only 3 other people in the theatre with us (6 in total). It is sad that the theatre going people don't want a movie that they actually have to think at. No, there were no car races and no death-match fighting scenes. And the only sex scene was only alluded to.

But what this movie did do, is it made you think. In North America, we have not really had to deal with anything like that. Other than SARS - which I am very sorry to say was only a Toronto thing. Try asking a mid-western Kansas City 20-30 year old what SARS is and they will not know. H1N1, a little more, but still not common knowledge.

This movie skirted the edge of the "never happens in my town". It made you wonder. Did I wash the chicken well enough for last night's dinner? Did I make sure that the apple I put in my daughters lunch today was clean and safe. Am I sure my spouse isn't sleeping with someone else?

Did I like this movie? Oh yea. Am I still thinking about this movie 7 months later? Believe it! Do I recommend this movie? Several times!

Looking in from the outside, Contagion appears to have it all. A stellar all-star cast, an apocalyptic doomsday scenario, and realistic scare tactics all rolled into one tightly shot film. Under the surface however, it's not quite what it appears to be. Steven Soderbergh pays attention to the details while losing his footing on several very key areas, which reduces the impact and immediacy of Contagion's frightening premise.

The film is straightforward. Somehow, somewhere, a new breed of animal-based virus has mutated and crossed over to the human populace, and begins growing at an alarming rate. The virus soon spreads worldwide and upsets the balance of social order, giving rise to civil unrest and panic. At the heart of the film are several people all interconnected through the crisis which becomes more uncontrollable as the days pass by. As WHO and the CDC race to find a vaccine, they begin to fall prey to the futility and lack of time needed to properly test the drug and get it out into the public's hands to contain the spread. Morals and ethics soon come into question, with several characters taking matters into their own hands for good and evil purposes. Meanwhile, the collapse of order threatens to spill out and swallow up the world's nations as mass panic becomes an everyday way of life.

It's impossible to go into more detail without spoiling the events of the film, but Contagion does an adequate job of juggling these characters and keeping uniformity, for the most part. The problem is that Contagion seems to market itself as a doomsday scenario, but in truth, it never quite reaches the point of pure biological Armageddon. Rather, it is more of a vehicle for speaking out about the issues of pharmaceutical companies and their role in pandemics, as well as the WHO's tendency to overreact on virus outbreaks such as H1N1. The biggest theme however, is humanity's inability to deal with such a catastrophe and the rise of fear as the primary motivating force for irrational behavior. Looting, robbery, and fighting over basic essentials are glimpsed at, but rarely followed through with any amount of immediacy in the film. For every scene of rioting and civil unrest, there is another scene of perfect order and tranquility as people go about their daily lives. Scenes of an empty San Francisco with people rooting through garbage piles are immediately flipped for shots of people walking through parks with fountains and electricity running. It's a bad contrast that, for some reason, went way over Soderbergh's head and just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The characters also suffer from some distracted writing, with Dr. Orantes being the most glaring example of a character who really serves no purpose other than to disappear halfway through the film, re-emerge, and disappear again into complete unimportance and obscurity, never to be heard of again. In fact, the movie ends rather abruptly and without any sort of buildup or climax. Normally this isn't a bad thing, but when a film never manages to build to a sense of true dread and tension to begin with, it comes off as a rather big letdown at the end. The only real scene-stealer in the film is Jude Law, playing a neurotic conspiracy theorist Blogger with a selfish agenda. Again, when the curtain falls, nothing really happens to his character. The film just...ends. Thankfully the final shot gives some insight into how the pandemic broke out, but it's so simplistic and rather straightforward that it becomes almost implausible.

I also wasn't very impressed with Contagion's attempt at whitewashing pharmaceutical companies and government institutions. The public has moved beyond the far-fetched conspiracy theories rooted firmly in the Internet's dark alleyways, and has become acutely aware that drug companies are out to capitalize on death and suffering whenever something like this arises. The multi-billions made on the Flu shot in 2009 and 2010 illustrates this without a doubt, as are the widely known experimental drugs given to children in the mid-90s who were all diagnosed with some imaginary cognitive condition by doctors in the back pockets of major drug corporations. Similarly, the WHO's massive fear campaign during the SARS and H1N1 fiascos raises significant question as just who is in bed with whom. Conjecture aside, I didn't feel the immediacy of what Contagion was trying to say. The virus' mortality rate isn't even 50%, life does seem to go on even into the first few months of the outbreak, and it ends on a relatively quiet note.

All in all, Contagion is a lot less potent than I expected. Its attempt at realism may have hurt its attempt at drama in the process. There are just too many loose ends when the credits roll, and not enough tension through the running time to evoke any sort of dread. No white knuckles here, but it's a somewhat realistic portrayal of a pandemic outbreak. Nothing more.

I saw this film in the theaters last summer. I went in expecting Omega man end of the world, last man standing but with brains. Well it wasn't what expected but I still liked it. With the same team that made the movie traffic we get more of that here. Lots of
Characters that follow multiple story lines that all give you pieces of the story. This is not an action movie (not that I ever thought it would be). It's totally dialog driven like traffic was. The cast is incredible and it looks like it was very well researched. Living in Toronto I saw a little bit of what an outbreak could be like when we had a SARS outbreak here. In that case there were only a handful of cases. Most isolated right away in certain hospitals. Some people died from contracting the virus but others died by trying to help those who were sick. But even with it contaned in Toronto our entertainment and tourism industry really took a hit. Concerts canceled because of insurance issues, etc. I am not saying the SARS outbreak was anything like what happens in the film I guess the point I am trying to make is even when it's contaned it still effects everything around it what is exactly what the film is about. How do things like this happen? What does the WHO or CDC (in the US) do to try and stop the stem of infection? How does the government deal with it? What do they tell or not tell the public? I don't want to give any of the story away but the last scene of the film is brilliant and it shows you how easily these things happen and spread.
On the down side the soundtrack is a little painful and I felt that they could have done a lot more with the story but it was one Hell of a lot better then "Outbreak" was that was made in the 90's. No helicopters chasing monkeys thru the forest or the leading lady being cured in the closing minutes of the film.
This is not as good as Traffic but I still feel it was a good film.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Film
I was impressed with Contagion's attention to detail and the well-laid out realistic situations it presented. Read more

Published 1 month ago by J. Coffin

2.0 out of 5 stars A good try
With zombie films, end of the world stories, and real news about deadly viruses abounding Hollywood was bound to try a serious take with such a film. Too bad this is boring. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Russ Crossley

1.0 out of 5 stars Only interesting thing about the movie is the hazmat suit that Jude Law wears...
Having surviving through the real SARS epidermic 10 years ago in HK, I was hoping Contagion would bring some perspectives to the world about something similar to what we have gone... Read more

Published 1 month ago by S. K. L. Ip

4.0 out of 5 stars Intéressant!
Ce film nous montre d`une façon réaliste ce qui se passerait si un virus se propageait aux États-Unis. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Ben Mears

2.0 out of 5 stars Blan No suspense
Not much happening in this movie. Most of the characters are not beleieveable.
Poor scripting. We couldn't wait for the end just so it would be over. Sorry

Published 2 months ago by Beatrice

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