We're all going to die (a truth universally acknowledged if not fully comprehended). This time we're ALL going to die, which is a slightly different matter.
DON'T LOOK UP came out round about the moment Covid came out (ill met by moonlight, guys). It reflects that time of confusion - no one wanted to know, no one wanted to do anything to upset the political status quo, and solutions were sought from spaced-out entrepreneurs rather than qualified scientists. And of course, DON'T LOOK UP comes out of a heavy mulch of dystopian movies which reflect the anxieties of their time. For instance, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE arrived (1951) we believed that the world's governments would get together to help humanity to survive.
Not anymore folks.
We've already had WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, DR STRANGELOVE, MELANCHOLIA, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE, THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME and now DON'T LOOK UP. There are many more.
This movie's portrayal of a president of the USA with her luxurient golden curls and inability to prioritise is not a million miles away from other Western leaders. So not a film aimed at Americans - we're all burying our heads in the sand.
The key issue which seems to divide audiences is the failure of mankind to do anything about the problem. The Mark Rylance character (as mad as a box of frogs) is hardly a reassuring leader for the future. Or is he a deadly warning?
Lars von Trier's MELANCHOLIA at the beginning of the new millenium had the balls to treat the subject emotionally rather than satirically. DLU starts out as satire but gradually moves towards the emotion of the end of the world....
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper (and a couple of post-credit jokes.
DON'T LOOK UP came out round about the moment Covid came out (ill met by moonlight, guys). It reflects that time of confusion - no one wanted to know, no one wanted to do anything to upset the political status quo, and solutions were sought from spaced-out entrepreneurs rather than qualified scientists. And of course, DON'T LOOK UP comes out of a heavy mulch of dystopian movies which reflect the anxieties of their time. For instance, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE arrived (1951) we believed that the world's governments would get together to help humanity to survive.
Not anymore folks.
We've already had WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, DR STRANGELOVE, MELANCHOLIA, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE, THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME and now DON'T LOOK UP. There are many more.
This movie's portrayal of a president of the USA with her luxurient golden curls and inability to prioritise is not a million miles away from other Western leaders. So not a film aimed at Americans - we're all burying our heads in the sand.
The key issue which seems to divide audiences is the failure of mankind to do anything about the problem. The Mark Rylance character (as mad as a box of frogs) is hardly a reassuring leader for the future. Or is he a deadly warning?
Lars von Trier's MELANCHOLIA at the beginning of the new millenium had the balls to treat the subject emotionally rather than satirically. DLU starts out as satire but gradually moves towards the emotion of the end of the world....
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper (and a couple of post-credit jokes.