Elysium, 2013

*Warning* – slight political rant ahead…

All I knew about Elysium upon walking into the cinema was that it was written and directed by the same director as the alien ‘apartheid’ film District 9 – South African born Neill Blomkamp – and stars Matt Damon. I hadn’t read or heard many reviews or seen many previews for it – but that was enough for me to get out and see it, even whilst trying to fight off a head cold. I have no regrets at all.

The film is a terrifying and beautiful depiction of the best and worst aspects of human nature, and where we could end up if we don’t learn from our mistakes quick smart.

Kick your imagination into gear for a moment – no matter how over or underused it is. Imagine, if you will, that you have nothing but the clothes on your back. The single room ramshackle hut that you live in is built from whatever materials you can find, and has minimal amenities or basic conveniences such as water, electricity or plumbing.

Try to imagine a place where no matter how hard you work, no matter what you do, you will never achieve a better quality of life. You will live in that hut, and possibly suffer from various illnesses or disabilities that cause serious pain, discomfort or eventual death. You are surrounded by brutality, violence and an utter disrespect for human life.

Now imagine that you’ve heard of a place where all of your illnesses could be cured easily, where people live in large comfortable homes with lawns and swimming pools and landscaping. Where all your fears of violence, famine, sickness and death would be a thing of the past. What would you do? What would you give to get to that place? Would you save up every cent you earn, give it to some dodgy looking guy with an equally dodgy looking ship, so that you could get your family to that place, where they might – just might – have a chance at a better, happier and possibly longer life? Answer honestly now…

If I stopped the description there, it could be describing the existence of countless people in war torn and famine ravaged countries in the world right now. However, in this film…

This is the position that the citizens of Earth in the year 2154 find themselves – the Earth is diseased and polluted beyond recognition and the wealthy have deserted the planet for an idyllic space station in the sky. A space station called Elysium (from Greek mythology meaning ‘any place or state of perfect happiness; paradise’) where they can keep their perfect way of life close and the filthy diseased, poor at more than an arms length. On Elysium they have med-bays that can cure anything from broken bones to leukemia to reconstructing a grenade damaged face. There is no sign of poverty, unhappiness or disease. There is, however, an undercurrent of unpleasantness brought about by Minister Delacourt played by Jodie Foster, a staunch anti-immigration politician who will go to appalling lengths to ‘stop the boats’.

To me, as an Australian suffering in the intellectual void that is Australian politics at the moment, this really hit close to home. For those readers who are not Australian, or who may have been living under a rock, asylum seekers/refugees/boat people have been a hot issue during the current election campaign. If you are undecided about the issue, or if you have difficulty understanding why a person might risk their lives and the lives of their family by getting on a leaky boat only to end up dead or if they’re ‘lucky’ in a detention centre on Christmas Island – I would recommend seeing this film. It’s a slightly more extreme situation, but effective nonetheless.

Even bigger than the refugee issue is that of the future of this planet that we call home. It seems to me that Neill Blomkamp has a very clear vision for where the world is headed if we don’t change our ways very soon, and it isn’t pretty. Abandoning the planet because we’ve made a mess of it is not an option folks – we need to seize the best side of our humanity with both hands, and pull together as the Human race, rather than fighting amongst ourselves and destroying our own future.

I really enjoyed this film, it is visually stunning – both the scenes on Earth and Elysium – and the performances from all the cast are excellent, especially the ‘villains’ who are wonderfully chilling in their disregard for the lives of the poor – special mention to Sharlto Copley who plays an absolutely insane assassin/mercenary to perfection. However, it does miss some potential opportunities for more depth to the story line. I would have liked to see more detail of the lives of the citizens living on Elysium – but the lack of information does seem to add to the mysterious, illusive, and unattainable nature of the paradise that is the space station. A bit more character development wouldn’t have gone astray either – however there are time restrictions. Not every director wants to make the audience sit through 3-4 hours of sometimes unnecessary detail. A quick note for those reviewers who whine about not seeing much of Elysium itself or its people, do you think it’s possible you may have missed the fact that Bomkamp was possibly keeping it at a distance to help the audience develop empathy for those remaining on Earth, rather than encouraging the audience to covet life on a pretty space station? Just a thought.

If you enjoyed District 9, chances are you’ll like this film. It’s a dark and bleak vision for the future, but it’s hopeful as well.