Hurry, You’ll Miss the End of the World!
By: Dan Jones
In Theaters
“Listen up! There’s a storm coming like nothing you’ve ever seen!” warns Curtis.
-TAKE SHELTER
“The earth is evil,” flatly states Justine.
-MELANCHOLIA
“We just exist,” concludes Martha.
-MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
“You don’t know what’s out there,” John stresses, to which Rhoda responds, “That’s why I would go.”
-ANOTHER EARTH
“Someday, we’ll fall down and weep; and we’ll understand it all – all things,” explains Mr. O’Brien.
-THE TREE OF LIFE
If there’s no reason to live, or live civilized, then go crazy!
That’s the current message being thrown around. Isn’t it?
Or is it to live as civilized as possible since the world’s already crazy and, potentially, doomed? Or maybe we’re not doomed, so let’s not act too crazy? Or, possibly, let’s not forget to be a little crazy, since we only live once? Or do we live more than once?
In “Take Shelter,” Curtis (Michael Shannon) is a man preoccupied with a swirly, murky sky blowing through life-like nightmares. He’s a workingman – simple, never exceeding the needs of his family or his personal desires. The film’s gray overtone fills your eyes, but your judgment is not clouded. What do you, the audience member, think of the panicky man who wants to keep his family, and self, safe from bad weather? Director Jeff Nichols will give his viewers the chance to make that decision and dissect the meaning of paranoia, dementia, cynicism, inherited genes, and what may be instances of extreme clairvoyance.
“Melancholia” doesn’t focus on survival but destruction – be it personal or total. Director Lars von Trier has recently ventured into the forest and morbid theories with his last film “Antichrist.” This time, the shocks are toned down. Still, women and our planet seem to be causing Lars anxiety. To Justine (Kirsten Dunst), her wedding night is far more demanding than a giant planet headed their way. Trouble with acting the part of the bride, and whatever it is our peers constitute and demand as normal, she can’t help but lie around a castle.
“Martha Marcy May Marlene” has nothing to do with the world needing assistance. But what about the little world of Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) and her needs? Living at this end of the world, society – living arrangements approved and defined by location – can be a bitch. Traumatic experiences can cause trouble when differentiating between memories and the present in which you’re remembering. All that thinking may cause one to lie around a modern house of floor-to-ceiling windows.
The leads of “Another Earth” (Brit Marling and William Mapother) aren’t pushing the insanity button. They do have an unexplored planet hanging around making people feel unusual. This indie imitates commercial plot lines as it follows the cliché boring lives of two mildly-eccentric beings. The only danger in their house appears to be the messy kitchen and living room. No one’s lying around that place.
I, as well, happened to place a lonely woman (Inga Wilson in “Griffey’s Theory“) on her couch and at the center of what could be a forever-changed planet.
Why the impassive reaction to end-all endings? They’re not anticlimactic films, exactly. So are these finales intentionally designed to be character-studies focusing on our acceptance of termination (in one form or another)?
Remember in 1995 when Jeffrey (Brad Pitt) had long hair, a mustache, a lazy eye, and shouted about the “Twelve Monkeys” from a mansion’s spiraling staircase? It was the end of the world and the end of a future, of sorts; but it wasn’t something anyone took lightly.
Again, in the new century, we’re feeling bonkers about an apocalypse but proving less frantic. Through cinema, we’re studying what appears to truly be our worst fear – the world ending as we’re on it (or flying over it, as they obnoxiously do in “2012,” where the nut jobs are director Roland Emmerich and his cast who signed on to partake in the unintentionally funniest movie of 2009 and probably 2012).
Forget the explosions. How hard are we going to cry?
A looming doom is our greatest fear … no more. Half the time, we know that the fictional, uh-oh Earth story is destined for destruction within the first ten minutes. History’s current place and time is us, the days we write; and we’re frightened of the choices we’ve made. The direction in which we’re headed is uncertain, but we’re now okay with humans’ existence being the equivalent to a couple days according to Earth’s run. The bigger question on our minds: How proud are we of witnessing, of ruining, of our results?
Brad Pitt is no longer shouting about the world’s last days. In “The Tree of Life,” he is Mr. O’Brien – a father. He raised his children. He planted trees. He lost his temper. Sean Penn plays the adult version of one of Mr. O’Brien’s sons and is left alone to his towering corporation, his jaunting memories, and a surreal, heavenly beach to roam. Where will we stand?
No one knows what to make of this planet or our lives until we’re near the end. My tears, as well, stain this article and the papers I write. This is because the past, present, and future absolutely make up the individual lives we live, whether we like it or not. We live for life. For what other reason would we feel caution? Why else would we see these films? For what other reason would these films be made? Why wouldn’t we honor the unanswerable questions these independent films explore?
Life is for the living. And these films (apart from “Another Earth”) breathe.
TRIVIA FACTS (FILMS CONNECTIONS): Jessica Chastain plays the wife in “Take Shelter” and “The Tree of Life.” “The Tree of Life” has moments of space photography similar to “Melancholia.” “Melancholia” has an encountering planet, as does “Another Earth”. “Melancholia” costars Brady Corbert who also costars in “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”
NOTABLE AWARDS (so far)
TAKE SHELTER – Critics Week Grand Prize (Cannes Film Festival)
MELANCHOLIA – Kirsten Dunst (Best Actress – Cannes Film Festival)
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE – Best Director (Sundance Film Festival)
ANOTHER EARTH – Special Jury Prize (Sundance Film Festival)
THE TREE OF LIFE – Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Festival)