(Flagged as containing spoilers, but I'll try to limit that)
Overall a nice six hours spent exploring a difficult topic. Following the story line is difficult, but it's meant to be as this reflects the confusion of the protagonist throughout the drama. Things only become clearer to us as they do to the protagonist.
The question of dreaming and dreamers and to what extent dreaming ruins our lives, to what extent wanting more than we have and to be more than we are makes us miserable, is an interesting idea to explore. This movie asks us to think about the questions of security, happiness, free-will, and aspiration and how much of one we'd give up for another, yet manages to approach this from a rather different view than the usual liberty/security dichotomy.
Like most science fiction, a lot of the energy in the movie goes into following all the implications of the premise. This places a strait-jacket on the characters, who are thus less developed and not terribly compelling. It's not clear whether this really had to be quite so limiting on most of the characters, but it is faithful to the underlying idea being explored.
In comparing with the original series, I was struck by comparisons at three levels. At the surface, the original was more easily enjoyable. Working on a much more "standard" cold-war premise, the viewer and the prisoner were much more at-home with the mechanics of the Village and the series felt more like a standard us-vs-them experience. Both series explored certain existential questions, and both finales explored the questions of to what degree we imprison ourselves and why, but the new series is trying to explore this theme much more fully through-out the entire arc opening many more questions than it answers. Finally, we were invited to compare the thematic explorations in the original episodes from which the new ones derived their name. Each paralleled the original, but typically delved into a deeper question (for instance The Schizoid Man explored the ways in which denying 6 his number made him want to be 6, while Schizoid instead went after deeper questions of identity and the question of what aspects of ourselves lead us and which enable us to be lead).
Technically, the sound design makes it difficult to follow the dialog. The visual aspects are quite interesting; the new setting is nearly as creepily cheery as the original.
Overall a nice six hours spent exploring a difficult topic. Following the story line is difficult, but it's meant to be as this reflects the confusion of the protagonist throughout the drama. Things only become clearer to us as they do to the protagonist.
The question of dreaming and dreamers and to what extent dreaming ruins our lives, to what extent wanting more than we have and to be more than we are makes us miserable, is an interesting idea to explore. This movie asks us to think about the questions of security, happiness, free-will, and aspiration and how much of one we'd give up for another, yet manages to approach this from a rather different view than the usual liberty/security dichotomy.
Like most science fiction, a lot of the energy in the movie goes into following all the implications of the premise. This places a strait-jacket on the characters, who are thus less developed and not terribly compelling. It's not clear whether this really had to be quite so limiting on most of the characters, but it is faithful to the underlying idea being explored.
In comparing with the original series, I was struck by comparisons at three levels. At the surface, the original was more easily enjoyable. Working on a much more "standard" cold-war premise, the viewer and the prisoner were much more at-home with the mechanics of the Village and the series felt more like a standard us-vs-them experience. Both series explored certain existential questions, and both finales explored the questions of to what degree we imprison ourselves and why, but the new series is trying to explore this theme much more fully through-out the entire arc opening many more questions than it answers. Finally, we were invited to compare the thematic explorations in the original episodes from which the new ones derived their name. Each paralleled the original, but typically delved into a deeper question (for instance The Schizoid Man explored the ways in which denying 6 his number made him want to be 6, while Schizoid instead went after deeper questions of identity and the question of what aspects of ourselves lead us and which enable us to be lead).
Technically, the sound design makes it difficult to follow the dialog. The visual aspects are quite interesting; the new setting is nearly as creepily cheery as the original.
Tell Your Friends