May
2002
Trenton
Public Library movie reviews:
Safe, Outbreak and Wit
"May
is medical movie month at the Main Library"
By
Dan Dodson
Healthy Downtowner readers won't want to miss May's movie series
at the Trenton Main Library entitled, "Movies about medical
issues in our time." The schedule includes: Safe on May 2,
Outbreak on May 16 and Wit on May 30. All the dates are Thursdays
with all show times at 6:30 p.m. As always, there is great parking
in the library's side lot.
Safe
questions new age medicine
Sometimes movies just make you uncomfortable, and this is one
of those.
Set in 1987, Julianne Moore plays a lonely but wealthy California
housewife named Carol. It's obvious that Carol is hermetically
sealed in a perfect suburban world, and her family, friends and
life are just props. While running an errand she inhales exhaust
from a truck, and is forced to pull over and throw up. After this
contact with the real world, her health mysteriously declines
supposedly from chemical fumes in the environment.
Director Todd Haynes creates a spooky, Kubrickian setting reminiscent
of sci-fi classics Rollerball and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Long-focus
still camera shots and sparse dialogue add to the sense of isolation
that is slowly killing Carol. The opening scene's eerie music
and dark streetscape set a tone that is juxtaposed against the
movie's title. Julianne Moore gives a great performance showing
understated desperation and a graphic transformation from housewife
to invalid.
Alternative medicines, new-age spiritualism and pop science are
at the center of Safe. The film is ambiguous on their efficacy
but sends a clear message about the search for relevance in our
lives. Emotional isolation makes Carol unsafe and provides a motive
for embracing the "Fumes" movement. The new age lifestyle
doesn't so much draw Carol as traditional medicine drives her
away.
Safe tells us that people naturally need to live together. If
so, people like Carol are better off moving out of their West
Windsor McMansions to the tight-knit neighborhoods of Trenton.
Outbreak fights a biological weapon
Outbreak is medicine so extreme they called in the army.
The plot: In 1967, the U.S. Army tests a deadly virus during a
war in Africa. To contain the virus, the Army incinerates the
village, killing everybody except a monkey who is carrying it.
Col. Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) and his boss, General Ford (Morgan
Freeman), spring into action to contain the virus. However, the
disease eventually travels to a small California town where death
and treachery ensue. Not to give it away, but so many people die
in this movie that the viewer is never really sure whether humans
will survive.
War movies throughout history have loaded up on talent to create
an epic quality; e.g., Midway, The Thin Red Line and Patton. Outbreak
tries this tack with its all-star cast, led by Hoffman, Freeman
and Rene Russo and supported by Donald Sutherland, Cuba Gooding,
Jr. and a great performance by Kevin Spacey. While Outbreak is
an exciting and thought-provoking romp, the story is contrived.
For example, the fate of the world depends on newly divorced Hoffman
and Russo working well together.
It's interesting to watch Outbreak in a historical context. It
was produced in 1995, a year famous for Ebola, Oklahoma City,
O. J. Simpson and Monica Lewinsky and conspiracy films Wag the
Dog, Nixon and Crimson Tide. Government scandal was on the American
brain and provided great plot material when combined with pandemic
destruction. It's hard to imagine the same movie being made today.
Outbreak is unique but isn't for the faint of heart. Lots of people
die, raising interesting questions about the Constitution and
the balance between safety and liberty.
Wit confronts death from cancer
This month's premiere movie is Mike Nichols's requiem masterpiece.
Vivian (Emma Thompson), a famous scholar of John Donne's Holy
Sonnets, develops cancer and undergoes a harsh experimental treatment.
During her battle, she reflects on Donne and her life as a scholar.
Vivian has no family, so she talks to the audience about the treatment
ordeal and dying process as if we were her only friends. She finds
that her scholarship is not enough to face death and she needs
to learn humanity.
Emma Thompson is one of the few actresses who could have taken
on this role. She also cowrote the impressive screenplay with
director Mike Nichols. The sets are simple and the story takes
place from a hospital bed, so the film requires an extraordinary
cast. It has one, and Thompson carries the film, ably assisted
by Tony award-winner Audra McDonald. HBO Films is showing off
its artistic tastes with films like Wit.
Films that are closely associated with famous literature often
don't stray far from their artistic source. Wit wisely follows
this prescription and thereby brings to life Donne's obsession
with death. "Death, be not proud, though some have called
thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so…" wrote
Donne. This theme is carried effectively throughout the movie
as Vivian bravely faces death and in the end does not give death
his due.
Wit compares literature and cancer research as metaphors for scholarly
pursuit. Here's an idea for Trenton's English literature teachers;
shake up your students' minds by assigning Wit alongside your
unit on the poems of John Donne, and add a field trip to Fox Chase
Cancer Center.
What will Maureen say about these films?
Series coordinator Maureen Neville leads a short discussion before
each of the library's films. May's movies prove that our attitudes
towards medicine change over time and are impacted by the world
around us. Given these implied societal messages, it will be interesting
to hear what Maureen says about Safe, Outbreak and Wit.
# # #
Dan Dodson lives in Trenton and can be reached at dan@livingonthenet.com.
