The Past...

It's a widely regarded belief amongst theorists that Science Fiction films and novels speak more about the present than the future. Consider films such as Star Trek or 2001 that, in the age of space travel, pondered our own origins and existence on the planet. Coming at the end of the 60s, a period of (mostly drug inspired) reflection, these fit absolutely perfectly.


Or perhaps examine I,Robot, in gestation (pun?) since shortly after the announcement of Dolly the sheep. It's clear that these films reflect our times.

Is this restricted to Sci Fi? Do Horror films reflect our current fears? Cetainly in other countries they do, but primarily, in the West, we seek for our reflection in the future. Until now, that is. Step forward the Brits, I guess.

Centurion (2010, Celador Films)

Robin Hood (2010, Universal Pictures)

Hood is obviously not out in UK cinemas at the time of writing this blog, but it is an interesting time for a remake of this famous tale to be told. In the past two years, the UK (and the West) has been hit by a recession, the collapse of banks, of trust in government for many reasons. Is it a surprise that the story of a man striking against the rule, fighting for equality and striking back at the very rich has been made since this? Probably not.

There are several stories that have resonated throughout the age of cinema. Man vs. Technology is a fight that has existed since La Voyage De La Lune. The small man vs. the corporation has seen its form in many years, from Mr. Smith, through It's A Wonderful Life, through Soylent Green, to most recent outings such as Michael Mann's The Insider. 

It is only logical that this be the time for a Robin Hood. 

Centurion, on the other hand, is a little more subtle than Ridley Scott's film. But not much more.

Centurion recounts the famous Boys' Tale of The Eagle of the Ninth. Except, in his gloriously gory film, Marshall has chosen to add a modern day metaphor to his piece.

Consider the Romans - dominating foreign lands, but meeting stern resistance throughout Scotland by the indigenous people who utilise guerrilla tactics in order to maintain their hold on their country. The Romans are noble, brave, but are ultimately led by a foolish leader. 

There are traitors within their organisation, and ultimately, the men in the company no longer care about their task, or the goal of their nation. They simply want to escape. 

What on earth could this be related to?

It's not hard to see that Marshall has used the well worn tale as a modern metaphor. 

 What is most interesting about both these films is that they don't focus on looking forward in order to warn us of the problems that await our planet. They look back, and recognise that the mistakes that have been made in recent years, ones that we are all to keen to leap down our leaders' throats, are mistakes that all great empires, all nations have made in the past.

Perhaps the past can tell us as much about our lives as looking at the future can.

Take it back...

There's a particular strand of Japanese Horror that, unlike say the avenging spirits of Ju-On, Ringu, or the daikaiju eiga (giant monsters) of Godzilla et al, has never successfully translated well to Western audiences. Critic Jay McRoy calls it the techno/body-horror genre. While it is true that the genre has in some sense died out in its homeland, it is certainly something that has never been accepted in the West. In the US and UK, audiences are uncomfortable with their own bodies, let alone those of onscreen characters. Plastic surgery and fad dieting pervade life, yet confrontation disturbing the palace of the human body is something Western audiences shy from. David Cronenberg may indeed be the only real Western director to exploit this. Films such as the Saw series cannot truly fit this, as they focus on the perpetrator rather than the victim, and the consequences of the crimes committed are never REALLY shown on screen. In Japanese cinema, the victims ARE often the perpetrators, and they often have to live with the consequences of their 'boundary violations'. In the West, the Terminator will always die or sacrifice their life at the end of a film, a knowledge that they cannot exist in the natural world. In the East, they are cursed to do so, a reminder of humanity's tampering with the natural order of the world.

With all this in mind, it was with a certain excitement that I looked forward to the next film, and in displaying its Eastern influences, it certainly lived up to the techno/body-horror tag.

Repo Men (2010, Universal Pictures)

It has been noted that the Japanese body-horror films of the late 80s reflected a period of uncertainty, or cultural, societal and familial change. David Cronenberg's 'New Flesh' movement of the 80s reflected a desire to change or willingly alter the form of the human for pleasurable ends. Repo Men seems to take elements from both these, and fuse them (excuse the pun) together to its own end.

Primarily, the film seems to be a non-too-subtle metaphor for both the longer living human race, in the era of Dolly the sheep et al, and also the recent 'Credit Crunch' recession. The film seems to both rejoice and despise the mechanical additions to the human body in that they ultimately save the protagonists several times, but the 'black comedy' of the film seems to ridicule those families that do take the artificial organs, for what the film seems to insinuate are selfish means.

It will be interesting to see how (if?) a mainstream audience responds to this accusation, given that Western society is obsessed with staying young, and does not respect its elderly in the same way that Japan does. Can an audience accept a film that mocks them for wanting to stay young? Yet, this is not what fully divides Repo Men from traditional cinema. This 'knowingly subversive' style has been around for years, and it is not a stretch to say that Repo Men treading ground that Fight Club walked over a decade ago.

However, clearly, this is a film with a mixed message for its target audience. And who are they? It's hard to say. With a marquee Summer release for Japan, it's perhaps a film that will do better business overseas, where its Western-mocking stance may be easier to swallow. As a result of that, it takes influences from South Asia in various forms.

The film wears many of its influences on its sleeve. There's the obvious Asian fusion of the cityscape, in a Blade Runner manner, and the climactic fight sequence seems to be obviously inspired by its use of tools (including a hammer!) from another film on this page, Oldboy. This lacks the power of Oldboy's single take brutality, however, focusing on an UNKLE soundtracked fight more similar to something from the Wachowski's Matrix Trilogy.  Most unnerving, however, is the finale of the film. It is here that the Cronenberg, and more disturbing aspects of body-horror are referenced.

Near the end, as the protagonists try to 'scan' items inside their own bodies, while cutting each other open, they begin to passionately kiss each other, ultimately literally kissing through the blood as (primarily Law) reaches inside stomachs, knees, chests, to scan organs.

It's not something commonly seen in mainstream cinema, to be sure.

Ian Conrich categorises this particularly odd combination as 'techno-eroticism', and states that the ultimate mating of two may ultimately result in the death of society. This was most literally shown at the end of the quintessential Japanese techno/body-horror -  Tetsuo: The Iron Man, by the empty streets, as the fusion of men march through them, claiming they can destroy the world. It is perhaps a fear that by losing the organic nature of humanity, and ultimately replacing more and more of the body with technology, that we will one day be unable to recognise a human being.

Perhaps this is why Repo Men is unsatisfied with its ending.
Would an audience be content in seeing two protagonists, one more metal than human on the inside, together at the resolution of the film? Perhaps that's why Arnold always has to go at the end of the Terminator movies.

As long as technology continues, however, there's no doubt that, like this genre,  he'll be ba...

.. No, I can't.