Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

[therewillbeblus]

It was wild to revisit this tonight, now over three months into this pandemic, to see just how accurate a lot of the advice the experts give is- resembling the same safety measures we've been implementing. The scene where Elliott Gould glances around the restaurant to see a mother feeding her daughter chips, sharing drinks, etc., powerless to stop the masses from practicing in a way against their social conditioning, is never going to read the same way again. Not only is the scene terrifying but now it bears a second reading, that it's also predictive of what is about to change. Gould is not only horrified and impotent, but seeing the future where these loving exchanges will turn to holding others at gunpoint, manipulation and capitalizing for self-gain, isolative pain and suffering, and other Hobbesian consequences that shatter the comfortable lining taken for granted in that moment.

The other striking aspect of this film is just how many genres and tones are combined under the "thriller of transmission." Ehle's interaction with her father is the most authentic kind of tearjerking, refusing to stoop to a level of exploitation, and stalling on a compassionate interaction that contains both practicality and emotional attention. Winslet's call to Fishburne is equally devastating, as she tries to give him a pragmatic doctor's log while clearly internalizing her own acceptance to her fate. Damon's stunned grief and transformation into stoic resilience opposes Law's progression, which starts at initial adaptation through selfish and anti-humanist manipulative abuse, only to wear down into a state of- perhaps not humility but external awareness- as he exposes himself to the world outside his right-wing solipsism.

Seeing this film upon release, several times over the years while having this as a personal phobia in nightmarish fantasy, and then again following its realistic actualization, is riveting. I really hope someone puts this out again following its OOP status with extras covering the extensive research and consultation involving in its conception. I was lucky enough to track down a copy from Australia which arrived just recently, after I ordered it in March at the start of this thing, though I suspect it'll be dynamic in its effectiveness if I watched it again in a few months, just like this virus and its evolving impact.

[hearthesilence]

Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, actress Jennifer Ehle, and Dr. W. Ian Lipkin (the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and a professor of Neurology and Pathology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University) will appear for a post-screening discussion at MoMA on Thursday, October 14. Film starts at 7 p.m.

[erok910]

Really wish I could go to this screening. Interested in Burns' research and the (apparently much) longer screenplay he'd written. I know Soderbergh shot it and then cut it out, I think he said it was something like 45 minutes cut by the end. I think this would explain the Cotillard plot, amongst other things. I'm sure the the discussion will mostly be centered around Covid, but I can see the research aspect being brought up at the least.

[swo17]

Apparently this got a 4K UHD release last month. The cover is a face mask!

[hearthesilence]

Apparently this got a 4K UHD release last month. The cover is a face mask!

The best commercial exploitation of a disease since, well, this.