ELYSIUM

US, 2013, 109 minutes, Colour.
Matt Damon, Jody Foster, Alice Braga, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna.
Directed by Neil Blomkomp.

Elysium was once a mythical paradise for the Greeks. In 2154 it is a satellite, circling earth, a place reserved for the wealthy so that they can live in comfort, far away from the wreckage of planet earth. An interesting idea for a science-fiction film, especially contrasting the squalor of Los Angeles, the devastated buildings, the pollution, the totalitarian rule of the Robocop police force, smiling factory owners who are accountable to the authorities on Elysium. One of the advantages of Elysium is a bed and a scan which can detect instantly illness and fractures in a body and, simply by scanning, heal them.

Despite its impressive look, the film doesn’t deliver as much as we might hope for.

Writer-director, Neal Blomkomp, achieved popular and critical success with his first feature film, District 9, an allegory about life in South Africa, from where the director comes, and apartheid. He used an aliens-on-earth story to illustrate his theme. Blomkomp has had long experience in special effects and that was very evident in District 9. It is even more evident in Elysium where the producers seem to have given him unlimited funds for his special effects and action.

The trouble is that the plot is not always easy to follow, and the central characters are not all that engaging. This is not the fault of Matt Damon who does his best in the role of the Max, an orphan who has grown up, got into trouble, gone to prison, and now works in a factory. He has to become the very muscular hero who takes on the establishment of Elysium as well as a fiercely mad mercenary, Sharlto Copley (the lead in District 9). Max and most of the others on earth are fairly embittered about their lot.

However, there is a sympathetic character, Frey, who was an orphan with Max and looked after by a very benign nun at the orphanage. She is now a nurse but with a little daughter who has terminal leukemia. Max is bashed by one of the police and breaks his wrist, is exposed to radiation in the factory and given five days to live. A distraction during the film is that many criticised The Passion of the Christ for the amount of torture that Jesus seem to be able to endure. Max, given his only five days to live, has to endure much, much more and, at times, scarcely shows the ill effect on him.

Max wants to get to Elysium and joins a group who are trying to sabotage the authorities there, abducting the owner of the plant and transferring secret documentation which is stored in his brain into Max’s brain.

Which, of course, leads to a huge climax on Elysium itself.

In fact, we see very little of Elysium itself, some nice suburban homes and pools, gardens, but mainly vistas the huge circle rotating in space. However, we do see one of the ministers who is plotting against the president, cold and ruthless as she orders the destruction of several unlawful space vehicles which are filled with refugees in search of a home and cures for illnesses. She is played with quite cold calculation by Jody Foster, a contrast to the very nice Frey, Alice Braga.

While the visuals are impressive, but a lot of the language is aggressively tiresome , we watch with a certain detachment and observation, rather than a deep involvement which would have made the film more interesting and enjoyable.

1. Interesting and entertaining science-fiction, science-fantasy, futuristic-film? The imagination behind the story and the treatment?

2. A message film? Conditions on the planet by the 22nd century, poverty, labour, life in comfort on Elysium, privilege, power? The unemployed, the refugees?

3. The future cities, squalor in Los Angeles, the dominance of Hispanic people? Comfortable satellites circling earth? The quick travel to Elysium? The developments of IT, communication, surveillance? Possibilities for healing? The presentation of battles, fights, stunt work?

4. The contrast between the two worlds, the visuals, helicopter and vistas of earth, emphasizing the ugliness? Homes, factories, the police? The comfort and tranquillity of Elysium?

5. The government and Elysium, the president, the international group, the board? Delacourt, her position of power, ruthless? The issue of citizens and exploding of refugees? Her destroying the vessels? The deaths of the refugees? Her contact on earth with John Carlyle, espionage? Gathering information? Confronting the rebels?

6. The prologue, the information about the earth and its pollution? The focus on the orphans, Hispanic Los Angeles, Max and Frey? The kind nun? Helping to bring up the orphans, encouraging them for the future?

7. Max as hero, the development of his life, after the orphanage, prison? His home, lining up for the bus, going to the factory, his joke and the reaction of the police, his arrest, interrogation, documents, penalties? The breaking of his wrists? Going to the hospital? Seeing Frey? His ordinary life, hard, work in the factory, the antagonism of the foreman, his being exposed to radiation? The rescue, his illness, hospital, five days to live? Frey and her concern?

8. The character of Frey, her life as a nurse, her daughter, the leukemia, issues for her to be healed, going to Elysium?

9. The rebels, ships, the citizen stamps, sending the illegals to Elysium, the mother with her child, the bed and the healing? The others destroyed?

10. The rebel group, the role of Spider, Julio, friendships with Max, the trips to Elysium, Max wanting to go, the discussions, his five days, the deal with Spider and the proposed abduction?

11. Delacourt, haughty, arrogant, confronting the board, the president, her manner of speaking? Observing, her chair, her underlings, control of entry, the no fly zone, her decisions? Her searching for power, the minutes to her authority, contact with the John Carlyle, bringing him back to Elysium?

12. John Carlyle, the factory, ownership, resenting being on earth, his orders? Information and his brain, his being taken, the crash, his death?

13. Max, his agreement concerning the abduction, the transfer of the information from John Carlyle’s brain to Max’s?

14. Kruger and his role, a mercenary, his past, on earth, vehicle, his attitude, his manic behaviour and speech? His being fired? Delacourt using him? His
crew? The abduction and the attack on Max?

15. The battles, the fights?

16. Going to Elysium, Frey and her daughter, being helped, going to the mansion, the healing?

17. Delacourt, confronting the president, the invasion, her being dispatched, killed?

18. Max, his desperation, the amount of pain that he endured, going to the building, Kruger and chases, the fights, Kruger’s death?

19. Max, saved, little girl healed, a possible future?

20. The blend of spectacle, action, entertainment and message?