Apocalypse as a show

"2012" - an attraction of universal death

The show "World Flood". From November 12, a fantastic film appetition called “2012” will begin to work - the most grandiose, perhaps, since the time of “Lord of the Rings”. In “2012”, our plunar world methodically eliminates 10-point earthquakes, eruptions of supervolcans, unprecedented tsunami, displacements of the earth's crust and poles, and as a logical result-a worldwide flood, even chopping the peaks of Tibet and Gimalayev. Why the films about the end of the world became the fashion of the 2000s-the New Times knew, without waiting for the apocalypse at the turn of the millennia, the scriptwriters and directors should relax a little. But there are more than enough paintings about death or the threat of death of mankind in recent years. Let us call the “Sign”, “Signs”, “Phenomenon”, “Monstro”, “Blind”, “MGLU”, “The War of Worlds”, “28 days later”. Swearing is nice. Scared - sweet. Cinematographers have long come to an agreement that the end of the world is inevitable. And they argue only about what exactly will become its cause and what methods of global extermination or self -destruction are destined for us.

The smart man Emmerich Hollywood German Roland Emmerich has already destroyed megalopolises in his films - at the Day of Independence, Godzille, the Day afteromities. And it was felt that his hands were itching to finish finally the whole planet. Of all the creators of the catastrophe films, he, like no one else, earned the title of gap. His large -scale films, with the exception of “the day after tomorrow, were sincerely thoughtless. They were dominated by what is called bargains. Emmerich's bargain records are Godzilla, deftly changing its parameters depending on the needs of the plot (either he is tall with empire-promot-booking, it easily slips into narrow tunnels of the metro). But first of all - an alien combat starship in the "Day of Independence".

Aliens in this film are a mixture of cockroach and octopus. But when the character of Will Smith climbs into such a starship, it turns out that there is a chair adapted to the human ass, and all control systems are designed for our ten fingers.

Against the background of these paintings, “2012” is already amazing that there is almost no stupid thing (it is strange only that the Earth, consider, is destroyed, and the cellular from the survivors continue to work regularly). And that although Emmerich started a picture for the sake of a spectacle and once again a spectacle (nothing more spectacular than a car race by a destroyed Los Angeles earthquake has not seen these lines for a long time), he managed to simultaneously make a political, and caustic film. One of the constant topics of the catastrophe films: if you can’t save everyone, then who should be attributed to the elect? And to whom to decide who is worthy to be saved, but who is not?

“2012”, perhaps, is the first catastrophe film, which shows that there will be no justice here. Corruption will triumph. This is a picture that social stratification will finally manifest itself precisely at the moment of global death. Politicians will begin to certify the close associates, as if they are saving the human race, but by human genus they will understand not even an intellectual elite, capable of reviving culture and civilization, but exclusively themselves, as well as multimillionnaires that can pay for the right to life. The leaders of the "Big Eight" keep in the film a secret about a possible disaster ... not even up to the last minutes. Store forever. It seems in order not to sow panic, but in fact - to protect yourself. The world before the disaster is under the control of special services, killing everyone who is dedicated to secret, but has a conscience and is going to notify the people. Whether he wants it or not, but Emmerich claims that he will be able to be saved primarily by burned cynics - well, some noble heroes too. Good people in the case of terrible cataclysms are doomed in the first place. The new Adams and Evas, designed to revive culture and civilization, will be scoundrels at ninety percent.

Full quote. A cinema politician is a good scientist: “Your business is exactly determined when everything falls into pieces. And mine is to think about how to preserve the semblance of power when everything falls apart. ” Another wonderful moment. Everything has already collapsed-and then someone says: “Urgently connect me with the heads of state!” Surprisingly: there are no more states, and the chapters are still there and still decide everything.

Go to the “avatar” Emmerich desperately - to tenderness - tried to give “2012” the form of traditional drama and even an old -fashioned melodrama. Like any catastrophe film, “2012” is not only pro-explosions-and-prozhars (and in our case, also about the cynicism of politicians), but also about human destinies, love, reunification of a wife with her husband and father with children under the influence of extreme circumstances. In essence, this is a technologically advanced version of the “crew” made by Alexander Mitta in the pre -computer era, especially since a significant part of the action also takes place in the air, the plane also takes off with the stripes destroying under it and also makes an extremely extreme landing.

But with all the political relevance and all melodramaticism, you involuntarily perceive “2012” in conjunction with the “Avatar” coming in December - the first for twelve years since the Titanic, James Cameron’s films. Moreover, before the start of the session, a new detailed Avatar trailer is demonstrated. And you can’t disagree with what have already begun to speak in the Western media and at the Hollywood studios: that after these two films, mass cinema will go along a fundamentally different path. The genre of this new cinema, let the 2012 pretend to be a catastrophe film, and the Avatar-a fantastic anti-utopia, is actually one: a film appetition. This is no longer a movie - this is a movie show. Strictly speaking, all spectacular cinema becomes animated. Mechanical. Dead.

* * It is clear that we do not want to offend those animators-masters who create art and man-made films for children. - Aut. And the laws of the mass spectacle still win in the final “2012”, stunning a very good picture. The catastrophe is experienced, the saved sees the sun ... And in the hall we must feel a surge of optimism and rejoice with them. Although, presumably, about 6 billion 999 million 600 thousand people were killed, and the catches were saved.

Roland Emmerich (right) during filming