Soylent Green (2007, DVD)

Soylent Green is a contender for one of the most quoted sci-fi movies of the era. Aside from that one memorable line, the viewer is offered quite a lot from this movie. It has long been one of my favorites.

I give fair warning on this review...it is long. It is, in fact, the longest review I have written to date. I am analyzing one of my favorite movies in the true spirit of analyzing. Just skip over the detailed analysis if that doesn't interest you.

NOTE: It has always been my number one rule in reviews to not reveal endings. In this case, the quote it's known for gives it away so I will discuss the ending under the Morality section of my review.

Premise and Players

One of the Triad of science fiction movies starring Charlton Heston, this movie was a creation of the doom and gloom sci-fi period..meaning the 70s. You get the idea that it isn't meant to be a feel-good movie right at the introduction. It is based on a book by Harry Harrison.

The movie begins with an ever changing collage of photos, each progressing further along in time and focusing on technological development. The music changes as the scenes progress. The truly sad part of this is that almost all of the photos are from real sources, some easily recognized as National Geographic photos. As time progresses the dumps, cars, smog and general wretchedness increase. Finally...New York, Year 2022, Population 40,000,000

The world is a nasty place. The Greenhouse effect has turned the planet into an oven and the remaining farms are like fortresses. Food is a scarcity and, except for the very rich, comes in the form of Soylent. Soylent Orange, Yellow and Green fulfill a variety of nutritional requirements. Green is protein, Yellow and Orange are vegetables and grains. Unfortunately, even this is in short supply and riots are the norm. Especially for Green, which is by far the most needed and popular.

Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston), works hard for a living. While most of the population exists in misery, making their homes on stairwells and in abandoned cars, he has a small apartment. It is incredibly shabby by our standards but it is so much more than most have. He shares this home with his "book", Sol (short for Solomon, played by Edward G. Robinson). A book is a person who has knowledge. There are no more computers or centralized data sources, so books look things up in the few remaining sources available. They know how to read and write and are highly educated from before the world collapsed.

During the course of his duties he is called to a murder site. This one is special because it is a very rich person, one of the directors of Soylent Corporation, in fact. Simonson (Joseph Cotton) has been assassinated, though only we, the audience know that. To Thorn it looks like a bungled robbery. The "furniture", Shirl by name, is the female that comes with the apartment and the bodyguard, Tab, were downstairs acquiring food when the deed occurred, but are the closest things to witnesses Thorn has.

The mystery behind this movie begins with this murder. Thorn is a rather bright fellow and follows the clues to the Soylent Corporation itself. What he uncovers through the work of Sol and his own legwork is so monstrous that it can scarcely be absorbed.

My Thoughts

I could probably write forever on this movie. It has so many layers and so much to say that it provides more material than I can reasonably deal with in just one review. I'll only touch on the most important parts to me and ask forgiveness if I have overlooked something important to you.

During the initial investigation of Simonson's murder, Thorn very matter-of-factly raids the apartment for loot. The lack of surprise at this behavior by the "furniture", Shirl, and Tab the Bodyguard indicates the real state of affairs in this time. Thorn expresses such surprise and pleasure at smelling soap, using running water and having a sip of bourbon, that we feel real pity. When he returns home and shows Sol his hoard, Sol actually breaks down in tears at the sight of a slice of beef. Thorn himself has never eaten or seen it before, but Sol is old enough to remember it. This is only the first of many scenes in which Heston and Robinson give superior performances and grab the audience with gusto.

When this meal is cooked and served the next day, it provides the most uplifting scene in the entire movie. For a moment those two are in complete bliss. The kind of bliss that comes with forgetting is fully communicated to the audience. Tiny details like Thorn's ineptitude with using silverware and look of surprise at the taste of the food are entirely convincing. It is truly a beautiful scene of deserved joy.

I am not going to address the details of the mystery itself for that is entirely too complex, but some of the things which crop up in the course of the investigation are worthy of mention.

Sex

Thorn returns to the apartment of the murdered man to question Shirl again. He merely instructs her to go into the other room, the bedroom it turns out, to gain privacy from the other "furniture" that are visiting. Without further ado, he says, "On the bed.", and she obediently and without surprise begins to prepare the bed and herself. She gets in naked while he questions her very impersonally and then, boom, they do the dirty.

The casual attitude toward sex as a commodity is well thought out in the movie. It shows how far and fast things can change in order to ensure survival. Shirl is, as I said, called furniture. That is all. Even though she was with Simonson for 3 years, she is not a partner to him. Very thought provoking..not to mention titillating! Shirl and Thorn do develop feelings for each other, but even that isn't enough.

Religion

Religion, represented by the Catholic Church in this movie, has been replaced by a sort of Red Cross emergency service. The church doesn't hold services, though there is confession, but rather is filled to brimming with the poor and sick. The priest is deadened unto madness by the never ending tide of misery he can do little to stop.

Also a very well thought out addition since it accurately portrays one of the main missions of the Catholic Church in times of emergency..namely to provide help to the flock. While I don't hold with any organized religion, this is a rather positive portrayal of helping others.

Death

Death is no surprise in this nightmare world of the future. Life is brutal and short. One scene that really brings it home happens when Thorn is going up the steps of the church. On the steps he finds a dead young woman with a rope tied to her wrist. At the other end of the rope is a small child who seems perfectly content until Thorn unties her and takes her away.

An eery foretelling of the future is in the concept of "going home". A large stadium-like structure holds the facility that lets you die. This building is clean, expansive and filled with friendly and helpful staff. In a city of 40 million, it is the only structure the masses have access to that is clean and pleasant. It is a relaxed atmosphere and the lobby is full of those who wait in line while soothing music plays in the background.

For many of those coming here to die, this will be the single most beautiful experience of their lives and their only contact with nature. Everything from your favorite color to your choice in music is carefully taken down. You are led into a quiet and large room with a single bench in the center.

Very reminiscent of the Roman world, the couch looks like a dining couch from the era. Even the man and woman that attend you so tenderly wear something between a white novices robe and Roman toga. The soon-dead person is undressed with care, given something pleasant to drink, covered with a clean white sheet and the show begins.

A cross between an IMAX theatre and a planetarium starts up with your choice of music. Wonderful images of a nature now long gone are shown along with the music. Delicate alpine flowers, blue skies, elk against a sunset and underwater coral fishes stream across.

In this scene Sol is the patient and he is going home. Thorn tries to stop him but the button has been pushed and it is too late to do more than speak to him through a glass window. While this is pivotal to the resolution of the movie, the ultimate secret is passed between them on earphones and the viewer doesn't get to hear it. But what we do hear is Sol finally say that he loves Thorn and Thorn says it back.

This, along with the meal scene, is his best acting of the movie. Thorn's awe at seeing all this natural glory is communicated completely. It is even more shocking because he really hasn't ever scene some of the things we see outside our own windows every single day.

This by-play set against a truly moving set of images and music will bring a tear to the most jaded of eyes. Aside from the emotional content, though, it does give us a glimpse into what is possible in our future should we choose. While enormously humane and the nicest thing these people have to look forward to, the point is driven home afterwards that it is still a factory, no matter how nice the outside looks. ::shiver::

Morality

Of course, most United States citizens know that famous line, "It's made of people!".

The actual line is, "Oceans dying, plankton dying. Soylent Green is made out of people. Did you hear me? It's made out of people!". There's a lot of heavy breathing and panting and other sounds between the first and the last lines, but there it is.

But what about the morality of making dead people into food for the living? What's up with that? Aside from the risks of diseases from human brain tissue, what about the right and wrong of it?

In this new world, there isn't any space at all. People are processed as waste, but even that waste has nowhere to go. What do you do with it? The ground doesn't grow things anymore so it's no good for fertilizer and there are billions and billions of starving people still living despite this incredible death rate.

While I am not normally given to cannibalistic tendencies and do not espouse this as a way to be, I can see how in an emergency it could happen. I am not talking about chopping up your neighbor into pork chops, but rather the sterile processing of remains into it's protein essentials and then adding it to other products as a supplement. I mean heck, lots of people are growing food on farms which were once vast graveyards and battlefields where human tissues have been assimilated by the soil. What's the difference?

While what I am saying is horrible and immoral, that is really the point. It is immoral and only something to be done in the deepest of desperation. Global starvation and complete lack of space to dispose of our dead is such a situation. Personally, I would rather just go throw myself in the ocean and not have to worry about being at either end of that situation, but it is something to think about.

The Ending and My Grade

Why this isn't given credibility isn't because it is a hokey 1970s movie..because it isn't. It is because none of the above has happened. It could have easily been set in the year 2100 and been far more likely, but the impact wouldn't be the same. We have a hard enough time planning for next year, so who can plan for 4 generations down the line?

What is weird is that some of the initial things in the book have happened. Yep, you heard me, they have happened. Certain ice disappearances and global temperature increases as well as sea surface temperature increases have happened, just not on schedule.

Enough of that, though! This is an incredible and moving film, which still entertains the sci-fi nut in all of us. I highly recommend this one as my personal favorite of the Heston Sci-Fi Triad.