1980s SF film

The Quiet Earth, 1984, New Zealand   DIRECTED BY GEOFF MURPHY
If you approach this film without knowing anything about its small cult following, it's the kind of movie about which it's worth looking for a few clues. The Quiet Earth is a strange mix of elements, beginning with a somewhat bizarre first thirty minutes as the scientist Zac, waking to find he's completely alone in the world, indulges himself in some exploratory cross-dressing, train sets and a delusional power trip. It's about at this point that you ask yourself just where all this is going, but then this weirdness is summarily dropped as he discovers two other people, a woman and a Maori man, and together they make an awkward triangle of sexual tensions as Zac decides what needs to be done about the scientific experiment he was involved in that removed everyone from Earth. Once again the film transforms and towards the end becomes almost a mainstream road movie. The down-to-earth and no nonsense performances of the trio hold no gloss and in some ways their sketchiness exposes all the flaws in this film while at the same time giving it character. Their inherent awkwardness also contrasts with the sweeping and memorable score (by John Charles) and the slick, enigmatic ending that is simply to die for. Or, maybe it's a cop-out. Either way, because of this famous finale there may be meanings that could be teased out of (or read into) this film, or there may not be. No matter, as I would just like to savour it a little longer because it delivered the best and most unexpected sensawunda hit of the day. Recommended.

November–December 2008: 10 best photos

flight
777 wing at Heathrow, England, early morning. ( 19 DECEMBER )

( + 9... )

1990s SF film

Supernova, 1999, USA   DIRECTED BY THOMAS LEE
This is another film in the prolific career of 'Alan Smithee': director 'Thomas Lee' is pseudonymous for Walter Hill, who abandoned the director's credit before Supernova's completion. Francis Ford Coppola then edited it into its final form, after which it was shelved for another year before being released without press previews in 2000. It's a slick enough film in appearance though the plot is straight out of the 1950s, involving the discovery of a nine-dimensional alien artifact and the resulting mayhem when it's brought aboard an interstellar medical ship. The main weak link is the superhuman bad guy who joins the crew, played by Peter Facinelli, who simply can't carry his central yet clichéd role with much conviction at all. James Spader is too low key and serious, Angela Bassett is charmless and functional in a role just about anyone else could have played. It's only the cheap dialogue that sometimes goes into total bollocks overdrive, the rest just follows meekly in the footsteps of It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Walter Hill said he had envisioned a film that was much darker in tone, but all we got was something visually pretty with a very predictable plot that could have taken up just fifteen minutes of a much more ambitious and cosmological vision. The alternate ending is better and more ambiguous, but otherwise this is the kind of disappointing result that comes from too much design-by-committee rather than a picture of one person's vision.