For those clamoring for more from sci-fi director Neill Blomkamp, a new still from his upcoming film Elysium is sure to whet your appetite. The film is described as follows: “In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium – but that doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. Max (Matt Damon) agrees to take on a life-threatening mission, one that could bring equality to these polarized worlds.”
What I like best about the image is how low-tech it seems to be. This is not a world where the future is glossy and shiny. In fact, if one looked at the image at a glance, it could be hard to tell that this is a science fiction film. Everything from the dim lighting, to the weapon suggests a cobbled-togetherness that seems more in step with a survival movie then sci-f featurei. But that seems to be part of what makes many excited for the film: the very fact that it is grounded in reality at a level most science fiction rarely is. I personally get the sense that the science fiction will only be a backdrop to the emotional arc of the story, similar to how District 9 was far more character-based as opposed to focusing on the mythology of the prawns. Blomkamp succeeded with District 9 using those story parameters, and it will be interesting to see if Elysium does the same.
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