Speculating Film: Another Earth (2011)
I can't tell you how I first learned about this film. It's just one of those that I found the trailer for and immediately fell in love with. It's a film that, the instant I saw the trailer, I absolutely had to see it no matter what.
I don't talk about movies very much here at Calico Reaction, but when it's some form of speculative fiction, I feel it's fair game. So I'll confess: I have a soft spot for small, indy SF films. Some of these films go on to get critical acclaim and reach some kind of cult status in terms of popularity, whereas others are largely ignored. Another Earth has been getting more than it's fair share of tepid reviews, so even though I wanted to love this film before I ever set foot in the theatre, I worked hard to reign in my expectations.
The synopsis:
In Another Earth, Rhoda Williams, a bright young woman accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs, has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child.
On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined.
I'm not going to spoil the movie for you. Rather, I want to talk about why it engages me and why it's worth giving a shot. Not only that, but to also give you an idea of what your expectations should be. Truly, if you take the definition of science fiction as a story that would completely collapse if you take out the science fictional element, then yes, this is science fiction. The whole concept of the duplicate Earth is absolutely critical to the entire story, from the very beginning to the very end. I've seen some argument by others saying this isn't the case, but I think they're forgetting what Rhoda was doing when she was driving home, which was when Earth 2 first appeared in the sky.
But as one of my friends said, it's a "relationship" story, and I hesitate to use that term. It's not a relationship story in that it's a romance. It'd be grossly unfair to slap that label on this movie and say that's all it is. Yet, the story is about two people whose lives have been irrevocably damaged and how this duplicate Earth effects their lives and how they interact with each other. One of the driving motivators in this story is that there's a lottery for ONE lucky person to win a free trip to visit Earth 2, and both of these characters have reasons for entering that lottery. Yet their reactions to said lottery are very, very different.
The movie's a bit of a mindfuck, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be. I think there's two ways to watch this movie, and I'm not sure which was is accurate (and to say this is not a spoiler). One way, you can view this movie as taking place on one Earth. So we're watching one Rhoda and one John. But the other way to watch it is to consider that perhaps Rhoda 1's story is intertwining with Rhoda 2's story, and in truth, I think there's little clues that lend credence to this latter viewing. For starters: keep an eye on the sky. At first, when you see the duplicate Earth, it's on the right side of the moon. But sometimes when you see it, it's on the left side of the moon. I'm sure there's all kinds of explanations for all of this, but once I noticed that, I started noticing how sometimes the narrative was jarring, something about the way the scenes are cut together, and then I started paying attention to, of all things, Rhoda's braid, which led me to pay attention to her job(s), which led me to think that one Rhoda was doing THIS thing, and the other Rhoda was doing THAT thing.
But yet you can easily watch this as one Rhoda doing BOTH things.
I don't know which is right. The ending gives you a jolt instead of an answer, but that's rather delightful. I want to watch the movie again and really revel in the mystery of whether or not I'm watching one Rhoda or two. I want to marvel once more at some really beautiful and human moments the movie gives us, like Wii boxing, which had me grinning like an idiot. Or the singing saw, which sounded like music of the spheres.
Yes, it's a "relationship" movie, but it's beautiful because it's human. It's about two people (technically three: Rhoda has a co-worker that partially reinforces the theme) who've been cut off from humanity and are trying, so hard, to find ways to reconnect. To find themselves again. To find answers. To find a second chance.
It's beautiful.
The movie's not without some inherent flaws: I mean in all reality, if another planet was THAT close to our own, there'd be some serious gravitational havoc happening on our planet. It's one of those things that, in order to enjoy the movie, you basically have to ignore, and for me, that was easy to do. There's something . . . romantic and beautiful about looking up in the sky and seeing your own planet, the very one you're standing on, and imagining what the other you is doing. What kind of different life the other you might be leading or if, perhaps, there's nothing different at all. But I'm a sucker for parallel universes and parallel worlds, so I'm THE target audience for this kind of film.
But I will say it's just the right kind of movie for people who aren't sure if they'll like SF and are afraid to try it. There's a sense of wonder here, but it's a very human story with very human characters and the science fictional element is a character in and of itself (while also being a metaphor, which worked for me, but not for others). I won't say this movie is right for everyone, but it's worth watching to find out.
Click to viewThe website's rather interesting (click here), and something to note is that the lead actress, Brit Marling, also co-wrote the script, which makes me happy on a number of levels. Randomly speaking, if they ever decide to make Carrie Vaughn's Kitty-novels into a movie or television show, I think Brit Marling would make a fantastic Kitty Norville. She's got the look. Also, I absolutely adore this poster. If I were still in college, it'd be hanging prominently on my dorm room walls.
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