When a lethal virus spreads all over the world, doctors, scientists, bureaucrats and international organizations do everything in their power to find a vaccine in a short time frame.
I heard people say they were disappointed because the film didn’t deliver the pack of actions expected probably. But trailers generally are misleading and one should never judge a book by its cover. Contagion does not follow the « traditional » way where the outbreak is represented with conventional extreme events, big cities on the brink of the abyss. Some of the ingredients are still there: panic, killings, robberies, quarantine, etc but we those are only how we would react to a critical situation. When he came to Paris to defend Contagion, Steven Soderbergh explained it is meant to be sober, realistic and more intimate. He went on: « That is the reason why there were no shots of any other infected locations where the main characters have not been ».
The screenplay was developed some time after the H1N1 flu and the frustration it generated. Some parts of the movie raise debate concerning relevant issues? Who’s likely to take profits from this: pharmaceutical industries, WHO, governments? Or when the vaccines will be ready, who is gonna get them first? And then we see the ludicrous lottery system. Be that as it may, in my opinion, the biggest plot point of the movie is how the development of information circulation and social networking have made it easier to spread disinformation or manipulate public opinion. Now is the time when anyone can be heard and apparently, it is not always good.
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| Steven Soderbergh (credits: http://actu-film.com/film/contagion/) |
Memorable quote:
Lyle Haggerty: When the world goes out, there will be a run on the banks, gas stations, grocery stores, you name it
Dr Ellis Cheever : But people will panic, the virus will be the least of their worries, people tip over now
Lyle Haggerty: We just need to make sure that nobody knows until everybody knows
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