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| Matt Damon and Alice Braga in Elysium |
A Review of Elysium by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, R
USCCB Rating, L
Reel Rating, Four Reels
Neill
Blomkamp’s sophomore effort feels quite a bit like his first film District 9 only with a much bigger budget
and A-list actors. It inhabits the same gritty sci-fi world and explores the themes
of xenophobia, immigration, class struggle, and people exploding in a horrific
fashion. What Elysium adds is an
archetypal narrative to its story making it a worthy entry alongside this
year’s Man of Steel in the
increasingly large canon of Christ figures. It’s not the masterpiece we
expected from such a great directorial start, but it is a spectacular
meditation on modern dilemmas that affirms the basic shared dignity of all
humans regardless of social categories.
Like
C.S. Lewis, Blomkamp does not paint with a subtle brush. From the first few
minutes of the film, it is explained that the 1% have left Earth to live in on
a space station paradise called Elysium with no pain, disease, or aging while
the rest of humanity is left on the polluted, overpopulated planet to lead
short lives of misery building the police robots that will ultimately keep them
in their place. All that’s missing is an operatic solo from Jean Valjean. If a
person is lucky, he can get a ticket from a space coyote to be illegally
transported to Elysium, not to live or work, but simply to reach the miracle Med-Pods
that will cure any illness or disability instantly before being found and
deported. These scenes are harrowing because every person who lives south of San Francisco knows the
truth is even worse. Immigrants don’t come to the United States because they want to
break laws; they come to work long, difficult hours in the fleeting promise of a
better life for their families. There’s a beautiful moment early in the film
where Max and his star crossed lover Frey look longingly as children towards
Elysium, which stands out in the sky like the moon. For those of the third
world, the United States
may as well be another celestial body, totally removed from their everyday
reality and just as wondrous to their imagination.
Soon
Max’s dream to go to Elysium becomes a terrible necessity. He is exposed to a
lethal dose of radiation and has only days to live. In an act of blind desperation,
he agrees to steal bank codes from a wealthy executive in return for a ticket
up. Unbeknownst to him, the codes also contain a reboot signal for Elysium’s
entire system as part of a coup by the sinister Secretary Delacourt, the head
of security for Elysium who believes the President is too soft on the
immigrants. This film could have easily turned into a Marxist class struggle
ending in the rise of the proletariat. Instead, the villain is not the rich but
those like Delacourt who have little concern for the sacredness of life. It’s a
refreshing shift. However, the obvious disparity in class remains and its
injustice is ever present. The starkest example is the difference in how the
classes relate to one another. The rich are totally dependant on technology and
clueless to the complexities of the normal life, including how their society is
supported by the people on Earth. The poor rely on each other. When they need
help, they band together. This is why Jesus indentifies with the poor. We all
need the community and the grace of God, but it’s much easier to experience
without possessions. This also explains manna’s poor self life.
Once
Max reaches Elysium, his character suddenly shifts to reveal a new element of
the plot that brings the film to a whole new level. Rather than simply saving
himself, he has the opportunity to reboot the system and make everyone citizens
of Elysium, but only through terrible personal cost. Jesus said there is “no
greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend,” and there is no
greater poverty and material detachment than letting go of life, what St.
Ignatius would call “holy indifference.” Throughout the film, the weaker,
poorer people end up conquering the rich because they have relationships with
one another. At first Max is only concerned with curing himself and has only
mixed success. Once he decides to help Frey’s ill daughter, he becomes strong
and defeats the enemy. Evil can only use strength and hate, not weakness, love,
or self-sacrifice.
Elysium’s biggest detractor is its
excessive violence and vulgar language. It’s not just that it has a lot of
violence, but Blomkamp invents futuristic guns that obliterate people into tiny
gobs of flesh that unnecessarily splatter everywhere, or as my friend put it
“people juice.” It happens so often, in both his films, that it becomes
cartoonish which undermines the universal dignity of all people. Granted, when
good people die their deaths are slow and tragic, but Christ commanded the love
of enemies. Blomkamp has an endless imagination but unfortunately this problem
has also become one of his hallmark features.
Most
films are consistently good or bad throughout the story. Elysium, along with a few others like Black Robe, is a rare film that starts weak or mediocre and
suddenly blossoms with artistic and emotional fury. Max’s sacrifice reboots
the system allowing everyone to become a citizen of Elysium, automatically
sending medical assistance to Earth curing countless multitudes. Through the
blood of Christ, all people can realize their destiny and become citizens of
the Kingdom of God
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on August 16th, 2013. http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2504/elysium_flawed_scifi_film_displays_vision_and_conscience.aspx#.UjSkedKsg_o
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