ELYSIUM

The Ancient Greeks believed that a place called Elysium was where we went after we died. They believed it was  another level of existence – one of happiness and warmth – and that it was reserved for those of us The Gods deemed worthy and righteous.

Were those same Greeks around now, they might be dismayed to learn that places of happiness and warmth are no longer earned and shared; they are bought and kept.

ELYSIUM is the story of Earth in the year 2154. By then we have brought so much overpopulation, disease, and environmental damage to the planet, that a luxurious space station named Elysium has been built in our orbit. There the super-rich live in a virtual utopia.

Back down on Earth, a man named Max (Matt Damon) is just trying to make his way through the world after making man mistakes early on in life. One day while on his way to work, he is injured after an altercation with police. In seeking treatment for his broken arm, he is reunited with his childhood friend Frey (Alice Barga), who is now a nurse. When max looks to reconnect with her, she gently warns him that he life “is complicated”.

Meanwhile, on Elysium, a bureaucrat named Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), is looking to both defend the community’s way of life, and further her own career. Whether or not she does it legally isn’t of her concern. When her position is threatened by Elysium’s leader, she decides that a power play is order. For that she will need help from Earth, both in the form of defence contractor John Carlyle (William Fichtner), and mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

These two situations overlap one day when Max gets injured at work. Turns out he works for Carlyle’s munitions company, and it’s a job that he needs to keep so badly that he’ll put himself in harm’s way. Doing so puts him in dire straits, and leaves him so crippled that only a trip to Elysium can save his life. On Elysium, there are MRI-like machine’s called Med-Pods, and they can identify and cure any ailment that can befall a person.

Not only will infiltrating Elysium require him going head-to-head with Delacourt, Carlyle, and Kruger…but it will also bring Frey and her complications into the action in ways that spark great risk, but perhaps also great reward.

Some of the very best science fiction stories are a bit rough around the margins. They sometimes feel a little too earth-bound, perhaps a little bit to heavy-handed, or contain entire sequences that leave us bewildered. However, it’s those imperfections that allow these stories to stand out. They are not the tales of the gleaming white spaceships seeking out new worlds and new adventures; they are the legends of the grimy, grey, worlds that built those ships…and the people who have to make their way through lives where much is possible, but not for them.

Seeing someone soar on man-made wings is nice; learning about the man who knows about the wings, and why he can’t soar with them is better.

What we’re introduced to with the character of Max in ELYSIUM, is a character who is told early on “Don’t dream”. He is discouraged from wanting to go to Elysium because those who raise him feel that it won’t be his destiny. He isn’t told that to get there he’ll need to work very hard, or be very lucky. He’s just told “That’s not in the cards”. What sort of mindset does that instil in a child? That they shouldn’t even bother trying for a better life? Could it lead them to a life of immorality, or a life where they’ll do dangerous things just to keep the status quo? Probably.

However, in misleading Max so badly, the nun that teaches him as a child manages to do something right. She shows him that while Elysium looks so beautiful up in the atmosphere, the view of Earth from Elysium is equally beautiful. From up there, it’s just a glorious big blue marble, and none of its poverty, disease, or pollution are tangible. She’s teaching him the valuable lesson that so much in life seems desirable from a distance. Whether it’s the distance of physical space, or the distance of time, so many things come with a lustre. What’s important is to see past that lustre, and understand the object of desire for what it is. Only then can one avoid coveting the unattainable, or even that which one should not covet.

It feels like these matters of class and privilege are matters that director Neil Blomkamp understands well. His films come with flaws, often caused by forsaking the science in the name of the fiction. Like his previous film, DISTRICT 9, Blomkamp gives himself over to thrilling action in the late-going, and in doing so drifts away from the moral of the story. While it’s an unfortunate decision since it keeps us from learning more about the class divide – and specifically the hidden costs of living on Elysium – it’s no so unfortunate that it sinks the whole film.

Blomkamp avoids that by giving us a story of one man who never stopped believing that the worthy and the righteous could be rewarded. Max’s quest is both a selfish piece of self-preservation, and a last-ditch attempt at being the man he always wanted to be. It sheds the greater “Occupy Elysium” themes and brings it back down to a personal level…where a person who doesn’t own the wings still finds a way to fly.

Matineescore: ★ ★ ★ 1/2 out of ★ ★ ★ ★
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