The day the earth stood still
Posted on April 20, 2009
Filed Under East meets West, Guest Columnist | 1 Comment
By Maya Williams
If the earth dies, you die! If you die, the earth survives!
The film, a remake of the original 1951 film, makes us wonder about our existence on planet earth. Klatu – Keanu Reeves is an Alien who lands in the Central park in Manhattan inside his sphere – spaceship guarded by a giant robot – sentinel (Gort in the original 1951 film), causing a tremendous chaos all over earth.. Dr. Helen Benson – Jennifer Connelly on the other hand, is a scientist, step mom to a very young kid which she takes care of alone while at the same time works as a scientist among the elite ones on earth. She and a group of other scientists are gathered to watch Klatu’s landing on earth. Klatu’s spaceship, a giant sphere is identical to many others which have landed all over earth causing a terrible mess and chaos regarding their existence. His robot – guard, is a human figure giant maschine, defending all the time against human attacks (humans are so helpless in front of it). As Helen belongs to the elite scientists of the entire planet she is one of those who are testing and examining Klatu and after the secretary of defence finds out that Klatu is not giving her the answers she expects, Helen is asked to inject Klatu with a fluid which Helen does not do! She injects him with a harmless fluid and whispers to him “Run”. This is the start to their friendship!
Klatu escapes the military facilities in a spectacular way, reminding humans that they are helpless in front of him and he tries to fulfil his mission which is to save earth. But the only person he knows is Hellen! The only person able to help him! Helen meets the Alien and so does her son. Klatu meets a mom and her kid. The movie describes human nature in a remarkable way: Whatever is different humans destroy, whatever humans are afraid of they kill, whatever does not react as humans do they terminate, whatever is unidentified and unknknown they bomb! Humans – the mightiest – the strongest own earth!
“So..tell me, what are you doing in our planet?
Your planet?
Yes this is our planet!
No..it is not!”
Klatu is here to save earth, at least that’s what he tells Hellen, yes he is here to save earth…But as Hellen figures ou later on, Klatu is here to save earth FROM US! He is an executioner who has to decide whether to let humans live or not. Hellen is trying to help him change his mind! At the end of the film, a strong electromagnetical wave unleashed causes the destruction of any technological device, nothing artificial works anymore, even watches stop working. So, the sounds of nature start revealing, birds, insects. Sounds completely forgotten and coverd by the mechanical sounds of our times. Focused in technology which drags us out of what we really are, we live and work isolated having completely forgotten who we really are. We are nature’s kids, earth is our home, our life depends on it, our existence, our future.. The movie, carries out a message about human relationships, about love and about respect to our nature. We are condemned to get destroyed if we do not understand what we do to ourselves. By destroying the planet we are living on, we destroy ourselves, by not respecting life on this planet, we show disrespect to our own nature. This is really the point we should focus on and the key to hapiness. Love and respect who we really are. Remember where we are and be serious about what we do.
Maybe “At The End, We Change..”
Directed by Scott Derrickson.
Cast
Keanu Reeves – Klaatu, Jennifer Connelly – Dr. Helen Benson, Kathy Bates – SecDef Regina Jackson,
Jaden Smith – Jacob Benson, John Cleese – Professor Barnhardt, Jon Hamm – Michael Granier,
Kyle Chandler, John Driscoll Robert Knepper – Colonel, James Hong – Mr. Wu
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Interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00J0S9JRyzM
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Interesting subject…