In his much needed directing debut, the master creator of
Star Wars George Lucas, revealed one of his many cultural significant films. In
THX 1138, the future society is in complete totalitarianism. Much like 1984,
the idea of free thought is taken away but it is free will that is the prime
focused theme of this dystopia. In THX 1138, many human practices have been
outlawed including sexual intercourse and yet citizens of this society are
subjected to daily drug inducing which results are usually mind altering. The
film itself lacked luster from the characters (with the exception of Robert
Duvall) because they all have shaved heads and wear similar clothing, however
the cinematography with use of lights and color in the picture added a another level
of depth and intrigue to really bring out the image of the dystopian theme. The
scene that stood out to me the most is was obviously the ending. I found that
as Robert Duvall is trying to escape, the police try to talk him out of
escaping by saying that “you have nowhere to go” which sort of makes a parallel
to 1984 with the opening scene in the theater. The parallel is how the
authority is trying to manipulate its people into giving up their will and in
THX 1138, the police are trying to prevent Robert Duvalls character from
escaping thus empowering his freedom. When he finally climbs to freedom, he
discovers that the city is actually underground and he was actually living in
the real world for once. The ending brought the entire film together and brought
back one of the greatest philosophers of all time, Plato and his “Allegory of
the Cave”.
the "Allegory of the Cave" in simple form is that people are chained in the bottom of cave and are forced to watch a wall of shadows of images. The theory goes that once someone unchained or freed themselves, they could see the puppeteers who display the images and then escape the cave. Upon leaving the cave, the prisoner discovers the real world and is able to see the life for what it really was instead of someone telling them what to believe. It is clear that Lucas got his influence to create the film form Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave". I find that Platos theory has been one of, if not, the greatest theory that has inspired film makers to use the theme of unshackle yourself from the cuffs of oppression and see the world for what it really is.
I think you made a great connection between this film and the "Allegory of the Cave". There are so many dystopian films that not only use this idea metaphorically but also implement the actual "cave" so as to heighten the contrast between oppression and enlightenment. Like THX 1138, the City of Ember series contains a failing underground society from which a couple of citizens escape to reach the enlightenment and freedom that is offered above. I think that in both of these movies, there is an emphasis on color. As you mentioned briefly, "...the cinematography with use of lights and color in the picture added a another level of depth and intrigue to really bring out the image of the dystopian theme". In these films, the underground societies are monochromatic lacking any stimulation of color. In contrast, the "above" world is filled with colors of such intensity that they must take up the whole screen.
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