Contact
directed by Robert Zemeckis

Never have I seen a more impressive 'real' Science Fiction movie in recent years. Sure, there have been SF movies like Men In Black, Mars Attacks! and Independence Day but those cater for the parody side of SF with little regard for 'real' science fiction. Not so with Contact. Not since watching 2001: A Space Odyssey have I seen a movie that shows Science Fiction 'the way it should be'.

Contact follows the life of scientist Eleanor Arroway (played marvelously by Jodie Foster) from her childhood where she becomes 'obsessed' with making contact with other people (via HAM radios) and with astronomy (introduced by her father), to her trials and tribulations in trying to keep the SETI (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence) project alive, to when she first receives the alien signal to the climax where she is encased in the machine that would send her to meet the originators of the message.

What I enjoyed most about the movie is the way scientist were portrayed: as real human beings with real feeling and obsessions and, when it comes to the crunch, have principles. For example, throughout the movie, Dr. Arroway is portrayed as a scientist who believes that facts must be supported by scientific evidence. At the end of the movie, when Dr. Arroway is asked whether they (a committee investigating the project) should accept her account of the journey just on her hearsay, (i.e. on faith without any evidence to back up her story), she pauses, and answers, "No." In the hands of another director, I doubt it would have turned out this way and it would have disappointed me. Contrast this to Elisabeth Shue's performance as a scientist in The Saint which I found absolutely appalling.

The technical details in the movie are, while science-fictional, have a marvelous authentic feel to it. The discovery and interpretation of the message in the signal 'feels' right (contrast that with the ludicrous ease as which a computer virus was uploaded into a totally alien computer system in Independence Day).

The journey of Dr. Arroway through the wormholes was a marvelous experience and also recalls David Bowman's journey through the Star Gate in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most striking scene in the movie was the gradual closeup on her face as she stares out into the centre of the galaxy. At certain points in that scene, a face of an innocent wide-eyed child was imposed on it. To me, that was a brilliant decision by the director. Instead of giving us a (possibly) CGI image of the universe which may look blase to today's audience, he shows us the 'look of wonder' such an image may invoke in a person instead.

Unfortunately, the movie does have it jarring points. I don't see the point of introducing President Clinton into the movie and saying generic things about "investigating options" or "interpreting messages". It only spoils the flow of the movie.

Even so, this is a marvelous movie that shows what a 'real' science-fiction movie can be, if enough effort is put into it by the directors and actors.

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Contact directed by Robert Zemeckis

Contact
directed by Robert Zemeckis