Where the release feature of the Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia claim is amazing The platform led by TIFF, it was widely praised as the most accessible, accessible science fiction / fantasy of global economic inequality. Six months later, since the movie's demise on Netflix, it sounds like a completely different story.
The intended message, about the inequalities of a system in which a small group of people have limited access to wealth and power, as well as the ability to deny any basic tools of life to their subordinates, is still loud and clear. But in the coronavirus era, when an increasing number of citizens are being asked or ordered to abstain from their homes move the curve of the epidemic
Ivan Massagué stars as Goreng, a genius, and the kind of scholar who opens the film by waking up in a large empty concrete cell marked “48.” The only signs are: two beds, a small toilet / toilet setup, and a rectangular hole that connects the space for the same cells above and below, as far as Gore can see. His cell mate, the oldest man known by the name of Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), explains the rules of The Hole, where he is imprisoned. Once a day, a floating platform covered by a beautiful banquet descends from the floor upstairs, pausing for a few minutes at each level for the prisoners to eat. The catch is that food doesn't report as it goes down. Ngong and Trimagasi, who are in section 48, choose from the remaining areas that have been destroyed by 47 pairs of prisoners. After getting their short break from the meal, the platform will go down and present their remains in cell 49, below.
There are many more rules in The Hole, some of which are more annoying and weird than this first set. But finding them when they start working is pretty amazing The platform. Each new revelation is rational, embodied – there are actually ways people behind The Hole prevent people from continuing to eat in their cells, and Ngong and Trimagasi are arrested for various reasons that speak of Hole's lofty purpose – but screenwriters David Desola and Pedro Rivero have a bad sense of humor, and feel a sense of timing. The institution's tort cells are unhealthy and simple, without many obvious narrative possibilities, but the authors assure that there is always a new aspect of the scene that emerges to shock and disturb the audience. As soon as one situation solves, they move to something completely different.
At first, the film begins as a play by two men, somewhere between Samuel Beckett & # 39; s aimless gatherings Waiting for Gotot, as well as the helluva-helpless-some-people of Jean-Paul Sartre & # 39; s No Exit. Ngong and Trimagasi understand each other, first at the speed of the first interpretation, and later in the numbered series revealing what is relevant to the events of the story. One important revelation: every month, everyone in the institution is attacked by nails and moved to a new level, seemingly planned. So as some in the cell weigh the values of what they will eat from daily purchases, and what they will leave to their subordinates, they are faced with the fact that in 30 days, they may be first in the army instead – or finally, and face a daily platform covered with empty plates and clean dishes. .
That last detail is a thrill The platform from a place of high-level dreams it is not circular to the examination of obvious and rational behavioral thinking. Ngcu realizes early on that the platform is about to launch at level 0 with enough food for everyone at the center, but that more selfish people have all the food they can eat, leaving some people underneath to starve. And as the Trimagasi puts it, that's not just short-sighted violence, either: a person blessed in level 2 might want to gain enough weight to survive a month at the 150th level. But Trimagasi also has a fever and despise anyone who clings to the lower levels: in his eyes, the people above him are greater, and the people below are lower. In his eyes, there is no point in trying to change a system, or adapting his actions for the benefit or approval of another person.
It is possible to inform The platform excessive on a physical level, such as a scary tale made of a gradual burning by being caught up with bad people under adverse conditions. Much like Bong Joon-Ho & # 39; s Snow ice, the process is not set, except to put down the action. But in the era of living, when people are increasingly being brought into their homes with their loved ones, the situation can feel very real, and the scientific inventions do not change that figure. Due to high energy play, great performance and ski conditions, The platform it shakes the feeling that the characters have no other options other than to open to one another, as they can't reach the knocking forces.
Prison construction adds to that sense of limitations. It is a simple, unreliable set of sterile, delicate releases that the details fit together. But Gaztelu-Urrutia finds many ways to get closer to her to get a sense of urgency, or to bring out a sense of scale, to ensure that cinematography is never dull, and space never ceases to be alien and depressing. Despite the simplicity of space and effects, The platform Visible and memorable. It looks like a real-drenched version of Vincenzo Natal
But the metaphor is very rich inside The platform. Trimagasi's self-satisfied petrol, his determined attitude, to avoid any kind of self-examination or change, is far worse than anything else in the story. In the end, the film goes awry, but the physical violence feels a little more relaxing after a long time watching Trimagasi try to infect Ngong with his apathy, while Foreng desperately wants to express any sympathy at all. . And when some people get into a debate about social responsibility, the film begins in the necessary ways, but still pushes Goreng down with the feeling of being the only logical person in the fantasy world. The message that he can control the functioning of other people, apart from limited and inhumane ways, is not loud. But that makes it as convincing and relevant as a thought experiment: there are no easy answers here.
There is a shocking Lovecraftian sense of The platform, because the characters are stuck in a big, carefree place they do not fully understand, and the answers do not. But also most alarming, even in the politics of Trinagasi's automatic conviction, his full confidence that his selfishness is the most rational way to behave, no matter who defines it. While The platform Made in Spain, it certainly sounds fitting right now for America, and for the ongoing political battles amid the myriad of billionaires trying to consolidate power, and everyone clinging to the stocks beneath them, piling up on anything deceptive.
But when there is nothing funny about growing wealth inequality, The platformThe saving grace is its sweet sense of humor. Desola and Rivero (who made a cameo in the film, see comment below) pack the script in brief moments of interruption that surprise and relax. In a high-impact film about the great pressure of capitalism, it is entertaining and intriguing. Seriously, though, it's just amazing. It's a movie made for people who love their imagined and worthwhile future fantasy, and made for people who enjoy the runaway train feeling of not knowing where a particular story is going next. It's a kind of escape, a relief that is focused on action from feeling overwhelmed by an epidemic, but also completely absorbing that feeling.
The platform streaming on Netflix now.