Review: Soderbergh's "Contagion" paints a terrifying, realistic portrait of a worldwide epidemic
www.jonathanlack.com
Film Rating: A- Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” is an exquisite example of how narrative structure informs the success of a film. It aspires to illustrate what the realistic impact of a worldwide epidemic would be in modern times and, in doing so, unsettle and provoke the audience. To achieve this, Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns employ not a classical three-act structure, but a web of interrelated stories occurring across the globe that highlight every major facet of the crisis. The film moves linearly, but not traditionally: there is little in the way of exposition or set-up, no one can be defined as the ‘main character’ or protagonist, there is no antagonist (unless one counts the virus itself as such), characters are not easily categorized as “good” or “bad,” and the scenario does not progress courtesy of calculated set-ups and pay-offs, but through a series of natural, often ineffable cause and effect. By employing this sort of stripped-down, grounded narrative structure, the film achieves absolute realism. This, above all else, is what makes “Contagion” such a wildly terrifying, thought-provoking, and rewarding experience.
Review: Soderbergh's "Contagion" paints a terrifying, realistic portrait of a worldwide epidemic
Review: Soderbergh's "Contagion" paints a…
Review: Soderbergh's "Contagion" paints a terrifying, realistic portrait of a worldwide epidemic
Film Rating: A- Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” is an exquisite example of how narrative structure informs the success of a film. It aspires to illustrate what the realistic impact of a worldwide epidemic would be in modern times and, in doing so, unsettle and provoke the audience. To achieve this, Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns employ not a classical three-act structure, but a web of interrelated stories occurring across the globe that highlight every major facet of the crisis. The film moves linearly, but not traditionally: there is little in the way of exposition or set-up, no one can be defined as the ‘main character’ or protagonist, there is no antagonist (unless one counts the virus itself as such), characters are not easily categorized as “good” or “bad,” and the scenario does not progress courtesy of calculated set-ups and pay-offs, but through a series of natural, often ineffable cause and effect. By employing this sort of stripped-down, grounded narrative structure, the film achieves absolute realism. This, above all else, is what makes “Contagion” such a wildly terrifying, thought-provoking, and rewarding experience.