naq-1

This is a very contrived piece of work in that it uses a technique which would never stand up in another art form -- sort of similar to eating dessert before the main meal, and then starting on the salad, and then having appetizers, and seeing them all spread out while you can only eat a small part of each one at a given time -- delivering a meal like this would get a chef and/or waiter fired at a restaurant. It compares to the idea of "Stunt Casting" (a classic example: casting Paris Hilton as Mother Teresa) -- this is the directing equivalent, where the Director just fishes out any scene they feel like and then showing it -- maybe sort of like an artist taping a banana to a wall and putting a price tag on it, or the urinal on a wall which was supposed to be an artistic statement. Sure, anything can be art, but does it stand the test of time? Not really. The angle that the Director takes to the subject is as important as the subject themself. When this is missing, there is an emptiness to the project. I for one cannot tell what it is that makes Eno a great artist as well, I only know that I like what he creates from a musical perspective but this documentary doesn't give me any kind of insight into it -- it just slams me with one idea after another and then I completely forget what the previous scene was all about and ultimately ignore whatever it was anyway.

The opening segment sets up a premise that the last people on earth are of two kinds -- one, represented by the protagonist, named "Ish" (short for Isherwood?) who is a survivalist, and the only other two, Ann and Milt, who are both fatalists, preferring to get drunk instead of doing something to improve themselves or at least provide for a positive outcome.

These three personalities clash in a completely empty Las Vegas (MGM Grand Hotel), and Ish is entirely ready to ditch the two and go off on his own, to whatever fate he expects to find.

The opening is unusually quiet, reflective, and poetic. It is suffused with the rare quality of a European narrative, one in which personalities are used as a kind of metaphor for larger explorations of humanity's purpose.

The story avoids any of the usual man-versus-man, where everyone approaches each other at the barrel of a gun, the typical apocalyptic storyline. This one allows each of the characters a quiet space to present their individual purpose, and then allows them to go wherever that purpose leads.

When we see the lead character Ish at the end, it is clear that he is going to be the kind of personality that endures, and will find a community that accepts him and is willing to take the necessary steps to go forward in a positive direction.

This series has a great deal of similarity to one which was made in the 1960's in England called "Survivors" which was remade again in the 2000's as the same name, but on a much less thoughtful scale. The original Survivors was presented a microcosm of humanity under a pandemic and showed the few immune characters as a community that needed to establish law and order to enable civilization to begin over. In the re-make, the storylines revolved around guns, and who was more violent in the attempt to take over.

"Earth Abides" seems to follow more closely the original "Survivors" -- an intelligent discussion of the outcome of a pandemic in which only a minuscule number manages to remake society and how they can do it cooperatively.

An exceptional piece of acting, as well as directing and writing. This story is so real that a viewer feels like they have been to Afghanistan, and experienced all the anger and frustration of being a stranger in a strange land.

Tina herself stands apart from the rest of the world of the film and is only redeemed by the action that she takes when she gets to the point of confronting her supervisor in a scene where she is clearly being shunned aside, as the television audience can no longer absorb the realities of the Afghanistan dilemma.

The film is skillfully executed by everyone in the crew, from the Production Designer, to the Costumer, to the Cinematographer and everyone else on set. The one shortcoming is the fact that in order to condense the book into a palatable length, a great many scenes are truncated, and some of them are almost indecipherable.

The only complaint I have is that I feel as though I am missing a large portion of backstory to what happens over the course of the time Kim Baker (Tina's character) is in country and the many scenes of drunken release after each near-disaster seem to blend all together.

But the film is none the less riveting, and every scene is absolutely devastating, leaving one completely in awe of the talent of the amazing cast and crew.