Movie of the
Week: "The Host"
Whenever we think
about aliens coming to Earth, it appears in our minds an apocalyptic vision of
monstrous beings destroying everything and enslaving humans. But what if they
came to save us from the destruction that we promote to ourselves? This is the
motto of the movie "The Host", inspired by the book by Stephenie
Meyer, author of the Twilight series.
In the opening
minutes of the film, the viewer is informed that Earth has changed. There is no
more hunger, wars and injustices. Everybody lives in harmony, and nature was
preserved. The problem is that Earth no longer belongs to humans.
The planet has
been invaded by a strange race of aliens that has the ability to adapt to the
body of an intelligent being, fully mastering his mind, his body and even his
memories. The majority of Earth's population has been dominated, leaving just a
few human resistants hiding fom the Seekers.
Melanie Stryder
(Saoirse Ronan), one of these fugitives, is cornered by the Seekers, and she
prefers to jump from a building, choosing death to avoid being dominated and
reveal the whereabouts of his brother and boyfriend.
But she is saved
by his pursuers, led to a healing center, where her wounds are treated, and her
body gets a Soul, as the aliens call themselves. Melanie receives Wanderer's
soul, a being who has ever lived a thousand years, in several different
planets.
But what seemed
to be a simple adaptation reveals being increasingly complicated as the
conscience of Melanie resists domination, and Wanderer, even controlling the
body, can not silence the voice inside it.
Increasingly
pressed by Seeker (Diane Kruger), Wanderer is startled to discover that she
will be removed from that body, and that it will be destroyed. Unable to agree
with someone's death, she flees into the wilderness in search of Melanie's
family.
After days
walking through the desert, she is found almost dead by Jeb Stryder (William
Hurt), the uncle of Melanie. Despite knowing that Melanie's body was dominated
by an alien, yet he does not allow anyone killing her. Reluctantly, the rest of
the group leads Wanderer to their hideout inside an ancient volcano.
Wanderer's
arrival causes great commotion in the group because Jared (Max Irons), her
boyfriend, and Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), her brother, have dificulties
dealing with someone who was so beloved, but now is controlled by another mind.
The situation is
complicated when Ian (Jake Abel), who at first tried to kill Wanderer, change
his attitude after being saved by her from certain death, and falls in love for
this strange creature that walks, talks and plays with the body of the
girlfriend of his friend ...
Some funny
situations happen due to this duality, which somewhat resembles the rivalry of
Edward and Jacob in Twilight, but now with a clear division in the heart of the
girl (or girls, of course).
The author of the
book participated of the movie as a producer, and had a voice in the choice of
director Andrew Niccol, who had directed two great sci-fi movies,
"Gattaca" and "In Time". Saoirse Ronan, who was nominated
for Supporting Actress for her role in "Atonement," did not need to
work hard to live Melanie / Wanderer. Who steals the show whenever appears is
the veteran actor William Hurt, showing that a king never loses his majesty.
The story of
Stephenie Meyer presents some interesting points, such as an utopian
civilization where there is no more competition and anger, hate or greed. But
there are not also typically human emotions, which intrigues Wanderer a lot.
The film makes
its bet on which would be the ideal world, neither that pasteurized Utopia of
the Souls, and neither the danned mess in which we live. We could even
associate the proposed philosophy with the message of "Astral City: A
Spiritual Journey" - indeed, the ambiance totally "clean"
remembers very much the idyllic spiritual town described by Chico Xavier.
Although the
romantic tones of the film disturbe the majority of critics, who can not break
away from the comparison with "Twilight", "The Host" brings
something new to the science fiction genre, an approach that evades the
sameness of Aliens and Predators.
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