THX 1138 - A look at the present? (THX 1138 (DVD))

Member Name: paddythedaddy

Product:	THX 1138 (DVD)
Date:	07/02/01 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A look at Society

Disadvantages: I wish he made it when technology was better

THX 1138 is a film that came from the clever mind of a man that also invented the 'Star Wars Universe'.

The film itself is set in the near future where humans are almost homogenous and are happy to take mind altering drugs to supress their natural instincts and to conform to a society that expects only hard work.

George Lucas was a clever man with this film, after his cult success with 'American Graffitti', he created a film that could either be watched and thought of as 'scary' or when looked into more deeply could be regarded as 'terrifyingly thought provoking'. The acting within the film is of a fairly high standard, Robert Duvall playing well the 'man who wants to know more', something that we all perhaps aspire to.

The parallels to Lucas' story and the idea of Capatalism are clearly evident if you start to look through the cleverly created plot. It shows how we are all 'sheep' following goals that we rarely truly comprehend, we work towards something for the good of society almost numb to our own wants. (Ever felt like this after a hard day at work?)

Lucas makes constant pokes at society, showing how social deviants will be put back into line ( a la Big Brother - 1984) by monotonous robots that are programmed to react like mis-informed councillors. The jibes at religion are tongue in cheek, as Duvall visits a computerised confession box which offers advice from a script. Are we to believe that Lucas is an atheist? I would say no, merely that Lucas is trying to show how we worship false gods and rely too much upon them, by this I mean the materialism which we choose to shrowd our lives with.

The main point of the film for me was the fact that people rarely questioned what they were doing. Humans walk around in a drug induced state, believing everything they are told and doing what 'society' calls of them. In real life we are guided by the media and our knowl
edge is defined by what we read in the papers and what we are told on TV. Lucas showed this well with one of the underlying conclusions being that we never really see just WHO or WHAT is behind the control's of the way that we think.

On a lighter note, the film is well directed for a first stab at Sci-Fi, bearing in mind the year it was made. It is frighteningly plain and bright, with confusingly brilliant montages of voices and images behind the scenes of life, guiding the humans in their daily routines.

It is not the easiest film to watch, but it is a must see for any star wars fan wanting an insight into the strange mind of its creator. A creator which in fact, it could be argued, fell into his own materialistic trap by becoming one of the richest men on the planet and guiding the way that society thinks!?

You won't get any of the cutesy visual 'wipes' or character development which Lucas has become famous for. It would appear his childhood liking for westerns where the obviously good meet the obviously evil and good wins, was not his main priority in this film. Perhaps the fact that Lucas had not been out of film school for long and his friend, mentor (and it would appear financial benefactor) Coppolla was making films that provoked thought and judgement, spurned Lucas to make a film that would be critically acclaimed for years to come.

Please note, this is just my opinion, please leave a comment!!

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