As soon as the film came up, it was the urban feel of the retro-future of "Blade Runner". This gloomy and dark feeling also fits perfectly with the theme of the film.
First of all, there are a lot of circular spiral symbols in the film. The titles, the symbols carved on the prostitutes, the coffee in the cup, the shape of the whole city…
And John looking at his own fingerprints.
These all seem to imply something on a conscious level.
There is also a scene where there is a sand table maze in the doctor's office. One of the rats is looking for an exit.
Suddenly I remembered that Dolores' awakening in "Westworld" was also inspired by a similar maze.
And the male protagonist of this film, John, has amnesia, which coincides with the awakening of his conscious mind. It seems that John is looking for memory, but he is actually discovering human nature and personality.
The aliens in the film have no individual consciousness. They rely entirely on common consciousness to create cities, and create others through their mind power. And John's individual consciousness awakening also gave him the willpower to resist. Common ideas are powerful, but let them lose their creativity, and it's no wonder that aliens are dying. Personality makes people, not memory. Memory is just a follow-up. Without the premise of personality cognition, there is no real person.
The whole city is like a labyrinth, the city floating in the universe at the end of the film welcomes the sun, and the hero and heroine come to the seaside as the exit.
The film explores the consciousness of individuality and human nature. "Blade Runner" has a similar discussion. "Blade Runner" focuses on the reflection of consciousness machines, this film focuses on self-exploration. In fact, the image of the labyrinth is very suitable.
View more about Dark City reviews
