"The Martian" may be just a reality show

Winnifred 2022-03-21 09:01:09

Text/Gucheng

"Martian Rescue" has not taken the mantle of "Blade Runner", nor is it a continuation of "Alien" or "Prometheus", which may disappoint many sci-fi fans who admire Ridley Scott .

After all, the titles of "Blade Runner" and "Alien" series are too high. The former established the position of mutants (machined organisms) in the history of science fiction movies. The followers are the famous "Terminator 2" and " "Ghost in the Shell" and "The Matrix"; the latter created and perfected the evolutionary history of alien species (organisms that coexist with humans) through "Alien" and "Prometheus" (prequel to the "Alien" series), It can be called the modern version of "Evolution".

And "The Martian" is like the director's idle pen before filming the "Prometheus" sequel. At best, it is a Martian version of "Apollo 13", or grafted with "Gravity" and "Saving Private Thunder". The biggest selling point of "Robinson Crusoe" of "En" is how to use limited resources to complete several seemingly impossible tasks: the crew of the Hermes performed an exploration mission to Mars, and they retreated after encountering a sandstorm. The injured crew member Watney (Matt Damon) was left alone on Mars. The latter launched an extraterrestrial survival challenge in the absence of basic living supplies; at the same time, the talents of NASA also Need to complete the Earth supply and Martian rescue that spans hundreds of millions of kilometers in a limited time; finally, when his teammates reach the orbit of Mars, Watney will also take the "open-top" aircraft and Captain Lewis (Jessica Chastain) to complete space relay.

The above actions make "Martian Rescue" not look like Ridley Scott at first, at least it is far from the soft science fiction style that is deeply influenced by film noir. At the same time, the overly regular drama seems to make the film more crafty. The old way ("Columbus", "Robin Hood"), the film involves too old-fashioned topics, such as promoting personal heroism ("Gladiator"), performing sacrifices that cannot be accomplished ("Black Hawk Down"), or feminist Rebellion and Redemption ("The End of the Wild Flower"). However, audiences who are familiar with Scott will react quickly. It is already commendable to be able to put these elements into a shell that is "harder" than ordinary hard science fiction novels. This may be Scott's development of hard science fiction movies. Another attempt at Territory. As he said in the cover sketch of the script he drew for the movie himself, "I want to use science to do it on Mars" (science the shit out of this planet). This sentence is not only the survival statement of the protagonist of the film, but also expresses Scott Lian's premature sci-fi ambitions. What's interesting is that this sketch and this sentence used to orbit the earth for two weeks with the American Orion manned spacecraft in December 2014.

Generally speaking, the interest of "The Martian" is mainly in two aspects: one is to show the details of how people on Earth survive on Mars. For example, Watney, a botanist and mechanic, how to use "scientific knowledge" to grow potatoes on Mars. Watney first mixes organic fertilizer with volcanic ash-like Martian soil to create a soil with vitality, and then uses the decomposed hydrogen and oxygen elements to generate a continuous flow of water, and uses a plastic greenhouse to create a constant temperature and sustainable interior in the space capsule. Circular "ecological environment". Another example is Watney's discovery of the Mars rover in 1997. He combined the camera swing angle and hexadecimal encoding technology to communicate information with NASA engineers, which is full of wit. Of course, these tasks are not always smooth. The constant trial and error and various attempts to troubleshoot, coupled with the protagonist's self-entertaining ridicule and amusement, constitute an interesting guide to Mars survival.

On the other hand, it highlights the dissolution of the universe by personal existence. In traditional science fiction films about interstellar travel, the protagonist’s goal of action is to solve the deadlock of human beings, which may be racial ("Prometheus"), political ("Star Trek") or ideological ("Flying to Space") ), this is why scientists have repeatedly warned astronauts in "Interstellar Crossing" to consider issues from the perspective of the human population, and individuals are no longer important. In fact, in the calculations of scientists, no one has the right to decide whether the next generation of humans should be 5 million people or 5 million in vitro fertilized eggs.

The point of view of "The Martian" is condensed to one person, and his state of existence in space is the focus of all mankind (broadcasted by the media worldwide). Of course, NASA executives hesitated on the question of whether to save the protagonist. The logic is that the rest of the Hermes crew will return to Earth smoothly according to the established plan (saving 5 people), and the probability of Hermes returning to Mars with Water The probability of Ni returning to Earth again (saving 6 people) is relatively small, so we should choose to save 5 people "sensibly". If it weren’t for the “willingness” of the crew of the Hermes (an irrational “democracy” dominated by women’s guilt, the Hermes’ round-table voting), Watney’s right to survive as an individual has been changed by NASA. Deprived of a big collective, there is no Martian rescue at all. Therefore, the tenable logic of "Martian Rescue" is not the "democracy" universally propagated in the West, or the minority (Hermes crew) obeying the law of the majority (NASA), or the instrumental rationality preached by cynics. Use the power of "all the country and the city" to rescue an insignificant individual who is hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

Both "The Martian" and the original novel adopt a three-line narrative structure: Watney on Mars, crew on Hermes, and NASA on Earth. The film starts with a single point of view of Mars, and then as Watney is "abandoned", two viewpoints of Watney and the Hermes crew are differentiated, and then NASA's point of view that observes the failure of the Mars operation is brought out. The three-line narrative is intertwined and paralleled. The main theatrical tension that promotes the development of the film's plot, as Watney and the Hermes crew round off Mars, the three points merged into two points, and as the Hermes returned to Earth, the two points merged into one point. From the beginning and the end of the film, the single point of view is Watney's field of vision. The difference is that the starting point is the vast surface of Mars and the end point is the same vast surface of the earth. On Mars, he has been saying to himself, "I am a colonist of Mars." , "I am a space pirate", and he who returned to Earth is a grief after the catastrophe, still snickering the great other of the "Martian colonizer", we only see the protagonist's individual destiny, and the space of the universe is no longer known. Whereabouts.

What’s interesting is that the whole process of rescuing Watney on the TV screen was broadcast live 24 hours a day around the world. His various actions on Mars were watched by global audiences. The Lost Mars was like a carefully planned reality show, even occasionally. The exploding foul language was also silenced by the director of "Clear Qiuhao". If the universe is a studio and satellites are cameras, isn't Ridley Scott directing a rescue mission, and Matt Damon working for commercial effects?

Four days before the release of "The Martian" in North America, NASA announced to the world the discovery that "Mars has water" with ulterior motives; and one month after the release of "The Martian" in North America, NASA announced a detailed plan for human landing on Mars, showing 15 The Mars landing plan will be implemented after the year, and Watney’s Mars drifting record is both in 2030. NASA has done a lot of work on and off the scenes of "Rescue The Martian", and Ridley Scott filmed "Rescue The Martian" both in and out to cooperate with NASA's publicity.

Isn't this another "Trumen's World"?

"Hainan Daily"

View more about The Martian reviews

Extended Reading

The Martian quotes

  • Teddy Sanders: Rich?

    Rich Purnell: Yeah?

    Teddy Sanders: Get out!

  • Vincent Kapoor: Mark, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world.

    Mark Watney: Yeah?

    [he proceeds to swear even more]

    Vincent Kapoor: Oh my God...!