Lindsay: Contagion, the new thriller/drama directed by Steven Soderbergh, is about the outbreak of an unknown deadly disease and the ways that outbreak subsequently effects each character in the film. The characters here are portrayed through a brilliant cast including Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Jennifer Ehle (whose name will be mentioned well after Paltrow but shouldn’t be.) Besides the top-notch acting on display, Soderbergh’s direction is really something to admire. Through carefully composed scenes and an ability to hold back, the story focuses on the characters, not cheap scares. By doing so, the movie has the perfect pace to make movie-goers fit right in with the film. As the film progresses, so does your sense of panic and fright.
Jess: Contagion caught me off-guard by how much I loved it. The trailer didn’t exactly pump me up, but it delivered tenfold. Everything about this film, from the strong acting, tight and gripping storyline, and emotional directing culminated in a very solid film. Soderbergh put so much heart, style, and precision into every frame of this movie. Shots linger (and often from interesting angles) with less use of the montage in scenes so that you concentrate solely on what is unfolding instead of staying engaged through fast cuts. The use of color and Red MX camera take the film to another level of appreciation, as the apocalyptic tale is also beautiful to watch. The score is riveting and appropriate. I wanted to rewatch the film immediately in order to pay close attention to how the nuances in the music and color tone reflect who’s on screen and what’s taking place.
This ensemble piece allows the film to take in almost every perspective involved in this sort of event: your average citizen, scientists, specialists, media, politicians, bloggers as well as a cross cultural examination from how the privileged to the neglected face this pandemic. Despite a large cast, Soderbergh expertly crafts each story arc and each fulfilling perfectly for me. Characters come in and out of the film in a manner that leaves the viewer to fill in the blanks in a way I appreciated much more than a stretched thin in depth look at every story. These people meant something to me as I watched this film, and I felt so invested that I did something I never expected to going into the theater–cry. The examination of the human condition during an extreme panic like this was honest and unnerving. I never thought a part of the story was out of place or unbelievable. The ending tied together the movie concisely and effectively.
I have a lot to say about this film because it was one of the best I’ve seen this year and one I can’t wait to watch again.
Rob: Contagion did a great job of showing you just enough of its story. There was a lot of instances when the film left certain aspects to your imagination. Despite this, there was always a feeling that you knew what was going on with the plot by the way that the characters acted and the general tone of the film. The parts of the movie that really illustrate the plot have a lot of weight and show the gravity that a situation like this would have in society.
The characters were all very captivating. Even the ones that got a small amount of screen time seemed to have a lot of implied depth and you were able to feel for them even without a great deal of back story. The situations each character was in seemed realistic. This was useful because many scenes seemed short, but this helped well with the pacing and the movie did not suffer because of the strength of the characters.
The transitions and music in the film were also very good. They really helped to move the story along and give the story of the cause of the disease, and the methods that went to dealing with it, in a way that flowed very well with the tone. It made for a good movie-going experience and helped you to imagine a scenario where the film could take place in the real world.
