July 23, 2019
My rating: 5/5 stars *****/*****
Genre: Science Fiction/Drama
At review publishing time, this movie can be viewed on Amazon Prime.
Aniara is a 2018 Swedish-Danish film co-produced + directed by Pella Kågerman + Hugo Lilja and based on the Swedish poem of the same name by Nobel Laureate Harry Martinson. Martinson’s extensive sci-fi poem was published in 1956 – at the height of the Cold War following the Soviet Union’s announcement that it had detonated the hydrogen bomb. The author was reportedly inspired to write much of the work while suffering from fever upon waking from a dream about the Cold War, and expanded on the poem following his observations of the Galaxy Andromeda.
Aniara is a story set in the future about life aboard an immense spaceship carrying about 8,000 evacuees fleeing Earth for Mars, as Earth has been made uninhabitable by humankind’s reckless technological development + resultant global warming. This trip is supposed to take just three weeks, but when an accident suddenly knocks the craft off course, the passengers struggle to cope with their new lives heading into deep space.
The book-length poem by Martinson is apparently heavy on its own in-world jargon, challenging the reader to learn fictional futuristic terminology to understand its peculiar space predicament. Nonetheless, the directors of Aniara manage to convey every facet of this unique world cinematically with ease; this is truly a triumph in movie-making.
The main characters include:
- The Mimarobe – (played by Emelie Jonsson) She is the protagonist who works aboard Aniara as controller/operator of the Mima, a machine designed to assuage passenger anxiety by evoking their own personal memories of Earth in a way that is indistinguishable from reality. Time spent inside the Mima room allows the user to access memories in a way that feels real, often recalling memories of time spend back on Earth before disaster struck (the “good old days”). While re-living these memories, the user experiences an altered state of conciousness like that experienced during dream sleep, or while under the influence of drugs.
- The Captain – (played by Arvin Kananian) During an unexpected navigation incident he dumps all of Aniara’s fuel, resulting in the inability to control the spacecraft and leaving it to drift aimlessly into deep space. He tells passengers that Aniara’s course will be corrected when the spacecraft enters the gravitational field of an imminent celestial body, which will throw the Aniara back onto it’s original navigational course.
- The Astronomer – (played by Anneli Martini) She is the Mimarobe’s roommate, and she reveals that the Captain’s planned course correction is a lie told to calm the passengers. Her attack on his religious escapism is both legendary + fatal.
- Isagel – (played by Bianca Cruzeiro) She is the lover of the protagonist, initially providing much-needed hope to the Mimarobe, but she is later one of many passengers who (TRIGGER WARNING) commit suicide based on the hopelessness of what seems to be a never-ending life trapped inside the spaceship.
I don’t often rate a movie “5 Stars,” but having read about the original poem, I believe this cinematic version captures both the promise + the hopelessness of that literary masterpiece.
This is a Swedish language film subtitled in English, though nothing is lost in translation. The characters feel both modern + nuanced, revealing the unique subtleties of the human condition as the story shifts from what appears to be a slick science fiction film into a bonafide horror show.
The characters feel progressive + genuine, and the mental health variances among the passengers reveal how different people tend to handle life challenges in life on terrestrial earth. In short, this movie is a much deeper foray into dystopian science fiction drama than most within the genre, perhaps owing to the creators’ reliance on Martinson’s poetic work.
The most gripping feature of the movie is the inevitability of its end. After taking the viewer through the initial few years of societal delusion + reality avoidance following the navigational disaster, the film reveals the increasingly base coping strategies of the passengers… including the inability of many of them to cope at all. As resources dwindle, the human spirit is put to the ultimate test, and ultimately all is lost before being found again many millions of years too late.
At this point I must address the similarly-themed science-fiction drama from 2016, Passengers. Starring Jennifer Lawrence + Chris Pratt, Passengers chronicles the journey of the spaceship Avalon, carrying over 5,000 people sleeping in hibernation chambers (which temporarily halt their aging process) to new planet Homestead II on a journey expected to take over 120 years. One passenger is accidentally awakened 90 years too early with no option of re-entering hibernation, resulting in him resuming his life – and consciousness on board the ship – alone.
After some time spent in a maddening attempt to accept his fate, the idea of waking another passenger (with whom he’s become enamored, based on viewing her archived interview video) plants itself in his mind like a seed, and he finally acts on his impulse, with irreversible consequences for them both.
Passengers has the potential to be as terrifying as Aniara + in many ways it is, but it is also an achingly moving romance. It is – first + foremost – a “sci-fi/drama,” but it is also a compelling romantic drama. For this reason, I also give Passengers a 5-Star rating.
I know that since I’ve now rated 100% of my reviewed movies (all two of them) with 5 stars, that my credibility may have suffered with you – but fear not! Consider that I might be most eager to begin my reviews with a movie or two which I am most the most excited about reviewing. Also give me kudos for not going into Melancholia right now – another favorite movie I feel super tempted to discuss but won’t, if only for the sake of finishing this post.
If you’ve seen either of these movies, please leave your thoughts in the comments. I hope you enjoy both of these science fiction dramas!
