Rating of
3/4
Romeo and Julia meets Frankenstein
ikkegoemikke - wrote on 09/07/17
"Imagine you were born totally aware and conscious of everything around you. Conscious you were coming out of someone else's body. Joined to it by a bloody cord that you are completely covered in blood. Conscious of the dry air entering your lungs for the first time. The sharp sounds in your ears. The blinding light in your eyes. Conscious that your bones are unbearably soft and your life is so fragile, it could disappear at any moment. That's what being resurrected is like."
Perhaps the initial idea of Marc Jarvis (Tom Hughes) wasn't so bad. The moment he hears he's terminally ill and only has a few months to live, he decides to get himself cryogenically preserved. In other words, he'll turn into a Popsicle. Not forever. Only until the medical world is capable to heal him from his disease, after which he can lead a healthy life again. A great idea but with one disadvantage. And that's something Marc is going to find out afterwards. The downside is that you leave your loved ones behind as well. And it might be that the spirit of the age has changed drastically. Physically, you may be in first-class condition, but the mental state might be a problem.
"Realive" is a grade-A SF with its "Oblivion"-like interiors and appearance. At the same time, it also raises a deep-philosophical topic about eternal life and postponing death. It's not a futuristic machine like in "Elysium" that fixes imperfections and medical problems. It's the evolution of medical technologies which makes it possible to perform medical interventions in an adequate way. But as the movie progresses, you notice that the movie contains a sophisticated romantic story as well. A story about a complicated relationship in which an eternal love is hidden. Marc and Naomi (Oona Chaplin) are having an on-again, off-again relationship for years now. And just as they come to the conclusion that they are made for each other, a deadly disease is the party pooper. From then on they know there's no future for them as a happy, elderly couple.
The film is fascinating enough but also extremely slow. Most of the film takes place in a clinically white, state-of-the-art facility where Marc awakens from his cryogenetic sleep. Not that he's physically the same as in the past, because a lot of his body is being reconstructed with cloned bones, muscles and nerves. Only his brains and some vital organs are retained. He's also connected to a high-tech device using a kind of umbilical cord. His new mechanical mother so to say. And thanks to the "Mind writer" he's able to save parts of his memories. So be prepared to see a lot of flashbacks about his youth and the chaotic relationship with Naomi.
Ultimately, you can say this movie is a modern "Romeo and Julia meets Frankenstein". A film that deals with eternal love and the resurrection of a comatose person. I recently saw "The Lazarus effect" which had a kind of identical subject. Only the imaging of future medical techniques and treatments are created in a very convincing and realistic way. Unfortunately for Marc, emotional relationship between individuals in this futuristic world isn't the same anymore. Eroticism and love are banished to foolish work-groups and are seen as something banal and unnecessary. I'm sure he didn't expect that to happen. Both the outstanding performances of Tom Hughes and Charlotte Le Bon as caring nurse Elizabeth, as the philosophical moral, make "Realive" an engaging and emotional film at the same time. Maybe it's indeed better for an individual's existence to be limited to one particular era. Physiological issues can be circumvented and improved. It's the mental state that can cause problems. So don't expect a happy end in this movie.
More reviews here : http://bit.ly/2qtGQoc
