Visions of the future - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages It is not known how the virus got spread so quickly and why it appeared. At the point the director draws attention to the possibilities of chemical weapon and inability of people to control it. More precisely, he emphasizes the necessity of people to be responsible for scientific advances. In “Twelve monkeys” the number of victims of the deadly virus is estimated as 5 billion so the major part of the planet population simply disappeared. The life of those who have survived differs greatly from normal. People are forced to live in little bunkers which remind tin boxes deep under the ground without any fresh air and sun shine. They travel with the help of some flying cars in almost complete darkness and smog. They do not see sun, they are unable to grow plants and their life does not promise any improvements in future.
Artistic people are usually more sensitive and fatalistic because they often examine such topics as life and death. Terry Gilliam with his apocalyptic vision is not an exception. In his “Twelve Monkeys” people are deprived of normal and sometimes perceived as habitual things such as ability to move freely and to enjoy nature. Their life reminds survival in jungles with no place for entertainment and simple pleasures. Gilliam probably wanted to show that thoughtless science can be deadly. Scientists now deal with many dangerous chemicals, make and create powerful viruses, experiment with nuclear weapon. One careless decision and the whole humanity may find itself doomed. Probably Gilliam wanted to show the situation similar to Chernobyl Catastrophe, one of the tragedies of that kind, when people are not able to live on the land which was contaminated. And it does not matter whether the reason is radiation or a virus, it is all connected to the scientific experiments. Not accidentally there is another plot line I the movie showing fight ...Download file to see next pagesRead More