Skip to main content

Gwyneth Paltrow: "Contagion"

Situational irony is when *the exact opposite of the expected* occurs.

The cobbler's child has no shoes. The baker's child has no bread. These are examples of situational irony.

One of the greatest cases in film history comes from Soderbergh's "Contagion": Beth is proud of her job, a spot in a major international corporation, a job that affords her great benefits. But, in the final scene of the movie, a flashback, we learn that the hand the feeds Beth is also the hand that kills her. Corporate dealings created a major contagion--the subject of the movie--through deforestation. The international corporation--the great breast you can suck at--is a corporation that commits murder. The power broker's child has no power. Irony!

Black humor: When a scenario is so absurdly distressing, it becomes funny. Beth, ending a bleak phone call about the possible end of the world, says: "Merry Christmas." Matt Damon's character--worried that a nice boy might give his daughter a fatal disease--interrupts a cute courtship scene with a sawed-off shotgun.

Soderbergh breaks so many rules with "Contagion." The thing that happens *first* is actually shown last. Major stars have their own plot "silos," where they tend not to interact with other major stars. (Marion Cotillard is in her own plot world; so, too, Gwyneth Paltrow.) Oscar winners die well before we start Act III: Paltrow, Winslet. A subject who should be sort of angelic, for purposes of plot symmetry, is actually a train-wreck and one-half of an extramarital affair. (Paltrow.)

"Contagion" seems to present itself as sci-fi, or as a thriller, but it's not strictly either of those things. Soderbergh is actually interested in human behavior; he is making a dark farce about the follies of interpersonal conduct. When are people at their strangest? In extreme situations. That's what you're getting here.

I have a feeling anyone who saw this script, and understood that Soderbergh was on-board, wanted a chance to perform. And this is why we get a parade of Oscar winners: Paltrow, Cotillard, Winslet, Damon. And a parade of Oscar nominees: Jude Law, Elliott Gould, John Hawkes, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne. (One wonders who expressed interest and *was turned away* .....)

It's not news to praise this movie, which earned a great deal of buzz a few years ago. But let me remind you it exists. It's a fun, contrarian pick for this cheerful holiday season. It even has a scene with snow angels......Merry belated Christmas to you.....
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

The Death of Bergoglio

  It's frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as "the less awful pope"--because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I'm quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.) He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.) He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement. Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous me...
1 comment
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more