Future Visions: One Hundred Years of Culture and Society Through the Lens of Science Fiction Cinema

By Ivan Litvinenko

Imagining the future has been a significant part of the mass culture and a way for our collective consciousness to process the world around us and our expectations of what's to come. Science fiction was one of the first genres to emerge as soon as the moving image was made possible a little more than a hundred years ago. Over the XX century, as we have seen technology advancing faster than ever, sci-fi has always been exceptional at pushing the boundaries of what is possible, both visually and conceptually.This book showcases the evolution of the genre by taking a closer look at some of the most visionary science fiction films, the themes and ideas they raise, and how they correlate with the context they were released into. It is an attempt at providing a comprehensive analysis of the relation between the imaginary worlds of the future and the fears and aspirations of the general public. Ranging from the earliest attempts at imagining the future to the epic space operas, it lists the undisputed classics of science fiction, providing an entertaining read for the die-hard fans of the genre, and an educational overview of the must-see titles for people want to learn more about sci-fi and how it became what it is now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Youcanprint
• Release date: Nov 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9788831699471

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

As soon as we as species discovered the power and importance of storytelling, we have tried to peek into the future as often as we looked back in time. Predictions and fantasies soon started to serve as criticism, warning, and inspiration for the generations that made them. It is no wonder that with the birth of cinema, editing, and special effects, this medium became the primary tool to shape and explore the visions of the future.

Movie genres are often defined by the reaction they are meant to provoke in a viewer. Comedy is meant to make us laugh, a thriller is supposed to scare us, and so on. The science fiction genre though is quite hard to define in these terms. The best examples of it are trying to teach us, and speculate about how our choices and discoveries can turn out in the distant future. This often allows science fiction to be quite political, but discrete enough to not be accused of propaganda. This book is an attempt to study the visual history of science fiction, specifically in cinema, to establish a connection between the imaginary future, present, and past in the way it is interpreted by popular culture.

The connections presented show a complicated interdependence between the artistic direction of the key science fiction movies of the XX century, the technological advances of the time, and massive shifts in how society works. Hopefully, the overview of the movies listed in the book can provide some kind of insight into the collective consciousness’ view of the past, present, and the future, as reflected in western popular culture, and cinema in particular.

Some basic analysis shows that several events that were fundamental for humanity overall, had a considerable impact on the cinema as well. For every decade or an important movement in the perception of the future, we picked a science fiction title that best describes the overall approach to depicting the future at that particular time.

Before we start reviewing the key pivotal moments in the science fiction cinema, it is important to take a look at the birth of the genre, and how the intersection of a nascent literary genre and new developments in film production and editing gave birth to the most stunning view the general public can peek into the future that awaits us. It is unclear what was the first-ever science fiction piece of literature since there is no consensus on what the definition of the genre is. However, most people define H.G. Wells as one of the fathers of the genre, in particular, because Time Machine, published in 1895 essentially created a platform on which all the science fiction literature and cinema could begin to evolve into what it is now. Wells combined technical detail, prophetic vision, and social commentary, the three pillars that are now essential for all the futuristic sci-fi films. The elaborate descriptions of technologies of the future, combined with Wells’ unmatched imagination led to a whole set of extremely precise predictions, from the advent of airplanes and tanks to satellite television, space travel, and even the internet.

Coincidentally, the same year, Lumière Brothers have patented the cinématographe, a device to record, develop and project motion pictures. In less than a month, the invention was presented in Paris, in a closed screening, among with the demonstration of the other technologies they were working on. At the end of that year, they have organized the first paid public screening of the ten short films they have made, which is considered now the official birth of the medium, following by a worldwide tour the following year. Among the visitors of the first public screening, was Georges Méliès, a stage magician, who invented numerous illusions, some of which are still used to this day. Méliès was fascinated with cinématographe and what it could bring to his shows, and immediately attempted to buy one of the machines from the brothers, albeit unsuccessfully. After trying to develop his own device for capturing and projecting image, Méliès eventually bought several mass- produced cameras, that arrived to the market just a couple years from that first screening in Paris.

In the next 10 years, Méliès directed over 500 films, mostly recordings of his shows, incorporating special effects that enhanced his illusionist skills. The films, mostly without a script, were the first-ever examples of special effects in cinema, with technologies such as multiple exposure, stop motion, and matte painting laying the foundations of SFX industry and providing the technologies that would be used for decades almost without any alterations.

Among all the films Méliès has created, A Trip to the Moon, released in 1902, stands out as his highest-budget production, and the one that arguably had the most influence on cinema. It is based on the combination of the two most notable examples of early science fiction, Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and H.G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon. This was stunning work, that was decades ahead of its time, dealing with concepts like space travel and alien life, while providing social commentary, and was one of the first films to combine outstanding production and effects, and a complete, elaborate narrative. It only lasted around 16 minutes but it now named as the most influential work not only for its genre but also for cinema as a whole. The film’s unexpected worldwide success led to it being copied and pirated by studios both in Europe and the United States, and essentially gave rise to the cinema industry, as numerous theatres on both sides of the Atlantic were being repurposed to show Méliès’ films.

A Trip to the Moon is considered to be the first science fiction motion picture ever produced.

A Trip to the Moon remained the most popular motion picture for several years, occasionally surpassed by other works by Méliès, and it took a few years for the industry to grow and arrive at the point where a full-feature film in the science fiction genre was a possibility.

METROPOLIS

When one has to name the science fiction’s defining piece of work, there is no doubt that Metropolis by Fritz Lang fits this description better than any other title. Watching this 150-minute long film is like navigating through 80 years of sci-fi cinema history since almost every element of it was drawn upon by directors all around the world. It had an undeniable influence on the biggest titles of the century, from Star Wars to Robocop , from The Matrix to Blade Runner and even Batman : the towering, layered cities of the future, flying cars, living robots and people enslaved by technology are all elements first introduced on film by Metropolis .

As we will see in the following chapters, the sci-fi genre has always been balancing between being an effective yet concealed tool for depicting social struggles and conveying certain political ideas, and being a rollercoaster-like experience for people to escape the triviality of everyday life. Metropolis has successfully established itself as a trailblazer in both cases and has pioneered creating a believable, massive world of the future, as well as providing a sharp and timely criticism of the state of things. It has very direct in its social messaging yet it was leaving the audiences in awe, showing lifelike cityscapes of art-deco infused future.

Among other things, we have to note