A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to be invited to join Warner Brothers' Blu-Ray Elite program. Myself and small group of film writers were sent a handful of WB Blu-Rays for discussion and review. This is the first of a series of posts that will include thoughts on a film, its picture and sound quality on Blu-Ray, and its special features. Enjoy!
Contagion is a film I adored when it came out in September 2011. It landed on my top 10 list that year, and a repeat viewings has only enhanced by appreciation for what Steven Soderbergh created. This is a thinking person's horror film, an editing showcase, and a master class in restrained—but effective—acting and directing.
Watching the film again on Blu-Ray, I was struck by the concept's simplicity but the actual story's complexity. Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (a brilliant choice for the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, I should mention) tackle this subject from many different angles. I still think a few (like that of Marion Cotillard's character, and to a lesser extent, Jude Law's) aren't exactly home runs. But the time the film spends with the characters played by Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Matt Damon, and especially, Kate Winslet is amazingly compelling.
Winslet was perhaps the revelation for me the second time around. Those who labeled this film emotionless, I think, are a little misguided in their criticism. The arc of Winslet's Erin Meares is incredibly emotional, though there's no redemption or revelation like we've come to expect, especially from someone like Steven Soderbergh. Meares carries with her the weight of the world, yet her ultimate fate is anonymity, irrelevance. It seems, however, as if none of this would really matter to her. She's just trying to do her job. She doesn't need or want the Nobel Prize or fame and fortune like some of the film's other characters. Despite the willingness to sacrifice all that, however, she's dealt the worst hand of anyone in the film.
Visually, the film is, I think, underrated. The desaturated palette adds a great deal to the overall sense of dread that permeates the film, and there's and interesting visual dichotomy between the chaos in the streets and the pristine order of the governmental offices and labs. The sound, meanwhile, is exceptional. I loved being able to crank the volume up and let Cliff Martinez' thumping-good score guide me through this biological disaster.
As far as special features go, the package is a little lackluster. One featurette, "The Reality of Contagion", focuses on the possibilities (likelihood?) of a Contagion-like situation happening in the real world. Interviews with top scientists and the film's scientific advisors are interspersed with comments from the Burns and the film's cast.
The other two features clock in at five and two minutes, respectively. The former ("The Contagion Detectives") is about the cast researching and inhabiting their roles as epidemiologists. The latter ("Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World") is a slight but clever mock-PSA. All three are interesting enough in their own right, but something from Soderbergh would have been a nice inclusion.
I hope Contagion lives long and prospers on Blu-Ray and DVD. It's the one film I fell in love with last year that most others didn't seem to take to quite as much. As such, I have a bit of a soft spot for it. But I really don't think I'm overstating anything when I say this film is magnificent and its director's shining hour.
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