As a cinephile who has spent decades immersed in the intricate tapestry of celluloid dreams, I must confess that “The End” left me with a sense of both profound admiration and lingering dissatisfaction. The film’s audacious premise is as alluring as a siren’s song, promising an exploration of humanity’s darkest impulses wrapped in the comforting blanket of a musical.
As a passionate movie enthusiast, I can’t help but be drawn to the audacious premise of “The End” that makes me yearn for the cinematic experience even before seeing it. Directed by the acclaimed documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, this post-apocalyptic musical presents an intriguing narrative about a prosperous family living in luxurious seclusion within their climate-controlled bunker, which they built after their actions led to humanity’s extinction.
Indeed, it truly embodies the essence of a musical production. The enchanting tunes, skillfully crafted by Joshua Schmidt and Marius de Vries, resonate with the harmonious melodies reminiscent of Broadway’s Golden Era, yet subtly veer into bitingly poetic lyrics. The parents seem to croon in delusion as they sing, “To think this all leads to us, To think this all ends with you. Only you” – it feels more like they are bestowing a halo of flowers upon their child, rather than foreshadowing his lonely demise. There are even a few dance numbers thrown in for good measure, which seem to teeter on the brink of chaos, mirroring the sense that darkness looms just beyond the walls adorned with Renoirs and Manets salvaged from the remnants of civilization. The fact that the cast is not made up of traditional Broadway performers adds an additional layer of dissonance. Watching Michael Shannon struggle with his singing tugs at the heartstrings, as it should.
During the showing of his film at the Telluride Film Festival, Oppenheimer articulated profoundly that “The End” centers around storytelling, explaining it as a means for individuals to hide reality from themselves and conceal themselves from their own nature. This resonates with his award-winning documentaries like “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence,” where he followed the perpetrators of the 1965-66 Indonesian genocide, capturing them in their full storytelling mode and even placing them in vivid, genre-inspired scenarios to reenact their crimes. For Oppenheimer, cinema is a complex, many-sided entity, capable of both glossing over evil or revealing it. It’s unsurprising that he has opted for the most vibrant and mythical of classic genres to create a movie about people who must deceive each other and themselves to endure a world they have damaged.
In this narrative, the son often assists his oil tycoon father in penning his memoirs, even though there may not be many readers for them in the future. The father remarks, without a hint of irony, “I was involved in the energy sector, and I believe I made a difference.” Overlooking the allegations of human rights violations against “the terrorists in Macao” and the potential global catastrophe caused by his refineries, which seem to be fueling an inferno on Earth. “Since ancient times, climate has fluctuated, and it will continue to do so long after we’re gone,” they assert. “It’s presumptuous to assume that we have control over the destiny of our planet.” It is clear to anyone with a modicum of intelligence that these are self-serving clichés often employed by politicians and executives in the energy sector who, for decades, have either denied or passively accepted their role in setting our planet ablaze.
The documentaries by Oppenheimer sometimes had a knack for creating suspense, but they were repetitive and lacked depth, often returning to the same stories. Here, he follows a similar pattern, continually revisiting his ideas without fully exploring them. This film, titled “The End“, is long and rather dull at over two and a half hours. Though it’s possible that Oppenheimer, who focuses on questioning cinematic tools, intentionally made it this way, it’s also difficult not to think he has lost grip on his subject matter, getting stuck in repetitive versions of the same topic.
The core issue lies in the fantastical narrative presented in “The End.” It’s essential to understand that this isn’t meant to be a realistic depiction. Given the numerous unanswered questions about the bunker’s operation, survivor longevity, and food sources like milk, it’s clear that these are trivial concerns; this is a movie, not a survival guide.
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2024-09-14 02:53