There is a long-standing genre in science fiction: dystopian science fiction
Such science fiction works often explore human nature and institutions by creating some kind of extreme social system
Like "V-Word Vendetta" and "Torn Doom" that we introduced earlier
Simply put, the main contradictions in dystopian science fiction are freedom and control
It is the oppressive control of the masses by those in power through various means and the fierce resistance of the free fire in the depths of human nature
It is also the atmosphere of fantasy color shown by the extreme setting of dystopians that has fascinated countless fans
The dystopian science fiction movie "Underground Republic" to recommend today uses animation to express this fantasy and eerie atmosphere to the extreme
The story of the film takes place in Europe in 2024
At this time, the human world was full of crises, the world's energy was depleted, and the financial collapse
Like the dark tones of the film, almost all people live in a state of numbness and despair
Trexx connected all the subways to form a huge underground network all over Europe, where people hid in the underground world, mediocre and lifeless
The film's protagonist, Roger, is a telephone receptionist, and unlike others who have long been accustomed to subway life, the somewhat reclusive Roger still rides his bicycle to work every day, shuttling through the dilapidated streets
On an insomniac night, Roger began to hear a voice in his head
The next morning, Roger found his bike damaged and had to walk into the subway station
But the voice in my head never stopped, like a personality split in my own mind, and Roger was constantly talking in my head
He saw the beautiful woman on the shampoo bottle on the subway and followed her despite the objections of the voice in his head
Under this vague tracking, many facts about this society gradually became clear
This is a world that is truly controlled by the Trex Group, and the three major businesses contained in the Trex Group are completely for control
The first major business is the subway world that spreads throughout Europe
The second largest business, the invoice communication service, is a new type of communication technology that can communicate directly with your mind without the help of terminal equipment
And also contains visual transmission, voice transmission and traditional monitoring equipment transmission and so on
As for how to communicate ideas without the help of terminals, it is the group's third largest business, Dangst Shampoo
This shampoo is no ordinary shampoo, this shampoo will invade the cerebral cortex, linking your thinking level
Turn your hair into an antenna that can emit signals, and that's the fundamental reason for being able to think about conversations
According to the big boss of Trexx, the super subway network is a steel body, and Dangst is the blood flowing throughout the body
In this way, the invoice is the soul of this huge organism
From the body of the hardware to the thinking of the software, all the links are opened, which is complete control
Therefore, at this point, you should also be able to guess that the voice in the protagonist Roger's head is not a split personality
It was a real man, Roger's controller, who manipulated Roger's mind and influenced his actions
Roger had little way to get out of it
Zooming in a little more, this controller is only the most ordinary of the thousands of controllers, and Roger is also the most inconspicuous of the thousands of controlled people
Such a setting can be described as more profound in many dystopian science fiction, and the general science fiction film mostly takes the government as the main body of control, and uses drugs to control and brainwash the controlled masses
However, this "Underground Republic" is controlled by commercial groups as the main body, multi-level and all-round control
Under such an absolute control system, it is difficult to say that it is resistance, and it is even difficult to wake up
Roger did not heed the controller's objections and followed the woman, who was the daughter of Trex's big boss
Knowing the truth, Roger finally decided to rebel and overthrow the system of layers of control
The controller, who looks almost exactly like Roger, takes the risk of meeting Roger and preventing him from being used by women
Will this system be destroyed? And there's a kind of control and intrigue?
I'm not going to spoil it here, you'll need to see it for yourself, and you may need to watch it twice more to connect the many details of it as a whole
I have to say that the concept of this animation has the shadow of the typical "1984", but what attracts me most about the film is such a peculiar style
The gray tones and the design of the numbing doll image, coupled with the slightly eerie soundtrack, make the film's desperate atmosphere expressed into three points
In particular, the design of the main character Roger's waste wood image seems to suddenly remind people of Edward Norton in "Fight Club"
I think this is the charm of animation compared to live-action movies, no longer limited to external images, but able to directly describe things, through exaggeration, deconstruction and reorganization, all the numbness, despair and fear seem so real
The film won the "Future Digital Film Award" at the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009, which is really a very unique dystopian animation, which has not yet been seen, go and watch it, and it will not be disappointed