Film Analysis of "The Island" (2005) by Vanessa A.N. Kraft

PLOT SUMMARY

Lincoln Six Echo lives together with thousands of other people in an isolated housing complex within a contaminated world. Not knowing that they are clones used as spare parts for the rich elite, their only purpose is to win the lottery which allows them to leave for ”the island”, the only uncontaminated place left on the planet. As an open-minded person, Lincoln starts to question this simple goal. He thinks that there is “more than just waiting to go to the island”.

Driven by his curiosity, Lincoln manages to enter the medical section on top of the housing complex and discovers that two fellow residents are killed instead of travelling to the island after winning the lottery. He realizes “that there is no island” and heads back to save Jordan Two Delta and to escape the complex. A breathtaking chase against the company who is producing the clones and towards the truth begins...

TECHNOLOGY

State of the art in the movie:

In this movie, the cloning of humans has been successful. Moreover, it has become a commercial success. Clones are grown as source of genetically identical organs for transplantation and even babies are carried out by a surrogate clone mother who is a clone of the customer. The customers who serve as templates are called “sponsors”. They are told that the clones live in a vegetative state without any consciousness and that they are not human at all. The clones are referred to as products, unequal to humans. It became apparent that the body is not viable without the mind, similar to The Matrix. As a consequence, the Merrick Biotech company is growing these spare parts in fully conscious, perceiving and sentient humans. Their existence must be hidden from the public since it is illegal to clone humans, so they are living in a hermetically sealed housing complex below earth’s surface. To establish a world they can live in, they are told that the whole planet has been contaminated to prevent them from breaking out. To give their live a purpose and also an explanation for the disappearance of harvested clones and mothers giving birth, there is a fake lottery where the winner is allowed to leave for the island.

The island gives them hope and a purpose in their lives. Lincoln Six Echo starts to scrutinize the small, ordered world he is living in since he is a model of the Echo product generation that tend to be more intelligent due to more activity in their brains. Lincoln dreams of a boat that has been designed by his sponsor but he has never seen before and also shares his passion for fast vehicles. This lack of intelligence compared to normal humans and also the inheritance of acquired reminiscences of the sponsor cannot be explained scientifically. There’s no evidence that acquired reminiscences are “stored” in our DNA.

Apart from the cloning technology, the majority of the products shown are derivatives of the ones we use today. The hover train is obviously modern but not too far away from today’s transport technologies. This technical advance is also symbolized by the used, rusty train axles that are falling from the truck during the highway scene allowing the two heroes to escape their persecutors.  The futuristic boat Lincoln is dreaming about has already been built in the reality of the movie. In our reality the designer won a prize for this boat in 2004. Also, the cars and helicopters in the movie look quite similar to the ones we use today. More advanced is the desk in Dr. Merrick’s office. It shows an innovative, new way of computer navigation via the screen, which is the whole desk itself, and a pyramid shaped crystal. Another new technology is the group of small micro sensors that are entering Lincoln’s brain via his eye.

Representation of technology:

Generally, technology is represented in an ambivalent way. In everyday live, technology has advanced and is used without any concerns. The cloning technology enables the sponsors to prolong their lives and to get biological babies without carrying them out by themselves. But this also means that the hope for a life of “inhuman” length is only a matter of money. We can take for granted that there are also big anxieties of the cloning technology. It is said that cloning humans is prohibited by the “eugenic laws” of 2015 but carried out clandestinely and illegally by Merrick Biotech. It is not said clearly but we can assume society wouldn’t accept cloning if they knew the clones are fully conscious. Lincoln’s sponsor, who can be seen as an example of a typical sponsor, betrays Lincoln and Jordan in order to save his own life. He seems not to be bothered about the existence of the fully conscious clones killed for life prolongation even when he faces his own life insurance policy.

RECURRING ELEMENTS AND OTHER ASPECTS

Style and colours:

The world known to the clones inside the living complex of the institute is kept in bright white with blue accents.  This represents the sterile and clean environment the clones are living in until they go to the island. They wear plain white sport dresses and shoes. In contrast, all staff members including Dr. Merrick as well as the potential customers during the presentation wear dark colours. Merrick’s office and also the operating rooms are shady. The police and private security forces chasing Lincoln and Jordan wear black uniforms. This emphasizes the strong distinction between the real world in the movie and the lie the clones are living in.

When fleeing from the underground complex, Lincoln and Jordan enter a completely different world. The coverage area of the facility is very dirty, dark and water is dripping like rain. In the hall where the artificial memories are implemented in the new clones’ minds even Umbrellas are used. These scenes remind us of Blade Runner and the harvesting of human energy in The Matrix.

On the surface, the sky is cloudy and the desert environment is dirty and dusty so their white clothes get stained more and more as they start to realize how the real world is. Also, the filthy, noisy highway bar is in strong contrast to the clean, innocent world where the clones live.

The City

When the heroes arrive in Los Angeles, the weather is nice and sunny, not as dystopic as in other movies but still resembles the “classical” elements of the city in other science fiction movies. These are uprising buildings like in Metropolis and many others, lots of advertisement (see also product placement) like in Blade Runner, crowded highways and the traffic running on different levels in the air like in The Fifth Element or on the planet Coruscant in Star Wars. Seen from the outside, the housing complex also resembles the structure of skyscrapers, but they are built below earth’s surface. The neutral picture of the city in daylight changes during the night when Lincoln and Jordan try to find the original Tom Lincoln. It is dark and it is raining.

Special effects

There is a strong focus on the visual representation of technology. Most of the special effects concentrate on the action scenes that are only slightly related with science fiction aspects. A notable feature is the holographic grid that is part of the illusion that the clones are living in a complex on the sea and that there is an island. Lincoln destroys the power generator for this grid and allows them to escape. The micro sensors for scanning Lincoln’s neural activities are an impressive special effect apart from explosions with a minor relevance for the plot.

Sex

Jordan is quite helpless when confronted with the male visitors of the bar. The education within the living complex does not include any sexuality at all to prevent arising conflicts. Despite that, Lincoln and Jordan feel an unconscious attraction towards each other in a romantic manner – imagine you were dealing with Scarlett Johansson or Ewan McGregor ;-) – culminating in having sex at Tom Lincoln’s loft house.

Music

The use of music is unobtrusively, except for the song played in the highway bar scene. Within the housing complex we can hear electric tunes while in the action scenes the music emphasizes the special effects and the spectacular action scenes.

Product placement

Bay has been criticized for an exaggerated use of product placement. For example, we obviously notice products like Puma sport clothes, Apple computers, an Xbox virtual reality fighting game as well as advertisements for Budweiser beer in the bar and several car brands. The basketball star Starkweather, the sponsor of the clone killed at the beginning for a liver transplant, can be seen on a sports advertisement and Jordan’s sponsor is the face of a perfume. (In fact Scarlett Johansson was a model for Calvin Klein). This resembles that today a lot of celebrities represent a particular brand or product. The product placements are products used in everyday life like credits cards or forms of transport. This makes the movie feel more realistic for viewers and that the society depicted in the movie is not that far away from today’s society.

CONCLUSION

Beginning as a dystopic science fiction movie about the cloning issue, this motion picture more and more turns into an action movie full of explosions (just like in other movies by Michael Bay) during the course of action. But many recurring elements from science fiction films like the big uprising city (remember Metropolis) with its typical characteristics like the traffic on different levels, the rain and an omnipresent tone of darkness can be found here. There are also direct allusions to Blade Runner, Logan’s Run and The Matrix.

This movie shows an ambivalent attitude towards new technologies. In everyday life, new technologies are used but the high-end technology represented by cloning for spare parts is only affordable for the rich elite. By cloning humans, the Merrick Biotech company not only breaks the laws for profit but also hides their “products” from the public. The critic on the attitude of Merrick’s company and of the sponsors is only implied briefly due to the focus on the action genre more than science fiction. The way technology is represented in this film points out the concerns about cloning but shows us at the same time that this possible future is not too far away from today’s society.

It is also an example that contemporary movies intended as blockbusters must also be seen as a spectacle for the audience and as a commercial product. The movie failed in the US, but earned the production costs abroad.

All in all, I think this is Michael Bay’s best movie. He shows aspects of the cloning issue and technology hopes and fears in general but made a good action movie with matching actors. So check this movie out (and watch out for familiar brands)!




References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(2005_film)
http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0399201/