Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#76 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:40 pm

TIL I’m Oscar and everyone else on the forum is Felix

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#77 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:58 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:31 pm
I’ll join this club. At one point I met the “one-hour” criteria for OCD in the DSM mostly from hand washing, it was bad. Also, working with kids for ~11 years now really made things worse. I’ve gotten some nasty skin diseases and probably at least no-joke ten-plus cases of pinkeye, and this is while already being a germaphobe/compulsive hand washer. Two winters ago I got it five times in two months and I wasn’t that far away from Hughes in my approach to life by the third bout. Thankfully I saw an eye specialist and they discovered I had dry-eye which was bringing on the symptoms of conjunctivitis and then leading to it, so I guess half of those weren’t the kids’ fault. Needless to say I live in constant fear of pinkeye, and all the illnesses my kids carry. I won’t embarrass myself further by explaining my rituals of cleaning my office after each client leaves, but my supervisor jokes that I should wear a hazmat suit to work.
In all seriousness, I'm amazed how often my nephews get sick. They're all vaccinated but virtually every other time I see them they're getting over something (I think foot-and-mouth last time).

I've talked to some good friends who are doctors about this sometime after their first child was born - there's good evidence that it's a bad idea to be too sanitized. Granted certain diseases can be a bigger danger to children in terms of how serious those infections can be - food poisoning for one - but building an immunity to common microbes is something they should do.

As Sausage mentioned, infections generally happen through entry points like your mouth, nasal passages and eyes, so if you're not in the habit of rubbing them all of the time or eating without washing your hands, chances are you'll be fine.

User avatar
diamonds
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 2:35 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#78 Post by diamonds » Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:32 pm

Great interview with Scott Z. Burns now that the movie is spiking in popularity again.

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#79 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:51 pm

diamonds wrote:
Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:32 pm
Great interview with Scott Z. Burns now that the movie is spiking in popularity again.
Great read. Thanks for posting.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#80 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 12, 2020 3:38 pm

How much do you think WB is kicking themselves for letting this go OOP on disc?

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#81 Post by swo17 » Thu Mar 12, 2020 3:42 pm

Watch Criterion announce it tomorrow

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#82 Post by whaleallright » Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:11 am

Commentary track by Tony Fauci.

User avatar
lacritfan
Life is one big kevyip
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#83 Post by lacritfan » Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:21 pm


User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#84 Post by knives » Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:22 pm

I was hoping there would be a Jude Law one.

User avatar
The Narrator Returns
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#85 Post by The Narrator Returns » Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:57 pm

Waiting for the Demetri Martin one where he explains coronavirus with funny notepad drawings.

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#86 Post by cdnchris » Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:04 pm

I literally just watched the film and already forgot he was in it.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#87 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Mar 30, 2020 6:31 am

DISCUSSION ENDS MONDAY, April 13th.

Members have a two week period in which to discuss the film before it's moved to its dedicated thread in The Criterion Collection subforum. Please read the Rules and Procedures.

This thread is not spoiler free. This is a discussion thread; you should expect plot points of the individual films under discussion to be discussed openly. See: spoiler rules.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

I encourage members to submit questions, either those designed to elicit discussion and point out interesting things to keep an eye on, or just something you want answered. This will be extremely helpful in getting discussion started. Starting is always the hardest part, all the more so if it's unguided. Questions can be submitted to me via PM.

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#88 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:35 am

Having only seen this once upon its theatrical release what feels like roughly a century ago, the scene that I remember most vividly is Damon's character confronting his daughter and her boyfriend with a shotgun during an attempted tryst, and I remember thinking at the time that even young and horny teenagers wouldn't be so stupid as to risk a terrible death for themselves and their loved ones for something as trivial as a crush. I imagine I'll be less critical of that element of the screenwriting upon a rewatch.

User avatar
movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#89 Post by movielocke » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:38 am

Having also only seen it during its original theatrical release the virus details I remember most vividly is the description of fomites (sp? The viruses that live on doorknobs...) and then the aerosolized vaccine. And of course the online huckster with the fake cure.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#90 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Mar 30, 2020 12:07 pm

What struck me powerfully, and which also struck me about the ebola epidemic in Africa, was how the virus wasn’t just killing the populace, but the healthcare workers and disease control experts attempting to fight it and care for those who are sick. The fate of Winslett’s character is sobering, since long training in watching movies leads us to expect figures with authority and compassion in such movies to be out of reach of the disaster, and here they unceremoniously die of the thing they had fought against so fruitlessly. It certainly contributes to the sense of social breakdown the film creates so vividly.

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#91 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Mar 30, 2020 12:25 pm

It is probably playing to my cynicism but it was the placebo climax to the Marion Cotillard kidnap plot that resonated with me the most out of everything, where
SpoilerShow
after all the attention paid to the wild claims of Jude Law's online huckster we get the ironic counterpoint of the 'trustworthy' organisation delivering false hope as part of a ransom deal.
It is probably a good sign of Contagion being a well made ensemble drama if audiences have been enabled to approach the subject from so many different entry points!

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#92 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Mar 30, 2020 12:34 pm

Sausage's comment is why I consider it a horror film, as this is essentially the position many of us are facing at work, just without the disease as serious or being scientists. Most of the people I know are also in healthcare right now and the threat to their own lives especially when few places are being provided with gloves, masks, or any protective gear, is horrifying. For me the most memorably terrifying and powerful moment is very early on when Paltrow is sick with the flu one night and the look on her face when Damon finds her dead the next day. The idea that airborn pathogens can destroy a person so quickly and the painful look cemented on her cold face is as scary as it gets, especially triggering my very specific phobia. Though I imagine that any mysterious invisible monster killing anyone so quickly elicits that response to people. It's basically like the inverse of the spiritual energy people associate with God connecting all things, reversed to debilitating fear and fight/flight disconnect. When air is unsafe, any cosmic harmony is pretty much eliminated, and regardless of one's religious beliefs, the complete abandonment of worldly unity or appreciation for mystery transformed into mystery as seen as death and horror is not good when it defines most of what we have developed skills in coping with daily and resilience in accepting. This film, or situation, offers no such acceptance in its acute specificity defining that mystery, and thus I see no different than a monster movie. The intangible has come to threaten our safety, and psychologically disrupt our skill sets at tackling such intangible forces in the process.

User avatar
Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#93 Post by Big Ben » Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:52 pm

The inherent terror of rapid societal deterioration is what really makes the film work for me. The image that sticks most with me, still to this day is of Paltrow's distorted face and the follow up sequence with her skull being cut open, exposed brain and all is about as disturbing as you can possibly get without wading into unrealistic gore. Reliving the film in retrospect is kind of sobering because it's only a more severe form of what we're experiencing now. I shudder to think if this strain was similar to the one in the film.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#94 Post by domino harvey » Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:55 pm

I most remember Damon’s oblivious response to bring told Paltrow died, which feels very real. And all of Jude Law’s character, who has only become more plausible in the times of Q and Alex Jones!

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#95 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Mar 30, 2020 2:14 pm

I remember discussing with a friend whether or not the film was too cynical. Ah, to be that innocent again.

User avatar
The Narrator Returns
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#96 Post by The Narrator Returns » Mon Mar 30, 2020 2:15 pm

My favorite element of this is Jennifer Ehle's performance, one of my favorites of the decade. Soderbergh usually gravitates towards characters who do their jobs well, but the reward Ehle finds in her work (largely conveyed without dialogue) is something uniquely moving in his canon, and she, more than even Damon, provides the beating heart that makes it into something more than a cold thriller. We can only hope we have more Ehles out there right now than we have Laws.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#97 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Mar 30, 2020 2:55 pm

Big Ben wrote:
Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:52 pm
The inherent terror of rapid societal deterioration is what really makes the film work for me. The image that sticks most with me, still to this day is of Paltrow's distorted face and the follow up sequence with her skull being cut open, exposed brain and all is about as disturbing as you can possibly get without wading into unrealistic gore. Reliving the film in retrospect is kind of sobering because it's only a more severe form of what we're experiencing now. I shudder to think if this strain was similar to the one in the film.
Yep, spot on for me - a horror film that hits only too close to home, where the monster is scientifically plausible but still alien, and the terror on her dead face signifying an eternal bind to that fear, like a gargoyle of all the slasher victims placed in front of our eyes and kept there. I can't stop thinking about how she died afraid and seeing that permanent expression makes me think of the DMT trip of horror that may be her eternity as the brain functions prior to total death.
domino harvey wrote:
Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:55 pm
I most remember Damon’s oblivious response to bring told Paltrow died, which feels very real. And all of Jude Law’s character, who has only become more plausible in the times of Q and Alex Jones!
Damon's response is perfect because it understands grief's unpredictability without attempting to flesh out a pattern. It's an acute moment of stress and Soderbergh isn't afraid to just show it as is. Law is a perfect casting choice for that character, his pomposity existing as a defense mechanism even in the face of threat, which actually makes him oddly relatable if not sympathetic in the way that everyone's protective factors acting up in this crisis reflect their strengths!

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#98 Post by Mr Sausage » Tue Mar 31, 2020 4:03 pm

Folding Ideas giving a perspective on the film in the time of COVID19.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#99 Post by tenia » Wed Apr 01, 2020 4:48 am

At the time, Law felt a bit unrealistic in how far his cynicism go, but now, it almost looked it's actually tamer than real life.

More generally speaking, I've watched the movie several times since it got released, and what makes it work to me is how didactic it is even for a movie. It's very quickly relentless with its 5-stars casting, including getting rid of characters of authority, but that's because, well, that's what happens in real life.
I think the movie's focus on fomites is also tremendously used and provides a very cinematographic way to deal with virus transmission.

But the cast probably also sells it in the end, and not just Damon but how they all feel appropriately acting in how they should be networking and reacting. I think that their appeal and success here comes from how this all tones down to average joes people who aren't gratified a lot by the movie. They're maybe mere puppets to the pandemic's general reaction, but... that rings quite true. When the Chinese doctor who first alerted about Covid19 died, he probably wasnt grandiose like in a movie.

That's also what I like a lot about Contagion : it's a complex movie turned into a very simple one about reactions' mechanics. How the world is reacting to the pandemic, how the gears are set in motion and how some of the machinery's moving parts can work against each other too.

It's a bit linear in places. I think it doesnt push enough the economical crisis such a global pandemic generates. And it's crazily US-centric. But it works nevertheless in showing a society's response when pushed to the edge by such an event and yup, it's quite scary sometimes.

nitin
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:49 am

Re: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)

#100 Post by nitin » Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:30 pm

I felt the same re Law character in 2011 and now in 2020, it is not far fetched at all!

Post Reply