Tonight I was lucky enough to watch one of the finer indie flicks of this year. I've always been partial to sci-fi that concentrates more on the human element; '2001', 'Solaris', 'Primer', anything by Duncan Jones, that sort of thing. For me, the best sci-fi shines through when the science fiction is a subtle backdrop to what is essentially a well-presented drama. What Mike Cahill's debut feature, 'Another Earth', does so well is that it takes a very normal and possible story, adds scientifically fictional possibilities and creates something that is beautifully impossible. The emotional attachment to the characters is all the more affecting to the viewer because of the implausibility of the story. You find it hard to figure out why you are moved. How can you empathise with something that is impossible? I think that the fact that human stories can be granted infinite possibility when lightly blended with sci-fi is one of the more exciting aspects of modern storytelling. 'Melancholia' is another very good and recent example of this, but as a rookie filmmaker, to see a film like 'Another Earth' is extremely rewarding as far as learning the craft is concerned.
The film, by the looks of things, was filmed entirely on location on a handheld. It even looks documentarian at times. That realism coupled with a gorgeous script and consistently solid performances from the leads lead to an end product that is nothing short of buzz-worthy. I don't really want to go into the plot too far as it is a film that I would highly recommend you see for yourself, but it roughly follows a young woman who forges a friendship with a man of whom she took everything. It takes place four years after she recklessly took the lives of his wife and son in a car accident. Interestingly enough, it wasn't purely her inebriation that caused the crash. Her focus on the road was distracted as she gazed into the night sky to catch her first glimpse of the newly discovered parallel planet, 'Earth 2'.
In that opening sequence, there is already a fine example of that beautifully subtle use of science fiction to tell a story. It could have involved just another drunk teen driver, but the fact that the crash was arguably caused by something entirely impossible opens up the story onto a different plain that it wouldn't have otherwise. This use of science-fiction is something that is hard to get right, but when done well leaves a lingering impression. 'Another Earth' achieves this by the constance of it all. There are no sections of the film that are more impossible than others. The science-fiction is just there, being non-offensive but thought provoking and affecting the characters at every turn.
As impossible as it all is, one's fascination with science-fiction is in fact all about the thought of possibility. The more realistic the story is presented, the more questions about that ultimate question it can ultimately get away with asking. That question of course being, are we alone in the universe? The more realistically this question is answered as 'no', the more humanity is able to be found in something that is impossible. Thus we are able to be moved by it. I found myself almost moved to tears during a scene where the family of the female lead is gathered in the living room watching a live telecast whereby the head of SETI makes first radio contact with what turns out to be her parallel self on Earth 2. It is absolutely astonishing to watch and presented through such a poetic use of dialogue that the mere possibility that we aren't alone managed to somehow tugs on your heartstrings. I've bore witness to the discovery of alien life on more than one occasion, but until 'first contact' was with (this is awesome) YOURSELF, I never felt moved by it. But then your head starts to hurt. It is alien just because it's not of our earth? It is alien just because it's not you? The answer is that is is you. Not being of this earth, it seems, is not the same as being from another Earth.
In short: As beautiful as it is challenging. Asks an endless amount of questions without fully answering, but that is in no way a bad thing. The last scene will leave you floored. 8.5/10*
'Another Earth' is released in the UK on December 9th, and is released on Region 1 Blu-Ray and DVD on November 29th.
*I've tried to put off rating films this way but seeing as what I end up writing seems to be more of an analysis than a review, I thought this was an easy way to sum up how good I actually thought the film was. So yeah. Goodnight, world.
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