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Introduction
Being an engineer I get to work with technology every day and see what impact it has had and still has in our lives. Many times I wonder how independent we can be from it and also whether we would be able to survive without it.
Imagine that a technology exists that allows you to re-live parts of other people's lives, feeling the same emotions and sensations... would you use this technology, and if so, whose memories would you choose? If you think about it, this is not so far from what we do in Social Networks, but in an even higher scale.
Some might think of reliving their own happy moments, perhaps time spent with loved ones who have passed away, or with ex-partners. Others might want to relive moments from the lives of famous people, to see what kind of emotions it feels like to win a Nobel Prize, or a World Cup, or to be just plain rich.
Then there are people, hopefully very few, who would like to try to relive moments in the lives of famous criminals, such as serial killers, to see what it feels like to kill (or do even worst) someone else.
Strange Days talks also about this, addressing the theme of technology among others.
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The movie
It may be characterized as a science fiction thriller with a noir atmosphere, with an effervescent beginning filled with conceptual and visual chaos, a metropolis full of different types of bad guys around every corner, all well characterized and never really normal people, so you can expect anything from anyone. It's not just the hero saving the beauty or an investigation to discover who did what; the issues at stake are enormous, the doubts deep and painful, and perhaps not really answered at all. Then gradually as the story unravels, a world that is increasingly dark opens up in which everything and everyone is revealed for how dangerous they really are. The whole is amalgamated by an out-of-the-blue unfolding full of interesting protagonists, above all a wild Ralph Fiennes and a Juliette Lewis who gives herself like few others (soul but also a lot of body and voice). In other words, Kathryn Bigelw's (the female director of the movie) furious, brutal, and excruciatingly honest eye, which does not exaggerate (since that is simply the way things are), forces us to confront two hours of reality.
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Racism
Is it by chance that Bigelow sets Strange Days in a confusing, chaotic and dangerous Los Angeles? No. The City of Angels was the very symbol of 1990s America. For better or for worse. And that evil had a name that everyone still remembers today: Rodney King. King was a taxi driver who, following a chase that lasted 13 km inside the city, was finally brutally beaten up by several white policemen, despite being unarmed and absolutely not dangerous. It was the fuse that set off a series of riots that shook America (situations that unfortunately also happen in America today). Bigelow showed us a futuristic metropolis where skin color still made a worrying difference, where the police were brutal and sadistic, and where the symbols of the African-American community were taken out of the way.
Tupac Shakur would die shortly after Strange Days came out, followed by his rival and friend Notorious B.I.G., but even as Bigelow was making the movie, white power was striking back against the gangsta rap of those days, and marginalized minorities were already raising their voices in protest against the status quo. A cruel civilization was well shown in that angry and dystopian future, with which the talented director intended to lift the veil of hypocrisy that covered the MTV generation.
It is a little bit sad to see that as the years pass, there are some things that don't change... they maybe evolve, we call them with other names, but they are still there... maybe (and hopefully) the future will be better and we will finally learn from our past mistakes.
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Plot
December 31, 1999, Los Angeles. A disbarred former police officer named Lenny Nero does business by selling wire-trip clips, which are discs on which other people's experiences are captured together with all of their sensory information. Hence, when someone watches, they experience all that the person protagonist of the clip does.
Nero, however, begins to get anonymous clips, one of which includes the rape and death of a prostitute friend. This same person previously gave him a clip featuring the rapper Jeriko One's murder, which was committed in cold blood by two policemen. The main suspect appears to be Philo, a well-known song producer and the current partner of his ex-girlfriend Faith. But, the more Lenny investigates the situation, the more he learns about another reality.
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Conclusion
Strange Days (name inspired by a song of The Doors) is a dark, gloomy movie that is also technically flawless and rich in character development. Its distinctive atmosphere and unforgettable end-of-the-world setting make it one of the most memorable science fiction movies of the 1990s. The screenplay also has well-developed characters and a story that ends in unexpected triumph as a ray of hope pierces the smog of this alternate future that, given the events of recent years, does not seem as strange or impossible as it should.
Totally recommended movie!!!
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Rating
My personal vote is:
9.5/10
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Farewell image and text separators, created by me with Canva
I had the opportunity to see Stranger Days in VHS format, I think I watched it several times and I remember the synopsis of the film, at least the illegal sale of other people's memories and feelings for the enjoyment of others, but nothing more. Your review makes me want to watch it again because it has been many years since I last saw this film.
Thank you for the comment, happy to hear you liked the review 😊
Was a nice watch... I enjoyed the show
Even in that decade the issue of racism was something very, very criticized and still is today as you say even if 100 years go by and technology advances, humanity will remain the same. 😎
Yeah I think it is also a generational and cultural matter, so probably in 2 or 3 generations from now we won't have some of the issues we have right bow (but also probably we will have new ones 😅)
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