Soylent Green (1973)

Heading back into the post apocalypse realm now with one of the most famous of the...well...okay it's not exactly post apocalypse, it's more the dystopian future of 'Turkey Shoot'. But it's still one of the most famous films around, Hell, everyone knows the ending. No, seriously, everyone knows it. Even those who haven't seen the film know what happens, it's been spoofed and referenced enough times.

It's the year 2022. Earth is overpopulated, which has drained the planet of its resources; food is scarce, animals are virtually extinct, millions are homeless and sleeping in the streets and hallways, and climate change is heating up the planet. In this world the Soylent Corporation, who control the food supply to most of the planet, have released a new brand of ration called Soylent Green. William Simonson (Joseph Cotton), a director of the Soylent Corporation, is murdered and Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is tasked to investigate. But the more her investigates the more he finds a conspiracy that could shake the foundations of what is left of civilisation.

The story is quite possibly one of the eeriest around, pretty much all the things featured are real life problems, with the population having just hit (Approximately) seven billion from six billion from about ten years ago. There are plenty of reports saying that if the population continues to grow like this then we will use up the planets resources. On top of that, the greenhouse gases is always popping up in the news. It's quite disturbing that this is a possible future of the planet. Unless we go to the moon. It's actually quite amazing that a film from forty years ago managed to show these issues without it being the main point of the film. It doesn't shove it down your throat like most things do nowadays, it shows you the way you'd expect; with humanity adapting.

Part of the main focus is on the standard murder story. The film does successfully manage to keep your attention, wanting to find out what happens. The best bits however are the glimpses to the past, or rather our present, where we see the things that pretty much all of us take for granted, the things we really don't think of that much. This film makes us realise what beauty there is in the world, we're actually quite lucky to witness it. I wonder if you can imagine a world where everything is pretty much dying, the human race continues to grow, and no-one thinks of it until it's too late.

Of course it would be easier to follow if the main character wasn't a dick. It may be more of a product of the times which molded him, in fact in hindsight I'd say that Thorn learns to improve himself and becomes a better man, but for the most part he's actually kind of a dick. He steals and tends to bully people around him. The only ones he treats with respect are Sol (Edward Robinson, in his last role before he died), where they have a father-son relationship, and Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young) whom he does treat well towards the end, but at first treats her more like an object, or, as he himself describes her, as "furniture".

Then again that seems to be the general feeling towards her, as the only person who really seemed to care about her was the guy who was killed. Shirl though does seem to be on her own journey to find some sort of recognition and self-confidence, to empower herself. It's also damn right disturbing that the effective way to quell riots is to bring in bulldozers and literally scoop up the rioters, primarily because you're not actually told what happens to the captured rioters. Are they set free? Are they imprisoned? Do they die from being scooped? Or when other rioters are scooped on top of them?

The acting is terrific, particularly from Robinson in his scenes acting with Heston, especially one scene (You'll know when you see it) where you see Robinson, and Heston for that matter, pour out their heart and soul. Taylor-Young, I must admit I'm not really sure about. I feel that she didn't really emote enough, but the more I think about it the more I'm sure that that was her character, and part of her journey. Joseph Cotten also played a great role with William Simonson, as did Brock Peters as Chief Hatcher, the only problem was they had little screen time, particularly the former.

I'll be honest with you, you need to see this film. This is one of those films you need to see before you die. The acting is brilliant, the story is great, it's clever, it's imposing, it can even be damn right disconcerting if you think about it. If you haven't seen it already, go and see it.