Review 74: Contagion

Contagion is a nail biting, tense, unsettling, superbly crafted and executed medical thriller and another example of the craftsmanship of director Steven Soderbergh.

Over the course of a few months, a virus spreads transmitted by fomites, spreads around the globe with chillingly horrific efficiencies. As social order is lost in the pandemic, medical researchers and public health officials attempt to identify and contain the disease and ultimately introduce a vaccine to halt the spread.

Contagion at its core is a cautionary tale. Steven Soderbergh and screenwiter Scott Z. Burns really tap into a very common fear of public health and the scientific response to a pandemic.
You strongly get the sense that this could actually happen.
The film touches on a number of themes, including the factors which drive mass panic and collapse of social order, the scientific process for characterising and containing a novel pathogen, balancing personal motives against professional responsibilities and rules in the face of an existential threat, the limitations and consequences of public responses and the pervasiveness of interpersonal connections which can serve as vectors and spread the disease.

The influence of recent real-life epidemics such as the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak and the 2009 flu pandemic are very prevalent in the films portrayal of an outbreak.
The sheer, skin crawling atmosphere of passing on a disease just by touching a contaminated surface or even something as ordinary as a doornob or a lift button is caputred experly on screen.
This film shows that you can spread a disease even without presenting symptoms and you can end up contracting the disease through

The film also presents examples of crowd psychology and collective behaviour which can lead to mass hysteria and the loss of social order. The bafflement, outrage and helplessness associated with the lack of information, combined with new media such as blogs which allow conspiracy theorists such as Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) to spread disinformation and fear which become contagions themselves.

Contagion also indirectly critiques the greed, selfishness and hypocrisy of isolated acts in contemporary culture and the unintended consequences they have in the context of a pandemic.

Speed itself is a key theme in Contagion as well as the films defining aesthetic characteristic: The virus multiplies faster than it can be tracked, the technology that allows not only the quick transport of data and people over vast distances but also the constant tracking of that travel.

Steven Soderbegh's direction is taut and suspenseful, the cinematography is the score by Cliff Martinez is energeticaly, pulse pounding and expertly encapsulates the sense of anxiety required, the production design is the costumes are  the make up is extraordinary and convincingly and unsettlingly showcases the injury detail,

When it comes to casting, Steven Soderbergh shows once again he has a keen eye for direction ensemble casts and he assembles some very talented actors playing a bunch of desperate and vulnerable character that we can all imagine would.
Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet among others.

Matt Damon's Mitch Emhoff is very much the heart and soul of this film 

Fishburne's Dr. Ellis Cheever is the voice of reason in the outbreak that the film depicts. He's the man whom we would look to in a crisis like this and who would tell you that everything is going to be ok.
Over the course of the film, he must also balance the need for full disclosure but also avoid a panic and allow the time to characterise and respond to the unknown virus.

Krumwiede is a campaigner for the freedom of speech as well as conspiracy theories. Unfortunatly, his ego and his pride get in the way of his convictions. He has an inbuilt reaction to government-backed vaccination programes and research as well as a cynical view of legal and governmental process behind medical investigation and on medical issues. So that often leads him generally into areas of alternatives and then raising alternatives watching them get covered up.
What makes his storyline interesting to watch is that he gets the lead on everyone else; He sees something before everyone else and as a result, he has the run on them for quite a while.

Regretably, Gwyneth Paltrow's Beth Emhoff is mearly a bit part as well as the catylist for the films events. A working mum returning from a business trip in Chicago, she touches a contaminated surface and whilist not appearing to

Bryan Cranston, Enrico Colantoni, Elliot Gould and Jennifer Ehle round out the massively stacked cast with

Contagion leaves a contagious impact, 4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.