Disaster films

Whether scorched, polluted or sprayed, attacked by virus, weather or aliens, in the spotlight or against the backdrop of a nightmare, the Earth appears green and immature in movies, thanks to the magic of special effects and studios. You can see the list of disaster films at https://bit.ua/2018/04/movie-disaster/.

VIRAL CATASTROPHIC FILMS

MOST KNOWN: WARNING

The feature film by Wolfgang Petersen, whose name will often be mentioned in this file, is certainly one of the most striking disaster films of its generation, and this time it resonates widely in this very real period of the pandemic. It was worn by Dustin Hoffman on his return, after a quiet period, accompanied by two confirmed stars (Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland) and a number of now important names (Kevin Spacey, Rene Russo, Cuba Gooding Jr. or even Patrick Dempsey in a small supporting role, but central to the plot), the feature film offers a gripping vision of the epidemic.

If the beginning of the film is particularly tragic (horrific opening), and the denunciation of the American army is pronounced throughout the story, then the Warning ends up being a big blockbuster, riddled with the idea of ​​an epidemic (even if the script is based on a novel). Thus, the virus that infects the inhabitants of a small California town is a way to offer a good big dose of spectacle (pursuit, climax in a helicopter) and all this against the backdrop of a melodrama with a complicated romance of the Hoffman-Russo couple. .

Nevertheless, this is a good and very effective disaster movie that will stir up more than one moviegoer during the terribly disturbing scene where the virus is spreading in the cinema hall. Not sure if you want them to reopen after that...

MOST REAL: CONTAMINATION

At the opposite end of Petersen's Anxiety, there is apparently Contagion by Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh's feature film, far from a performance and a blockbuster, almost touches the documentary with its ultra-realism and choral narration. To direct his film, the American filmmaker did extensive research on epidemics (based in part on SARS research in 2003) and relied heavily on that data to construct his entire screenplay (written by Scott Z. Burns).

Never spectacular, always disturbing, Contagion already outlined in 2011 the possible consequences of a global pandemic (largely confirmed by the coronavirus we face in the real world). If the virus is obviously the starting point of the plot, then it is rather the spread and the reaction of humanity that interests Soderbergh. Thus, he follows several characters around the four corners of the planet to analyze the different reactions of ordinary people, the decisions of many governments, the consequences of false information on the population , the growth of medical scams, false prophets and conspiracy theories, the emerging authoritarianism of several countries, the trampling of freedoms ... In short, everything that is currently more or less going through the world.

When we also know the result and the revelation, we tell ourselves that Soderbergh was already a great seer ten years ago, along with Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne or Marion Cotillard. Can't be missed.

MOST POETIC: PERFECT MEANING

Cough, fever or difficulty breathing is out of the question here, a feature film by David McKenzie (who has since also starred in Fists Against Walls, Comancheria or The Outlaw King) explores a virus that will wipe out up to one every person's feelings. human .