On July 15, at the Peacock streaming service (a project of the American media company NBCUniversal), and on July 16 at the Kinopoisk HD Russian online cinema, the first episodes of the Brave New World series on the dystopian Aldous Huxley “Oh Brave New World” premiered.
The action of the tape takes place in the XXVI century. People live in an inevitably happy and harmonious world. They are divided into classes from "alpha" to "epsilon" even before birth - in the hatchery, where they grow further without any involvement of parents.
To maintain this “ideal social environment”, it is enough to follow three rules: no privacy, no family, no monogamy.
Monogamy replaces promiscuous sexual relationships. Parties easily grow into orgies. And to maintain an intimate relationship with the same person, on the contrary, is considered indecent and even selfish. If someone happens to experience unpleasant emotions, you should just take the drug - “som”. In it, people see salvation from absolutely all problems.
However, the happiness of two heroes is in question. The adviser, alpha-plus sign Bernard Marx (Harry Lloyd), is not seduced by messy connections. Moreover, the hero likes solitude. After the worker’s suicide, the seditious thought comes to his mind that catfish can drown out not all pain.
Problems of a different kind are experienced by an employee of the hatchery, beta-plus sign Linaina Crown (Jessica Brown-Findlay). She had made love to the same person 22 times in a row, and it looks like monogamy.
- © kinopoisk.ru
To unwind, Bernard and Linayna go to the theme park "Wild Lands". Here, like animals, you can watch the so-called savages - that is, people who live in a traditional society with its sorrows and joys. True, in poverty.
Savages earn by organizing performances for holidaymakers in which a massacre at a sale, a wedding (with a mandatory shoot-out), or prison life are staged.
Nevertheless, savages get tired of this order of things and organize an armed uprising, in the midst of which are Linayna and Bernard. Heroes are saved by a native of the wild lands named John (Alden Ehrenreik). After a series of shootings, action scenes and a series of dramatic moments, he finds himself in the New World, where he questions the existing order and also learns a lot about himself.
Well forgotten old
The series is a free reading of the original. You should not expect from him a reliable transfer to the screen of a familiar story. Rather, viewers will see how “Oh Brave New World” might have looked if it had been written right now for television screens these days.
Therefore, those who read the novel, the tape is likely to be interesting not as a cinematic embodiment of a familiar story, but as a modern rethinking, devoid of a significant part of the philosophical load.
As expected, some plot moves are omitted. Filmmakers chose not to focus on the cult of Henry Ford and the philosophy of consumption. We also bypassed (at least in the first series) such an interesting topic as hypnopedia - zombie ideological installations in a dream.
- © kinopoisk.ru
The emphasis is shifted to free love and being "high". Most likely, this approach will provide the project with a decent audience, but it will hardly give it a comprehensive idea of the world of dystopia in the form in which the writer intended it.
Aldous Huxley's novel was first published almost 90 years ago, in 1932. When creating the image of the future, both the writer and the team of the series in the image of the new world relied on the images of modernity. Therefore, the film adaptation includes ideas inspired by the development of science and technology at the moment.
So, holograms flash everywhere. Through a microscopic computer, which at the same time is a lens of augmented reality, people are constantly connected to the likeness of the Internet, “indra”.
With its help, for example, you can find out what class a person belongs to (in the book this function was performed by clothes of the established color, as well as differences in appearance). Thus, Indra maintains a hierarchy and leaves no room for privacy.
In addition, the creators of the series carefully avoided "politically incorrect" motives - so, the Native American reservation turned into a theme park. The presence of female characters is also increased in the tape: the role of the chief manager Mustafa Monda is played by the African-American Nina Sosanya.
If we distract from the original source, then “Brave New World” is a very solid show with a pleasant, harmonious video sequence. All elements, from urban landscapes and interiors to clothing details, blend perfectly. Synthetic music corresponding to the atmosphere has been selected for many scenes (which, by the way, does not contradict the novel).
Against the background of the declared separation of intimate relations and spiritual closeness, scenes in which sincere emotions are implied look especially sensual.
The narrative is characterized by balanced dynamics, where there is a place for action and suspense, and leisurely, dedicated to the analysis of the device of a fantasy world.
Successfully selected cast. Particularly interesting is Demi Moore, who got the role of the mother of savage John. As for Brown Findlay, Lloyd and Erenrike, all of them have already managed to show themselves well in other projects, while not being held hostage by their own roles (perhaps only the latter can be prevented by the memorable image of the young Han Solo from the Star Wars franchise) .