Review of Soylent Green (1973) by Jack L — 22 Jan 2010

"Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. It's been 6 months since my last confession.." I won't ruin the rest of that scene but anybody who's seen this movie knows why I didn't stop laughing until the next act. Had that been the only scene in the movie, it would've ranked at a perfect 100.

Set in an overpopulated New York (New York with too many people, what an imagination the author of the novel must have had), Soylent Green is basically just one of those "what-if" movies, undoubtedly triggered by the baby boom and feels like it contains a very overt political message but, not having lived in 1973, I haven't the slightest idea as to what that is. It's kind of like when you first find the growth on your leg and have yet to realize that you're not a woman...maybe that was just me.

Unfortunately, I must mark off for a glaring flaw in which a cord magically jumped from one place to another as scenes were spliced together to give the illusion of a flashing sign (apparently light switches didn't exist in the early '70's).

It didn't seem that they tried very hard to reflect advancements in technology but I'm more appreciative of the fact that they DIDN'T try too hard to predict the future and wind up with something along the lines of the environment, clothing and technology in Minority Report which seems to neglect both aesthetics and political intervention. Although, the right to privacy has clearly been removed in this world and it seems as if the men are free to smack around the women if they find it convenient (or maybe that's just the '70's again).

There was also some really bad acting by a factory worker in a fight scene. He was meant to fall off a ledge onto a conveyor belt but it looked more like he climbed off and took a dive while he was having a seizure.

Other than those 3 faults, everything in this movie is incredible. The concept was new at the time, the acting is incredible, each set is made to consistently reflect the massive overpopulation and the lead role, while I get the feeling he would've done just as great a job as Indiana Jones as the legendary, unforgettable actor what's-his-face, this guy can also cry on cue, and convincingly so.