"28 days later"
Danny Boyle, 2002
Reparto: Cilian Murphy (Jim) Naomie Harris (Selena) Noah Huntley (Mark) Alexander Delamere (Mr. Bridges) Kim McGarrity (hija de Mr. Bridges) Brendan Gleeson (Frank) Megan Burns (Hannah) Tobby Sedwick (cura infectado)
* * *
Danny Boyle, 2002
Reparto: Cilian Murphy (Jim) Naomie Harris (Selena) Noah Huntley (Mark) Alexander Delamere (Mr. Bridges) Kim McGarrity (hija de Mr. Bridges) Brendan Gleeson (Frank) Megan Burns (Hannah) Tobby Sedwick (cura infectado)
* * *
Infectarse
Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) puede presumir de haber ofrecido un escenario más para las pesadillas de nuestra generación y las generaciones venideras, el de un Londres inmaculado, limpio, vacío que en cada esquina amenaza con una muerte segura. No sé si Boyle había visto la pesadilla de Amenábar en Abre los ojos, con una Gran Via igual de desierta donde Noriega busca desesperado algun signo de vida, o con la del remake de Camerón Crowe, pero la suya es mucho más aterradora.
El protagonista, Jim, se despierta en un hospital vacío, en una ciudad vacía por la epidemia de un virus de la rabia que se propaga por la sangre. Los infectados tardan 20 segundos en convertirse en enfermos rabiosos que a su vez propagan la enfermedad. Junto a otros tres supervivientes intenta llegar a un lugar en la autovía de Manchester donde el ejército anuncia por la radio que tiene un reducto.
George A. Romero nos proponía en "La noche de los muertos vivientes" una renovación del juego del pilla pilla para adultos. En el juego uno tiene que evitar que lo pillen, pero cuando es capturado pasa a formar parte de los malos y tiene que conseguir capturar a todos los demás que andan libres. Romero convierte a los que huyen en humanos, y a los perseguidores en zombis. Boyle desacraliza a los zombies, o muertos vivientes y lo actualiza con un problema más punzante y actual, la rabia se contamina, igual que el SIDA, con la sangre. Igual que el SIDA, la enfermedad divide a todos los personajes en dos bandos horribles, los infectados y los sanos, y nos plantea un dilema terrible cuando los personajes crean lazos y tienen que asesinar sin parpadear al que antes había sido un ser querido. La película transcribe en fotogramas una angustia de nuestros días. Los enfermos con VIH son por un lado portadores de un arma espantosa con la que pueden condenar a una muerte lenta (que gracias a los fármacos se alarga cada año y ya se cuenta en décadas) a los seres más cercanos; pero a la misma vez, los portadores son seres que queremos, y podemos acabar siendo uno de nosotros.
Selena ayuda al protagonista pero no es humanitaria porque ha aprendido que para sobrevivir la primera regla es asesinar sin tituveos. Ha aprendido a no tener lazos y a no pensar más que en sí misma. El oficial del ejercito le pregunta a Jim si ha matado a alguien, él confiesa arrepentido que sí, y el oficial le dice que eso no es condenable, es la única salida. La paradoja que pretende mostrar la película es la de un mundo en el que sólo se puede vivir haciendo daño.
La segunda parte de la película, en la que los protagonistas dan con el ejército, cambia el terror por otro tipo de suspense. Los infectados dejan paso a los supervivientes que se reparten los restos con la misma falta de escrúpulos que les ha permitido sobrevivir. Es un planteamiento que escora la película porque los malos no tienen razón de serlo, salvo que uno sea muy misántropo o muy paranoico, y por eso los actores tienen que sobreacutar mucho y poner caras raras (aun sin estar infectados), porque no hay manera de hacer creíble ese planteamiento. Mi tesis es que los paranóicos siempre venden más entradas.
Chicago Sun-Time | Roger Ebert ***
Jim is the everyman, a bicycle messenger whose nearly fatal traffic accident probably saves his life. Wandering London, shouting (unwisely) for anyone else, he eventually encounters Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), who have avoided infection and explain the situation. (Mark: "OK, Jim, I've got some bad news.") Selena, a tough-minded black woman who is a realist, says the virus had spread to France and America before the news broadcasts ended; if someone is infected, she explains, you have 20 seconds to kill them before they turn into a berserk, devouring zombie.
That 20-second limit serves three valuable story purposes: (a) It has us counting "12 ... 11 ... 10" in our minds at one crucial moment; (b) it eliminates the standard story device where a character can keep his infection secret; and (c) it requires the quick elimination of characters we like, dramatizing the merciless nature of the plague.
[...] But then I'm never satisfied. "28 Days Later" is a tough, smart, ingenious movie that leads its characters into situations where everything depends on their (and our) understanding of human nature.
Mr Cranky (-3)
Sadly, this film does nothing to distinguish itself from the parade of lame horror films that have come out over the last several years. To make matters worse, Boyle has filmed the thing in digital, which makes the whole picture look like it was shot by a three-year-old in a closet.
All I know about this one is that I could see next to nothing because of the bad camera work and the murky image quality. I suppose that suffices for style in some books. In mine, it's just one more annoyance.
ContraCostaTimes | Mary F. Pols
There's a slight sense that the more intriguing first half of the story was deserted in favor of a more predictable "Lord of the Flies"-style second half. But by now we've grown quite attached to these plucky survivors, even the prickly Selena, and the heart races just as we want it to. "28 Days Later" is exhilarating, exciting and, thanks to its cool, mostly unknown leads and touches of black humor, is destined to be a hipster cult classic, much as "Trainspotting" was before it.
Jim is the everyman, a bicycle messenger whose nearly fatal traffic accident probably saves his life. Wandering London, shouting (unwisely) for anyone else, he eventually encounters Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), who have avoided infection and explain the situation. (Mark: "OK, Jim, I've got some bad news.") Selena, a tough-minded black woman who is a realist, says the virus had spread to France and America before the news broadcasts ended; if someone is infected, she explains, you have 20 seconds to kill them before they turn into a berserk, devouring zombie.
That 20-second limit serves three valuable story purposes: (a) It has us counting "12 ... 11 ... 10" in our minds at one crucial moment; (b) it eliminates the standard story device where a character can keep his infection secret; and (c) it requires the quick elimination of characters we like, dramatizing the merciless nature of the plague.
[...] But then I'm never satisfied. "28 Days Later" is a tough, smart, ingenious movie that leads its characters into situations where everything depends on their (and our) understanding of human nature.
Mr Cranky (-3)
Sadly, this film does nothing to distinguish itself from the parade of lame horror films that have come out over the last several years. To make matters worse, Boyle has filmed the thing in digital, which makes the whole picture look like it was shot by a three-year-old in a closet.
All I know about this one is that I could see next to nothing because of the bad camera work and the murky image quality. I suppose that suffices for style in some books. In mine, it's just one more annoyance.
ContraCostaTimes | Mary F. Pols
There's a slight sense that the more intriguing first half of the story was deserted in favor of a more predictable "Lord of the Flies"-style second half. But by now we've grown quite attached to these plucky survivors, even the prickly Selena, and the heart races just as we want it to. "28 Days Later" is exhilarating, exciting and, thanks to its cool, mostly unknown leads and touches of black humor, is destined to be a hipster cult classic, much as "Trainspotting" was before it.
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