Seems like it would have saved them a lot of problems if they were able to communicate when they were separated and I don't understand how that particular invention doesn't exist in the future.
"If we can't lie, how will we ever get to the truth?!" Brenda Leigh Johnson
A society without mobile phones actually sounds pretty cool.
I ran into a tourist family back in the summer- quite obviously lost- and I asked them if I could give them directions. They told me a restaurant and I said I was walking that way and if they just followed me I would take them right to it.
Well, the father never quit staring at his mobile- he had a map/gps application going. When we were less than two blocks away, he stopped and basically refused to follow me because the mobile phone said he should turn the other way.
The funniest thing was, the streets were in a triangle at the point. We were on on leg of the triangle- the restaurant was on the very next leg. I was walking the closest possible way. The app wanted him to go the longest way. And you could plainly see this on his screen. Even his wife remarked on it. Yet he still wanted to walk the long way.
It turns out he had it switched to 'car mode' or something that instead of 'walking mode' so the app was telling him to follow the one way street system around the block.
It's the middle of the day, in the middle of the city. I don't look like a criminal. But he could no longer connect with a real person who actually lived in this place who was telling him the best way to go- instead choosing to follow this gadget in his palm.
In the end, his wife and daughter had to tell him to just walk the way I was going. When he saw the sign to the restaurant he seemed to realize he had been being an idiot but this left me disgruntled for a few days. I like helping people. It's part of what makes us human. I see mobile phones as fragmenting us and as an overall negative.
A way to privately communicate and form close, personal relationships? You can't imagine why that would no longer exist?
shareNo reason to have them. People know when they're supposed to be at work and they are not allowed to have personal social lives outside of it. If you don't show up to work, they send health and safety to check up on you.
shareReally? That's what you walk away with after seeing an intense and enduring love story? I cant tell if you're trying to be snarky or actually have a real issue with the film.
My point being that the film doesn't need to show any thing like cell phones, flying cars, or another form of modern technology to tell the story. The emphasis on the characters and their emotions are what drive the film.
A stupid cell phone makes no sense in a movie where the characters energy and chemistry shine through their intense face to face encounters. Having Nia and Silus talk through some other device would completely work against the film.
The world has to make sense, so yes, everything is missing from this sterile world including emotional investment.
shareThis is a deep, soul ripping love story more than anything else. Those who get caught up looking for trivial flaws in the film's technology are completely missing the point of the film and Drake Doremus's intentions as a director.
I feel many are upset with this film thinking they were going to see a sci-fi movie with cool technology and gadgets. When they realized it was a heart felt love story, their brains turned off and started poking holes in things that don't ultimately impact the film or take away from its intensity.
That intensity and believability in Nia and Silas's love for one another is what matters, and Drake extremely successful at portraying that. The onscreen chemistry between the two actors is undeniably strong thanks to his breathtaking camera work as well as the performances by Kristen and Nick.
Having a world that is less realized and muffled in the background allows the characters to breath and shine through more in my opinion. Explaining the world and giving camera time to useless exposition and technology would work against the film. Moreover, it plays to the directors strength, telling memorable love stories.
As far as emotional investment, there is clear forms of it displayed by both the actors and director. Although I would say some of the emotional investment needs to come from the viewer in order for the film to work. If you don't care about the characters, than you wont care about the film.
If this explanation doesn't work for you, than we should agree to disagree.
Sounds pretty good to me, now that we're living in a world where people never put their fucking phones down, lol! Seriously, everyone's addicted.
As someone else said, the society created in this movie doesn't have personal relationships anymore. Nobody has friendships and nobody has relationships. There's no need for anyone to stay in touch with anyone.