| Occasionally, Hollywood does produce a worthwhile movie that's intended to provoke thought, and not just rake in 200 million dollars ( though this is a lot more rare now than it was in the 70's, when studio's were a lot more willing to gamble on original ideas than over-inflated advertising budgets). Soylent Green is one of these groundbreaking, original movies. It is a bleak vision of New York in 2022. The movie was made in 1973, so basically we can say it's set almost 50 years into the future. The population of New York city has swelled to over 40 million people, and over half of these are unemployed. The wealthy live in secure, luxury apartment complexes, where they eat fresh food, have all the water they need, have live-in sex slaves referred to as ' furniture' , and generally live in luxury. As for everyone else, the greenhouse effect has caused a permanent heatwave, making real food scarse, and a luxury item. People live in run-down buildings, in car bodies, on the streets, or sleep in churches ( which are no longer places of worship, but makeshift homeless shelters). With no real food to eat , the average New Yorker has to line up everyday for rations of soy-food. The most popular of these is Soylent Green. There is a hilarious slice of comic releif in one scene when hundreds of people riot when they find out there is no Soylent Green left. To disperse the crowd , the cops call in the 'scoops'. These are huge trucks that scoop up dissidents for disposal, though no-one suspects what's done with them.The main plot of the movie concerns a cop called Thorn , played by Charlton Heston. He's investigating the suspicious murder of a wealthy lawyer. Thorn doesn't fit the usual movie hero mould. He bends the law, gives and receives bribes, steals items like food, and soap from crime scenes, and tells the murdered lawyers girlfreind that she's "a nice peice of furniture" ( This character wouldn't cut it in todays overly politically correct film industry, or if he did make it into a Hollywood flick, he'd have to die an excruciatingly painful death at the hands of Cameron Diaz). From here on, the movie really has a Blade Runner feel to it....I'm sure Ridley Scott was influenced by this movie. Soylent green is filled with memorable scenes. I particularly like the one where Edward G. Robinson has decided he is no longer a useful member of society and chooses to be put down, which is encouraged and sponsered by the government. The film not only raises questions about the environment, and class, but also about the problems concerned with a growing population, and a system that simply won't cope with the largest number of elderly pensioners the world has ever seen. It doesn't take long to figure out the secret ingredient of Soylent Green, but it is still shocking when Thorn finally discovers it. This movie hasn't really dated for something thats almost 30 years old, and it really is worth your while to track it down and see it. It's right on the money about a lot of things.....especially with the growing popularity of soy products now. Wouldn't it be ironic if all the vegans out there eating soy burgers really were chowing down on people. |