Aniara - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Aniara



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
When most people think Sci-fi films they are automatically filled with images of Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Aliens etc etc etc. However, there is an alternative to the laser swords, explosions and generally systematic storytelling of those types of films (no matter how fantastic they may be) in the more existential high-concept science fiction storytelling. Aniara falls into this sub category of sci-fi, blending art house visuals with a sort of bleak, Lord of the Fliesesque dramatic coloring to it. The tale of Aniara is actually an old one, having been taken from a dramatic poem in 1956 from the lauded poet Harry Martinson. It has been turned into a film in the past, as well as a full on Opera production, and Euro progressive rock bands have used the original poem as inspiration over the years as well. This latest attempt to visualizing the tale of Aniara is a bit hit or miss, with some fantastic visuals, bleak take on humanity falling apart under chaos, but a frustrating film that seems to be to “high art” for the average person to really grasp. Now, that’s not saying that those who don’t get it are stupid or just “don’t get what we all see!” that is so prevalent in high art subcultures, but rather laying the blame on the film makers. They tried so desperately to make a film that was heady and artistic, but in the process made it so bland and inaccessible that even art house fans have been frustrated with how out of reach the meaning and purpose of the film seems to be.

The film starts out with a more traditional sci-fi trope, with the Earth in disarray due to massive over population and pollution. A section of humanity is being shipped off to the colonies of Mars to start a new life, and their transport ships are giant resort like things that are basically a luxury cruise for the next 3 weeks (how long it supposedly takes to Mars in the future). Shortly into their flight, the ship is hit by some space debris from what looks like a destroyed satellite which causes the crew to jettison their nuclear fuel in the process. Knocked off course and with no fuel the faction of humanity are told that they just have to wait a few YEARS before their ship comes in contact with a celestial body with a gravitational pull and then slingshot them back on course.

The truth of the situation is, there’s no celestial body within reach and the captain is just trying to placate the passengers so that they won’t go into hysterics. The main “protagonist” of the film is a woman named Mimaroben (Emelie Jonsson), a woman who runs and operates a virtual reality program called “Mima” on the ship. The entire film is basically a character study of humanity as they start to fall apart ala Lord of the Flies, and Mima is our eyes and ears into that world. The film is cut up into labeled sections, each of them chronically a period of the 24 year journey of the Aniara drifting through space (Aniara being the name of this particular cruise ship). With time passing the crew becomes more fascist in their control of the populace, while the people slowly devolve into sects. First is the panic, then comes the partying as everyone has nothing to lose, then comes the weirdness. The cults form, giant whacked out sex parties (a scene which was almost hilarious in it’s art house “look at how progressive we’re being!” in nature), then the despair. The terror, the bleakness as nothing is coming to help them and Mimaroben and her friends begin a spiral into despair.

If you’re looking for a traditional story, then I’d have to say look elsewhere. There’s no 3 act narrative arc here. Just an inciting incident and a look at what happens afterward. No lesson, no morals, just a slice of life look at what society would do when completely cut off from their support system (emotional, physical, etc). Emelie Jonsson is killer in her role there, giving an absolutely mesmerizing performance as Mimaroben. She absorbs herself so thoroughly into the role that you almost watch her waste away on screen and really believe that this is HER that we’re seeing disintegrate before our eyes.

The problems stem from the fact that the film is so obtuse and “just out of reach” of even hardcore art house fans. We shift from scene to scene without any real explanation, and when we seem to be getting close to an answer on something, there’s a leap forward in time and that particular narrative element is is left for something else. If anything, the raw visuals and the non “pretty people” casting of the passengers and crew makes it all the more enjoyable though. There’s a sense of raw and visceral reality to the interactions that take place, as it lacks the spit and polish of a film like Passengers affords with a similar basic premise.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Magnolia’s Blu-ray comes with a solid looking 2.39:1 AVC encode that is generally very pleasant to look at. The lower budget of the Swedish production staves off bright and shiny visuals, and sticks to a more raw and organic look. The white levels have been pushed pretty high most of the time, giving a sort of surreal and dreamlike state to most of the film. The colors come through with a good amount of pop (such as the pale blue of uniforms, or the golden hues of the Mima room), but the film is kind of hazy and pushed toward overly brightened sequences. Darker shots are good, but suffer a bit from banding in the black of space or in the middle of a dark bedroom.








Audio:

There are two audio tracks on the disc here, both in DTS-HD MA 5.1 with one being in Swedish and the other an English dub. Honestly, the two sound very similar in all respects except for the languages. The English track is VERY obviously inferior to the original Swedish track, as it really doesn’t grasp as much detail in the translations as the subtitled Swedish track does, and the vocal choices are really bad at times. The mix itself is pretty impressive, with an opening LFE pulse that just rumbles on for a good several minutes with a nice LOW end extension going on. The rest of the track is a bit more forward heavy with plenty of dialog centric scenes, but there are some really nifty scenes with high surround usage where you can hear the babbling of frightened passengers, or the creak and groan of the ship itself.






Extras:

• Behind The Scenes Featurettes:
- Visual Effects
- Production Design
- Sound Design
• Conceptual Design/Art Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

I really wanted to like Aniara, as I do like high concept art films as well as big, dumb, action sci-fi ventures. HOWEVER, I had a hard time with it despite some good acting and great visuals. It doesn’t get so far up into itself that it’s incomprehnsible garbage like many art house failures, but rather it just isn’t close ENOUGH to a solid narrative structure to keep it interesting. Elements of the movie fascinated me, and elements of the movie frustrated me to no end. In the end it’s an interesting watch but one that is pretty hard to find anything solid to grab onto and say “THIS is what the movie was about!”. Magnolia’s Blu-ray release is excellent, with good video and audio, but only a modicum of extras to dig through. Rental for art house fans would be my recommendation



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Emma Broome, Jamil Drissi
Directed by: Pella Kagerman, Hugo Lijita
Written by: Pella Kagerman, Hugo Lijita, Harry Martinson (Poem)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Swedish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, English Narrative
Studio: Magnolia
Rated: NR
Runtime: 106 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: August 20th, 2019

Recommendation: Rental For High Concept Sci-fi Fans

 

[Todd Anderson]

This one looks really interesting. I'm hesitant to plow time into tho, with your conclusions. I think I may end up wishing I hadn't sacrificed the time.

 

[Michael Scott]

the thing with high concept sci-fi and art house stuff...it's very much different for each person. what may strike me as weak may strike you as strong. It's NOT a horrible art house flick that incomprehensible. There's a lot I liked about it... it just didn't completely strike home for me.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Good point. I'll have to think about this

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. This one is interesting. I will check it out once on amazon prime/netflix for a lazy Sunday.

 

[Asere]

I am not a diehard Sci-Fi fan but this one look interesting and I may watch it one day. Thanks for the review.