Bokeh, a film
A young couple, Americans, are on vacation in Iceland. One morning they awake to find that everybody else has disappeared--completely disappeared. There are no bodies; no signs of any disaster. The only change they can see is that the human race has vanished and only they remain. Radio, TV, and phones are silent. The world has gone silent, whether it is local in Iceland or international. They have no idea of why or how this happened nor why they alone remain.
Bokeh is a quiet film with no monsters, mutants,
aliens, car chases, or devastation found so frequently in
post-apocalyptic films. To a considerable extent, it reminds me of another film, a documentary that discussed what would happen if the human race just simply disappeared. Unfortunately I can't remember the title.
The film focuses on their attempts to deal with the situation, and with each other. While they are in love, this is the first time they have been forced to interact solely with each other for any extensive length of time. In the past, other people have always been nearby, along with their work and life in the 21st century, with its distractions, crises, and pleasures. Now, for the first time, they are really alone and are faced with the reality of being alone for a long time--just the two of them.
They appear to live in the present. There is little thought for the future. Their main concern seems to be to exist. They ignore the potential Adam and Eve setting for they do not even speak of children. It was as if they thought only of themselves and weren't concerned that the human race might die out with them.
The photography was one of the strong points of the film . This could almost pass as as travelogue for they took advantage of Iceland's scenery and filmed much of it. It almost made me want to schedule a trip to Iceland. If you are curious about Iceland and can't find a travel film, rent this film.
In the press notes, the writer-directors explain that
"bokeh"is a photographic term for the part of a photo that's out of
focus, the background that helps to set the foreground. In their film, the science fiction
scenario of this silent apocalypse is part of that background.
I must admit that I wasn't that impressed immediately after watching the film. However, I have been thinking about it, on and off, since then. Something about the film intrigues me, but I don't know what it is. I just may rent it again to find out. If so, that suggests that the film had affected me at some level below the conscious level.
Bokeh is a puzzlement.
sounds fascinating... i've read at least one sci fi novel with the same premise, but those have a novelistic resolution of some sort; so was there one in the film? or did it just taper off at the end... i'll look for it on the movie rentaplace... tx, Fred...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle--the ending was a bit ambiguous. I think I know what happened, but someone might interpret it differently. I hope you come back and comment if you manage to watch it.
Deletei ordered it: should be here in a few days...
DeleteMudpuddle, looking forward to your comments.
DeleteThis sounds very interesting. There was an old television film called Where Have All the People Gone? With a somewhat simplistic premise. I am not sure that it was all that good however. There was also an old Twilight Zone episode along the same lines. Those stories were less artistic then this seems to be. Either way, I tend to like stories like this. Thus, I will likely give this a try.
ReplyDeleteBrian Joseph--I think Where have all the people gone? is the picture I was thinking of. It was a speculation about what would happen to human artifacts--buildings, structures--if humans weren't around to care for them. I would say that Bokeh is more character driven than plot driven or action oriented, or at least that's what I think they were trying to do.
DeleteWhere Have All The People Gone was a made for tv film starring Peter Graves in 1974. You may also be remembering a speculative documentary nearly a decade back called Life After People:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People
I haven't seen Bokeh...but given my recurring fantasy of being the Burgess Meredith character in the Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough At Last" it sounds like I really should!
Richard, the one I had seen was a documentary or a speculation as to what would happen if all humanity suddenly went away. There were no characters. Life after People might be the one.
DeleteThat TZ episode was a sad one.
Afterwards I thought that he might go to an opticians and see if he could find something there.
You might (all) be interested in 'The World Without Us' by Alan Weisman which looks at the results (on the built environment) of humanity non-violently vanishing. It's VERY good.
ReplyDeleteCyberKitten, as I mentioned above, I did see a doc in which focused on what would happen if humanity disappeared. The film covered a number of years. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the film, so I can't say if this is the one I saw. I found it very interesting, though.
DeleteFred: i think the one CK mentioned is it: it shows NY city at periods in the future: 100, 500, 1000 years from now, until nothing remains that shows humans were ever here... it was a great show; i think i'll get it and watch it again...
DeleteMudpuddle, that might be the one. I remember projections going quite far into the future. I just may watch it again myself.
DeleteMudpuddle, I just checked and it isn't the one. The US in the title refers to the USA. In the film, the US turns isolationist, pulls back its military, and withdraws behind its own borders.
DeleteFred: oh... well, i don't recall what the title of the other one was; i believe it was informational not commercial, like on pbs or something similar...
DeleteMudpuddle, no problem. I can't think of the title of the doc or informational film either. It's no big deal. This film just reminded me of it in a little way.
DeleteThe World Without Us is both a book and a documentary series. I can't remember which was round I experienced them but they're both essentially the same thing. I guess that the isolationist movie is just a coincidence title-wise.
DeleteCyberKitten, yes, definitely a coincidence. It certainly sounds as though it would fit in with the theme of the film.
DeleteR.T., the places that appeared in the film were very beautiful and striking. I wonder if you might recognize some of them.
ReplyDelete