Contagion: A Review

Stephen Soderbergh, Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick form the highest echelon of filmmaking. They are , in my view, unassailable. Of the three, Soderbergh is the least consistent - followed then by Kubrick. Malick never misses. Kubrick sometimes. Soderbergh has been off and on, his entire career. There's a four hour biopic out there he did - that, I am pretty sure you'll never see. And that's ok.

Soderbergh's latest film - Contagion - does not miss. In my humble opinion, this is his best film - even better than 'Sex, Lies and Videotape'. Very rarely has any filmmaker succeeded in building a window into our society, and having it open just wide enough for us to see our future +as we are building it in society+. This film is a commentary about who we are, and how we operate - on so many levels. And it's also a really cool , end of the world - type film. It is a thriller, a story of how we connect with one another - and to a certain degree, sci fi - although the science is so well grounded in modern genetics that it's barely futuristic. Perhaps that's why it's so fun - so much of what has been going on in genetics these past few years is really all still new to us.

Contagion is a film set against the harsh landscape of a worldwide pandemic. In this pandemic, the virus spreads by touch - or breath. This isn't a science fiction film, really - because most of what happens in the race for survival that follows - is really what happens now. There are moments in the film that are unforgettable. Vivid. The film has a tense undercurrent that carries it through to an exciting, interesting end.

And it is at the end, that we finally understand why Soderbergh made this film. He has uncovered something profound, and beautiful. Perhaps about how we connect to each other. Perhaps, a carefully made film that could serve as a warning for the very near future. This is a very connected film -that touches on the concepts behind the blogosphere, the world health organization, the CDC, private industry, government, facebook, sms, and basic humanity. Above all, this film is about how humanity finds a way to survive natural annhilation. The third best film I have ever seen.