ANIARA / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: PELLA KÅGERMAN, HUGO LILJA / STARRING: EMELIE JONSSON, VIANCA CRUZEIRO, ARVIN KANANIAN, ANNELI MARTINI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
This science fiction film, based on a much loved poem from the 1950s written by Sweden’s then Nobel laureate Harry Martinson, has lofty ambitions and big things to say but with a budget small enough to ensure that the film makers concentrate on the human side of things. Consequently, Aniara is quite an achievement.
A polluted, dying and toxic Earth sees what is left of its life fleeing on enormous spaceships that resemble ocean liners for a three week luxurious journey to Mars where human life must now exist. On board the Aniara, Mimaroben operates a chamber called MIMA, an advanced AI which taps into resting passenger’s memories of a time when earth was thriving, allowing them to re-connect with their home and deal with its loss. But when the ship and its thousands of inhabitants are thrown off course, and more and more people start to rely on MIMA, the AI being starts to question its own well-being.
At the same time, as control of the ship and its population becomes more dictatorial and resources start to change, new factions, cults and relationships develop, and this microcosm of society heads off for an uncertain future that nobody wanted.
By focusing on the humanity at the heart of Aniara, filmmakers Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja manage to make a modest budget stretch a long way. Focussing the story through the eyes of Mimaroben, a woman at first isolated from others because of her love for the AI MIMA she cares for, but who finds love with a fellow team member, the script explores themes of escape, entrapment, isolation, civilisation and what it means to be human.
If that sounds like a philosophy lecture don’t be put off as the talented makers of Ariana never allow the themes they are exploring to get in the way of the characters and storyline.
Emelie Jonsson is compelling and utterly convincing as our focus, carrying the weight of our own feelings on the shoulders of her performance. She more than lives up to the task, the conflicting intellectual and emotional needs of her fellow passengers making her the beacon of flawed humanity.
In the Blu-ray extras, which are mainly interviews rather than in depth making-of features’, we learn from the filmmakers that much of Ariana was filmed inside shopping malls with only a small amount of studio work and this gives the look of a film a real authenticity. The visual effects are excellent but never get in the way of the story, one which will take you to unexpected places.
In that, Ariana more than lives up to its ambition.
