'Silent Running' by Douglas Trumbull Review: The lengths gone to preserve nature

in Movies & TV Showslast year

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I have to admit, a week of pretty much nothing but watching noir films from the 40s quickly led to me getting a bit of burnout. While I love those films, they are very similar to each other and that repetition had me craving something different. Looking for something different, I remembered a film in a watchlist that I had seen there for well over a year now; one that I tried to watch at some point but probably wasn't feeling it or was sick at the time. I have faith memories of trying to check it out, and having it just completely fail to stick with me. I barely got a few minutes in as a result. This film? Well, you surely know it already by the post title. It is Silent Running from 1972. Though, this time, the film pulled me in instantly. And I thoroughly enjoyed it due to multiple reasons.

Silent Running comes just a few years after man first landed on the moon. At a time of intense space race pursuit and with the threat of nuclear war as the Cold War continued. This was an interesting time for film, especially given it wasn't too long after the Vietnam war as well. With multiple wars coming and going within a few short decades, Silent Running came at a time of very fast technological growth and ambition. With the birth of the science fiction genre that let to multiple subgenres that grew into their own small and large genres themselves. Solarpunk, Cyberpunk, retro-futurism, and more. Each of these having their own traits that are heavily politically influenced. Displaying societies that have advanced to a point of a single pursuit, as a result of some sort of event. Whether natural growth of technology or an industrial boom. Creatively, Silent Running has a bit of these genres within, showcasing a dystopian series of events that have led to a rather utopian dream. But falling back on man's destructive nature and failure to learn from prior mistakes.

Silent Running

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Silent Running starts off with an advanced humanity. One that has accomplished deep space travel. Humans living on massive ships that carry with them massive domes of natural wonder aimed at maintaining the lifeforms that had been wiped away back on Earth. The film never actually tells us what caused the destruction of all life on Earth, but in a way it allows us to constantly think throughout the film as to what may have happened. With recent times, it's pretty easy to come to our own conclusions: war, pollution, natural disasters. A wide range of problems could have arisen at any moment, leading to men taking to space to preserve whatever is left. These huge domes containing both plant life and animal life, and maintained by our protagonist Freeman Lowell. This protagonist caring immensely for the life in the domes, hoping that one day they will be used to bring life back to Earth. Of course man's destructive behaviour takes over, and the crew are instead ordered to destroy the domes with nuclear charges and then proceed back to their original cargo ship commercial routes.

Our protagonist, Lowell, is an incredibly gentle character. One that takes great pride in the nature he supports. Often arguing with other crewmates which mock him for his passion and independence in food production. It's a really interesting character to have as a protagonist, one that seems weak, gentle, and often mocked. Constantly trying to spread the word of preservation of nature but always laughed at. There's a lot of connections here to our modern day, half a century later to which much of our Earth is destroyed by just a couple of nations. Destructive behaviour continuing over greed and ignorance. Lowell taking to drastic measures to protect the dome, thus leading to him drifting through space on his own with 3 drones to help with any tasks. Throughout we see a very unique use of music to pace up the scenes, very gentle music that has a very natural, almost hippy aesthetic to it. This is often played over actions of Lowell as he maintains the garden, as animals roam free throughout the dome.

Much of the film relies on some really cool special effects that had me noticing similarities to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It came to no surprise that our director had worked on the film, specifically for special effects. Many going unused and then serving as the foundations to Silent Running. The domes looked to have been practical models mixed with special effects most of the time. I love the old practical effects route that gives environments and vehicles a more authentic looking direction. Giving weight to them as they physically appear within the scenes, as opposed to blatant special effects and CGI which you know isn't really there. Similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey, there's a very good sequence which established the ship and the domes, with very immersive classic music to match the activities of the ship. It makes you see the futuristic, developed side of humanity that is capable of producing such beautiful and complex vehicles for space travel.

Shot on 35mm film stock, the cinematography and directing ends up being very colourful and beautiful. Deep shadows to show the darkness of space outside, and the colourful signs of life that surround Lowell's own life in every corner. From his mirror and sink being surrounded by plants, to the fact that he is often eating colourful fruit throughout the film. Sometimes mixed with the torments of space as the shape traverses around Saturn's rings, again similar to that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. With those aforementioned practical and special effects, much of the environments have a very traditional, retro futurist aesthetic mixed with some solarpunk as the domes rely on the sun in order for life to be maintained. I definitely prefer the older look of technology in these films than the newer attempts in which things have a minimalist design with touchscreens. This older technology makes the sets and environment seem more engaged withi the story. Utilised and displayed to the audience, praised and appreciated. Alongside various fun sound effects too!

While some of the story does seem to be glanced over, and perhaps it would have been nice to see some of the Earth or know what happened to it, the curiosity of what happened can be effective. Admittedly this is just a minor annoyance that comes with being an audience member that perhaps doesn't know any better! Silent Running does a great job at showing the sadness of our endeavours, alongside the positives of human development that comes with appreciation for our surroundings. The idea that some only appreciate it once it's gone, or perhaps will never understand. Though some do see the beauty in nature and aim to preserve it, even as mankind pursues the stars with huge mechanical structures, void of nature themselves. With Lowell being the main, and almost only visible character for most of the film's runtime, the performance is pretty good. Though with some of that more theatre actor style of acting that came with films back then. This isn't a complaint at all, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

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Thanks for the review. I love this film which has such a sad ending. I hope we can learn before it is too late that we will destroy the living planet if we maintain the ridiculous belief that you have you can have everlasting growth on a finite planet.

Thanks for sharing bro it look so great movie 🤯😎

I should give this another watch. I remember learning about it, around 2005, when I considered to write my Uni thesis on 1970s scifi movies. In the end, I changed my mind, and picked David Lynch' short films, instead.

I enjoyed this film, back then! :<)