Altered States
Altered States is a trippy philosophical movie based on Paddy Chayefsky from 1980. The film is about a scientist (William Hurt) that begins exploration into sensory deprivation and religious experiences. During his research, he makes a trip to Mexico where he discovers a psychedelic drug that is used by the indigenous people of Mexico. The drugs properties include visions of collective memory that dates back to the beginning of time. When the scientist combines the drug and sensory deprivation, his world begins to fall apart as well as his body.
This movie rides on the back of William Hurt. Without Hurt the movie would fall apart underneath its pretentious dialogue and experimental visuals. Hurt’s performance isn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but he does keep the movie from falling into the realm of pretentiousness. The rest of the cast is serviceable, if not outstanding.
The most striking feature of the film is its amazing visuals. The visions that Hurt’s character experiences are brought to life on the screen by director Ken Russell. The visions can only be described as tripnotic, full of bizarre noises, abstract imagery, and flashes of odd tableaus. The only area that Russell seems to falter in is the latter half of the movie when Hurt’s character reverts to a primordial state and jaunts around town. The scenes are laughable and in stark contrast to the rest of the movie which is both intelligent and digestible. The scenes of the primordial escapades are like something out of a creature feature from the sixties. It’s a shame because they really detract from the movie.
The part of the movie that I enjoy the most is the philosophy behind the plot. Hurt character is a scientist in every sense of the word. His understanding of the world is based on logic, and yet he still searches for the spiritual. His search leads him to his research where he attempts to find meaning in the past, in the very beginnings of human existence. However, he finds that the true meaning of life was waiting right in front of him the whole time… which is kind of lame. Love over science conquers once again, in an ending that can only be described as telegraphed and overtly romanticized.
Altered States is truly an example of how to tackle philosophical subjects. It’s just too bad that the conclusion is so commonplace. If you’re a romantic, you probably disagree, but fuck romantics anyway.
Final Synopsis: Altered States is a trippy good time… watch it on acid. If you like philosophy and extremely challenging dialogue, you can have a good time with this film. If you have the lexicon of a middle schooler… you’ll probably like the pretty pictures but fail to derive any meaning from the film.
Points Lost: -1 for pretentious dialogue, -1 for the shitty love is the meaning of life message, -1 for the crappy caveman running through the city scenes
Burning Question: If you were to look for the meaning of life, why would you look to the past for youre answers? Also, isn’t the meaning of life already explained? I believe Monty Python already answered that mystery of life.
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