I blame George Lucas for ruining science fiction. Before the arrival of Star Wars, a science fiction film had almost an infinite number of possibilities as to what could happen on the screen. Many of the movies dealt with how mankind would react to scientific and technological changes. How would civilization deal with these advances. Would they enhance or lives or make us slaves? Were we doomed by the consequences that were covered up by marketing? How could people cope when approaching a new frontier? After Star Wars, if you mentioned a movie was science fiction, audiences expected spaceships fighting and lasers basting away invading aliens. If your movie wasn’t filled with zaps and whooshes, you had an uphill battle getting people interested. Science Fiction became all about thrill rides instead of contemplating man’s role in the future. Blue Desert has a character who wants to stop thinking and transcend. Try building a Star Wars spin-off from that concept.
Ele (Odilon Esteves) exists in a future where technology has jumped ahead. He works out on a treadmill inside a space with 360 wraparound video walls so that he can talk with a friend on the screen as his body is monitored. He flies on a supersonic jet with other passengers. His bathroom mirror lets him see more than his face. No matter where he goes, everything is monitoring him and enhancing his life. He in inundated with data about himself and others. He does have a few human interactions including fellow flight passenger Alma (Maria Luísa Mendonça). She proposes things to him during the short flights. Eventually they meet at a nightclub where things go rather weird as most things go in this universe. He gets away from all this technology overload as he roams the desert. He encounters an old man with backpack full of blue water. The old man in a modified spacesuit finds spraying the desert blue to be calming. Is this really going to be the spot where can transcend the modern world? Or is he stuck inside something like his workout space?
The Blue Desert is a science fiction film that gives questions the information overload. The film is very art house oriented. So much of what Ele says in his voiceover narration comes from Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit book that came out in 1964 before she met John Lennon. Her words really bring a bit of pull to the futuristic settling where that characters are being monitored inside and outside all the time. Ele drifts between the real world and the virtual word in a transitional state that we have to ponder what becomes of his dream state. Is he really floating in the water, hanging at a party or flying in a plane? Can he figure it out? Has his subconscious been overridden by the computer?
The movie was made in Brazil although the desert location is in Chile. The movie does play like an art installation as Ele isn’t zapping lasers or being chased by aliens. He’s wanting to reach a higher state while so much around him is a distraction. There’s plenty of odd elements to his existence in this modern world that keeps the film capitating. While the movie came out originally in 2013, Blue Desert seems extra poignant as AI takes over our lives over a decade later.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic with scenes in 2.35:1. The transfer on the DVD sill brings out the details in the desert and the futuristic sets. The Audio is in Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The sound mix is great so you can hear the voice over with the interesting score. The movie is subtitled in English.
Trailer (2:35) gets us in the mood for a Brazilian Sci Fi film. Remember to put on your glasses.
Indiepix Classics present Blue Desert. Directed by Eder Santos. Screenplay by Eder Santos & Mônica Cerqueira. Starring Odilon Esteves, Maria Luísa Mendonça, Chico Díaz, Ângelo Antônio, Michelle Castro & Leonardo Fernandes. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rated: Unrated. Release Date: September 10, 2024.
