Soylent Green: A Critical Analysis

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The same effect is also achieved by the use of drastic images, such as the sequence of the dissolution of the tumult with the excavator trucks, which express clearly the insignificance of the individual in that future society.

But, as Fleischer shows us from the beginning of the film with the shocking photographic montage that accompanies the initial credits, environmental pollution is the central theme of the film. Since the purpose of it is none other than to raise awareness of society and institutions on issues of environmental protection.

A hot topic now as then and over which Richard Fleischer was advised by Frank R. Bowerman, president of the American Academy for Environmental Protection, to get a realistic view on this fundamental aspect.

The planning is careful and it emphasizes the fluid movements of camera that in some sequences are associated with an adjusted and remarkable use of the zoom.

Fleischer unfolds in an outstanding way in the interiors, accentuating with resources the subtext of the script. Contrapicados that show the ceilings for the scenes more noir, like those of the police station or the one of the murder of Simonson (Joseph Cotten). Very close frames around the dialogical busts of Heston and Robinson in his small apartment, to emphasize both the quasi-familiar affective relationship between them (elderly father-adult son) and the intergenerational contrast. And some excellent depth-of-field sequence, like Robinson's seen through the aisles of a succession of rows of shelves full of books, heading to the heart of the archives, where you will find the fateful answer to the polls of both policemen .

The versatile color photography by Richard H. Kline is equally effective in recreating sordid interiors and luxurious apartments. As well as the exterior, for which it had the support of filters to generate in the daytime scenes that effect of suffocating yellowish mist caused by pollution and overheating. Most of the night exteriors are shot in studio, allowing a good filtered filming light through which the scenes are perfectly appreciated, but in which the shadows lose the unmatched plasticity of the black and white films.

For the soundtrack Fred Myrow uses a very musical score of the time (with his wah wah and his hammond organs) with jazzy, funk and rock touches combined with classical music pieces: Grieg's Peer Gynt, Pastoral of the Sixth Symphony of Beethoven and the Sixth Symphony by Tchaikovsky. The use of classical pieces is especially emotional, as they sound like background music from the images of that beautiful world that will never return.

At the head of the cast are two of the greats of classic Hollywood: Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. Let me start with the latter, as a tribute, as in "Soylent Green" Robinson gives us the last role of his brilliant career.

Edward Robinson's Roth Sun rests on the memory and values ​​of the past. It is a character that distills humanism and therefore the interpretation of the veteran actor is loaded with emotion. Roth remembers, Roth reads and Roth evokes the beauty and daily pleasures of the past. One of my favorite moments of his performance is dinner with the salad, the steak and the apples.

Robinson gets a round interpretation, human and emotional, a finishing touch to his extraordinary career.

Although the main protagonist of the film is a Charlton Heston that composes to perfection to the detective Robert Thorn. A complex character, hard, cynical and drenched in the amorality of his time; But also critical and capable of challenging the system. A tough professional, resolute and difficult to bend.

An intense and very physical character that adapts like a glove to the actor's way of interpreting. A pattern that would repeat Charlton Heston during the first half of the 70's to embody a handful of key characters in science fiction films.

I finish this review advising you, as always the urgent review of this film classic. A film that touches such current issues as the environmental threat, global warming, the immorality of multinationals, institutional corruption and social precarization. Do they sound to you?

It seems that we are not so far this dystopian future proposed by Fleischer, so if one day someone offers you a green cookie do not miss it ... but do not take it to your mouth.