Film Analysis (2) : The Matrix (1999) by Larry and Andy Wachowski's.

      The story takes place in the future where humans live in a simulated reality 

created by a programme called the Matrix and are unknowingly being harvested by machines to substitute the Sun as power supply. Thomas A. Anderson, a hacker known as Neo was told by the leader of underground freedom fighter, Morpheus that he is “the One” who will save the human race against the machines. Neo embarks on a journey to discover the truths about the world, both synthetic and real, and his extraordinary abilities. Along with Trinity and Morpheus, he fights against the enslavement of humanity.  

      The German Expressionist theme of self-analysis is apparent in Neo’s struggle to seek the truth about the Matrix and himself. Neo is given a choice to choose between the red and blue pills when he is offered the option to either go back to his life or (Figure 6.01) to explore the truths about the world he doubts of. Neo questions himself if he is truly ‘the One’ who has the capability to change the world when he is told by Morpheus of the Oracle’s prophecy. He experiments with his ability by jumping to the opposite building in his training session. When Morpheus says “something’s wrong with the world, you don’t know what, but it’s there”, Neo ponders deeply about the world he used to live in. This line later evokes Neo’s determination to uncover his true self. In his first trial to enter the real world, he looks into a broken mirror and sees his own split image (figure 6.02) which reminds him of his dual identity as both Neo and Thomas A. Anderson. Neo then starts to convince himself of his strength when he fights Agent Smith. He makes up his mind to go back and save Morpheus as “the One”.

Figure 6.01 Neo making a choice between to fight or to not fight

Figure 6.02 Neo looking into the mirror

      Revolt is seen in the crew members of Nebuchadnezzar and their rebellion against the machines. They “unplug” others from the Matrix to free and recruit them to join the fight against enslavement. They defy the authority by manipulating the physical law in the Matrix to obtain superhuman powers. Neo, upon discovery of the truth and his abilities chooses to fight against the machines and save the human race. When Neo and Trinity go back to the Matrix to save Morpheus, they encounter Agent Smith and fight him instead of running away. Neo punches the agent, smashing into his glasses (figure 6.03). He revives from death and gains power to defeat Agent Smith (figure 6.04 and figure 6.05).

Figure 6.03 Agent Smith and his broken shades

Figure 6.04 Neo stops the bullets in mid-air

Figure 6.05 Agent Smith’s shell exploding

      Primitive, sexual savagery can be found in the scene where Neo first enters the real world. He wakes up in an embryonic pod with his body hairless and nude like a new-born baby (figure 6.06). He looks down and sees many other foetus. The primal instinct of human is also depicted in the belief in the Oracle’s prophecy of “the One” as it is human nature to rely on the existence of God or deities when facing difficulties in life.

      The theme of madness is significant throughout the film. The story sets in a surreal world of madness where the Matrix constructs a synthetic world (dream world) for humans to live without noticing. Artificial Intelligence which is human-made becomes conscious and turns destructive, consuming mankind to power itself. The machines are crazed and out of control, leaving humans defenceless against their rule. In order to keep themselves powered, the machines resort to turn their backs at their own creator and harvest lives. Human species becomes lives planted in a massive power plant and artificially grown in an embryonic pod like test-tube babies. The roles of the experimenter and experimented are exchanged.

Figure 6.06 Neo emerges from an embryonic pod

Figure 6.07 Neo discovering other foetus in the embryonic pods

In the film, oblique camera angles are extensively used to portray the distortion of the reality in which the characters are living in. Bird-eye view shots are frequently used in the film to show the height of the location and the design of the buildings on set. Bird-eye view is used to show the environment of a set. In the beginning of the film, bird eye view was used to show the pulse-like surface of the building (Figure 6.08) which suggests the pulse of the character (Trinity) pumping fast in a chase scene. The same angle is used when Trinity makes a leap to another building far away to show the distance between two buildings as well as to break the built up pulse pattern in the earlier scene.

Figure 6.08 Bird eye view to show the pulsing surface of the building

Figure 6.09 Bird eye view to show Trinity jumping from one building to another

The bird-eye view in showing Neo’s room shows how messy it is (Figure 6.10) and works as a stark contrast to his neat cubicle in his office(Figure 6.11) to illustrate his double life.

Figure 6.10 Neo’s Messy room

Figure 6.11 Anderson’s neat cubicle

Bird-eye view angle is also used to enhance the grim look of an establishment (as shown in Figure 6.12), when Neo is brought to Morpheus’ place, he slowly unravels the mystery and confusion he has in mind as indicated by the rotating bird-eye view as he walks up the stairs (Figure 6.13). In another instance when Morpheus is being surrounded, the bird-eye view enhances the helplessness and the trapped state (Figure 6.14).

Figure 6.12 Neo is brought to Morpheus

Figure 6.13 Neo walking up the stairs

Figure 6.14 Morpheus surrounded by the police

When Neo is under Agent Smith’s custody, the scene takes the angle from the security camera to depict how Neo is placed under observation. A fish eye lens is used to show distortion, much as though under a microscope to show Neo’s uneasiness(Figure 6.15).

 

Figure 6.15 Neo under the agent’s custody

Another German Expressionist visual characteristic is the distortion of shapes and bodies. In the entire film, straight and slanted lines are presented in almost every shot. The lines indicate order, control and the fact that the people are imprisoned behind the lines (bars) in a system.

Figure 6.16 The early chase scene in the film, straight lines are never absent in each scene, representing the order of the world and bars that imprison the character

Aside from the straight lines that represent order and control, the distortion of physical appearance is evident in the agents’ uniform movement and attire that give the rigid feel and are self-explanatory to the agents’ identity as machines functioning to regulate the irregular (Figure 6.17).

Figure 6.17 Agents walks uniformly in Neo’s office and the same stern look on their face

The use of distorted reflection is used to suggest a distorted reality as well as self-analysis. When Neo takes his red pill from Morpheus, he looks into a broken mirror and sees a double image of his own. The cracks on the mirror then disappears as the mirror restores (Figure 6.18) The double image Neo sees represents his double life as a hacker and as an employee in a big corporation while the restored mirror, now only reflecting “Neo” hints on the end of his life as Anderson.

Figure 6.18 Neo looks into his reflection in the mirror

The use of distorted reflection when Neo is about to open the door of the Oracle’s place indicates his psychological state of anxiety in unraveling his fate and the anticipation of something life-changing (Figure 6.19).

Figure 6.19 Neo about to open the door knob of Oracle’s house

Hallways in the film are elongated and appear squarish, resembling a jail or a box (Figure 6.20). The scene where Neo spars with Morpheus gives a cage-like feel with the lines and squares surrounding the characters (Figure 6.21). Another distortion that appears at least three times in the film is the rotating bird-eye view of the staircase in Morpheus’ hideout (Figure 6.22). The checkered pattern on the floor suggests repetition and order, along with the rotating camera movement and the staircase, the distortion gives a feeling as though the order is breaking down as the story unveils and everything is drawn into a state of madness.

Figure 6.20 Morpheus guiding Neo to the Oracle’s house

Figure 6.21 Morpheus spars with Neo in the training program

Figure 6.22 The staircase shot in Morpheus’ hideout

The Matrix takes a gothic setting as seen in Morpheus’s hideout (Figure 6.23) and the characters’ monotonous and dark costumes (Figure 6.24).

Figure 6.23 the interior of Morpheus’ hideout

Figure 6.24 Character design and costumes in the Matrix

The real world in which the humans live comes with a bizarre steam punk architecture. Unlike in the Matrix, the real world is packed with metal elements, with wires and sometimes electrical surges to bring to live a hellish world of devastation (Figure 6.25 and Figure 6.26).

       

Figure 6.25 Steam punk elements in the real world

Figure 6.26 Steam punk rail gun

Chiaroscuro lighting is applied throughout the film to suggest the darkness that prevails in the story world. Especially in the earlier scenes of the film, the high contrast lighting is heavily used to hint that something mysterious and malicious is going on. Figure 6.27 shows a series of usage of such hard lighting to evoke a sense of fear and insecurity.

Figure 6.27 Examples of high contrast lighting