Contagion

[RosieTR]

We went to the super-early matinee to see Contagion today. I should probably be an epidemiologist since I find all that stuff horribly fascinating in both senses of the word "horribly". Although only PG-13, it's not for the faint of heart: there were a few scenes where other members of the audience sort of gasped in disgust. The story was interesting though for the crowd that expects a huge overwhelming story line rather than subtleties, it would probably be dissatisfying. For my part, I'm trained in the biological sciences so was pleased to see they didn't get too inaccurate, just one or two scenes where they just said a bunch of big scientific words together to make it sound technical. Kind of nice too-not often do I get to see positive, somewhat realistic portrayals of people in my same general line of work in the movies. Most of the time scientists are portrayed more like in the movie Splice...making monsters.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Wasn't this a book by Robin Cook also? Or am I confusing it with something else?

[AustinKat]

This is an original screenplay, as far as I know. My husband and I saw it yesterday; I loved it. Very quiet and understated--the story itself is horrifying enough--they didn't need to add any Big Splashy Dramatic Stuff to it. Also, there was much less music than in most films; there were long stretches with no music at all. And, of course, a fantastic ensemble cast. Overall, I found it oddly elegant, which one doesn't usually get with "epidemic" films.

RosieTR, I've read that the actors who played the scientists went through quite a bit of training to ensure that they would handle all the equipment and the hazmat suits correctly and realistically.

[RosieTR]

Yeah, I'd heard that too. @ Shalom Poet, there is a book by Robin Cook called Contagion but I don't know if it's the same plot.

[jania]

I saw this last week and found it thoroughly kept my attention. The focus of the movie is the virus and I liked the fact we get a glimpse of people's lives but continue to move on with the virus. It gave me a lot to think about and emphasized for me once again that I have no plans in place to deal with a catastrophe.