[18] Avatar: A Masterpiece from James CameronJacques 2010-01-17 21:22Jacques, 01/15/2010, Paris
*Spoiler Alert*
When I first watched the trailer of Avatar, I thought that James Cameron had mad a huge mistake. A story set up in a world where live some jungle indigenes with long limbs and frog skins, a human spy who plays a role long enough to lose his own identity, and a true love transcending race and hatred…..all clichés! Even with the unprecedented digital techniques, come on, who would be really interested? I was only curious about what kind of a disaster the box office would turn out.
Ever since the opening week, the box office has been soaring worldwide. Still unwilling to give up my judgment, I took the early success as the result of the mighty visual effects and the support from the hardcore fans…until tonight. After sitting in the cinema for a seemingly short 3 hours, I have to admit that I was wrong.
Yes, it’s a patch-up of Planet of the Apes, Tarzan, G.I. Joe, Matrix and a vintage Peter Jackson, but somehow it works!
At first, I really appreciate the idea of sending a human mind into the body of an indigene, or more precisely, the idea of an incarnation. Just imagine a human Jake exploring that fairy-tale jungle and fighting those unearthly beasts --- it would still be fascinating but the sharp contrast reminds you all the time that it’s a movie. However, for a native Jake, a person who is supposed to be born into this place and to take everything for granted, what he does is “learn like a baby” rather than “explore as an outsider”. This extra intimacy enables you to live the scene instead of simply watch it. Thanks to this perspective, the digital world of Pandora becomes nothing but real and our imagination flies.
For Jake, the struggle is everywhere. In the military base, he suffers physically and fights with the authority, while among the Na’vis he puts in all the efforts to gain recognition. A daily commute between a hardboiled reality and a spiritual fairyland wears down even the strongest mind. He has to escape. The only question is “to which side?”. Unsurprisingly he chooses the Na’vis, so a double-escaping is attained: an escape from a disabled body and an escape from a world with no belief. The final scene is highly symbolic, and for all of us it is nice to watch, even if you could already tell the exact ending as early as when Grace’s reincarnation, an obvious build-up for the plot, fails.
On a higher level, the story is a conflict between two civilizations: a determined, ruthless conqueror and a peaceful, resilient native. It’s nothing different from the battle between the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors and many others in our own history, except the ending. Why do we feel so heartbroken and horrified when the missiles take down the Mother Tree of Na’vi, even more so than people feel about the destruction of an Inca temple or a Mexican Pyramid? The reason is that we’ve chosen the different side this time. Like the clans of Pandora, we view the tree beyond its physical existence. Down with the tree falls also the faith. On Pandora, the spiritual meaning is largely materialized through the mesmerizing glows, the visible bonds between creatures, and the timely answer from Goddess Eywa, so even our untrained eyes can capture the message. However, in reality this message is more elusive and many of us only manage to see what things appear to be: stones are just stones.
Looking back at Jake’s incarnation, it not only provides a passage for a personal libration, also creates a channel between the two worlds through which the viewers’ perspective can transit smoothly. It leads to a better understanding of both, and a self-interrogation of the world we live in.
I believe that, despite the noticeable flaws in the plot and the cinematic techniques, Avatar has fully achieved what it aims at. One of my favorite in years!
