Dystopian FilmDystopian Filmbackground information

• A Definition of Dystopia

What is a dystopia? Well, that question is not as easily answered as one might think. To put it as simply as possible, a dystopian depiction can be described as a dark vision of the future. That is hardly a satisfactory definition, though.

dys-/dus- (Latin/Greek roots: 'bad' or 'abnormal')  +  -topos  (Greek root: 'place') =  'bad place'

dystopia n. an imaginary wretched place, the opposite of utopia

utopia n. a place or state of ideal perfection, the opposite of dystopia

"An imaginary place where people lead dehumanised and often fearful lives." (Merriam-Webster's On-line)

• Here are some essential features that exist in Dystopian films:

Dystopian societies are undesirable or even horrifying.

Dystopian societies are usually futuristic and fictional.

Dystopian depictions can be regarded as warnings.

Dystopian fiction is both about today and tomorrow.

Dystopian fiction comments on our own society. Dystopian and utopian concepts are relative. Ie.

open to interpretation, depending on the viewer’s world view

• Dystopian films...

have historical precedence in written forms, primarily novels

are often based or adapted from other literary forms - eg. Philip K. Dick’s novels - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? [Bladerunner], Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly etc., George Orwell’s 1984

are a critical response to socio-political circumstances, technological, scientific developments, economic and environmental issues

The central idea in dystopian films is of a world gone mad, sometimes through the greed, ignorance or stupidity of man, sometimes though external influences. The dystopian world may be shaped by social, medical, environmental, political or economic forces.

Within this environment, there is also usually an individual who realises the flaw and tries to challenge or rectify it. Depending on the film maker and the ‘market’, it will either end happily, with the protagonist victorious; or not

Commonly, the dystopian film is designed to criticise or question contemporary concerns in the society in which it is created

Some famous dystopian films: MetropolisThe Day the Earth Stood StillPlanet of the ApesClockwork OrangeBladerunnerDelicatessenMatrixMinority ReportChildren Of Men