1968 was a fundamental year in the history of cinema: two great films appear on the screens that will mark the milestone of science fiction on the big screen: "2001 A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrick and "Planet of the Apes" by FJ Shaffner. Of the first, how can we forget those sequences and, in particular, that passage in slow motion of the bones used by the monkeys first as tools and then as weapons. Abundant symbology, cultured quotations, philosophical and religious references for each film frame capable of satisfying every interest. When you see films like this, when the images synthesize us and lead us to the great richness of human culture, the satisfaction is total and great cinema enters the shelves of human knowledge with full rights.
On the trail of these two fundamental films in the history of cinema, it arrived in theaters a few days ago The War – Planet of the Apes, ninth episode of the famous saga based on the 1963 novel by Pierre Boulle.
The plot is known and consolidated: in a near future world mankind risks extinction and in its place a civilization dominated by monkeys could be affirmed. The war is going on and the few humans able to survive will try to resist in a post apocalyptic scenario. Some of them would like to be "good" by imagining a peaceful coexistence, while others belong hopelessly to the "bad" genre and see no other solution than war and extermination. In this case, the protagonist Cesare, has the task of saving his people from a ruthless and cruel super-villain. On the one hand humanity competes and, on the other hand, if the neologism is allowed, "simplicity". Sometimes there is a doubt about who deserves to be supported.
“Look at those almost human eyes” is a central phrase of the film which focuses heavily on the abundant but not annoying use of special effects and on two interesting narrative strands: the gaze and the word. On the first aspect, after over forty years of experience, the make-up of the actors has reached high levels of perfection where, in fact, the eyes have a decisive role in the communication processes. Some argue that one communicates first with the eyes than with words and, in this film, with a frequent use of very close close-ups on the faces of the characters, one perceives much more than many sometimes useless dialogues. The use of the word, of the possibility of communicating becomes a subsequent, complementary step and, not surprisingly, a character in the film is a mute girl who, in any case, manages to communicate with the monkeys.
The War is the logical complement, the right piece in the right place in the mosaic of the films that preceded it. Perhaps redundant with quotations – one above all referring to Apocalypse Now with a draft by Colonel Kutz – but impeccable in the dosage of cinematic ingredients used by director Matt Reeves. The digital shooting technology used in this film makes the show pleasant and captivating and some scenes are well worth the ticket price. It's a real pity that films of this kind appear in theaters in the low turnout period but, for fans of the genre, it remains an event not to be missed
