There’s an absolutely brilliant and experimental French short film made by Chris Marker ‘La Jetee’, that inspired Terry Gilliam to make a full length film titled as '12 Monkeys'. Marker’s that thought provoking film was made on mere B&W photographic stills, narrated by a man sent back in time to discover and avert the cause of devastating war and during the trips into the past the man got obsessed with an image of a beautiful woman. Watching that film, I must say the concept must remain ‘the source code’ for the script writer or the director of this year’s one of the most popular Hollywood entertainment.
‘Source Code’ has intriguing beginning and it sticks to that throughout. I like Director Duncan Jones’ more impressive ‘Moon’. Like that film here too the protagonist of the film is used as a part of experimental mission and he’s in baffling existential dilemma. The plot is about last 8 minutes memory of a man used as ‘source code’ that happens to be on a commuting bombed train. He is on surveillance task to find the bomb suspect who detonated a bomb on train and killed the passengers on board and his next target is the city of Chicago. The guy has to go back and forth repetitively into the flashback of that last 8 minutes memory which they called ‘time reassignment’ or ‘parallel reality’. But the guy deviates and more intrigued by his personal existence which is kind of greater shock than the task offered to him.
There are limited characters and only a few settings in the film- the bombed train, the man locked in a strange mechanical box and the surveillance station on computer screen contact through video camera and still Jones managed to make a fine thriller out of it. It has gripping treatment that holds your attention till its end. Jake Gyllenhaal is growing as an actor and I just love Vera Farmiga as emotionally concerning Goodwin here. I liked her in ‘Up in the Air’ too.
Above all a recommended well-made gripping thriller of this year from Hollywood.
Ratings-7.5/10
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