Kathryn Bigelows Thrilling Sci Fi that Doesnt Feel As Strange As It Should Cinephilia Beyond. Its been seven years since the esteemed American film director Kathryn Bigelow entered the history books as the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar for her work on The Hurt Locker. Fifteen years prior to this historical success, however, she broke through another barrier, as she became the first woman to win a Saturn Award for Best Director. The film that charmed the American Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films was Strange Days, a science fiction action thriller set in the then near future of Los Angeles, where we follow a former cop, now black market specialist on his odyssey of solving a brutal murder of a prostitute, at the same time trying to win back the love of his life with the help of a couple of reliable friends. Based on James Camerons idea and the screenplay he subsequently developed with Bigelow and experienced screenwriter Jay Cocks Marin Scorseses The Age of Innocence, Strange Days premiered in the autumn of 1. Unable to wrestle with more efficiently marketed pictures like Assassins and How to Make an American Quilt, and a couple of weeks later Get Shorty and Leaving Las Vegas, Bigelows unorthodox, gloomy, violence packed sci fi made six times less than its 4. Century Fox. Despite the fact Strange Days had its vigorous champions back in those days, with Roger Ebert giving it his highest praise and calling it a definite cult film, it took years for it to gain status among film lovers. Today, Strange Days is largely seen as an underappreciated gem of a film, a true nineties classic regarded ahead of its time even by its fiercest disparagers. The story is set in Los Angeles, the year is 1. Among all this disarray we meet Lenny Nero Ralph Fiennes, a former LAPD officer who makes a living out of selling SQUID recordings on the black market. These illegal electronic devices allow the users to experience other peoples memories, reliving someone elses experiences as if they were their own. AMC will bring back its Fearfest programming event this year, with movies including Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Childs Play. There are at least 13 new scifi TV shows set to come out in 2017, a variety of returning shows, and an amazing number set for 2018 and beyond. When hes not watching the tapes he made with his old lover Faith Juliette Lewis, who has since then moved on to become the partner of a successful music mogul, Lenny cruises the city finding new clients, connected as a human being only to his bodyguard and driver Mace Angela Bassett and a private investigator he considers to be his best friend Tom Sizemore. A SQUID recording of the brutal rape and murder of a prostitute puts him in danger and sets the plot in motion, and the rest of the film is a thrilling, captivating and often brutal ride to Lennys ultimate redemption. Strange phenomena begin to plague Senn, a factory worker on the forgotten world, Pyom, when an enigmatic alien intelligence arrives to deliver him to the Polychronom. Sci Fi Thriller Movies Fear(S) Of The Dark ' title='Sci Fi Thriller Movies Fear(S) Of The Dark ' />In the last two days of 1. Lenny has the chance to reach a decision, as circumstances force him to choose between continuing down the road of slow self destruction, suffocating in the images of days long gone, or living his life without the virtual reality goggles he puts on when the imminent reality seems too hard to face. I was fascinated by the dramatic and thematic potentials of the millennium, and the idea of doomsday as a backdrop for the redemption of one individual, stated James Cameron, as he explained how he initially got the idea for writing Strange Days back in 1. Cameron first called it The Magic Man, referring to the protagonists ability to get you any kind of SQUID recordings your heart desired, and back then, the whole idea consisted of no more than five handwritten pages. I never got around to writing it, at least not that decade. It seems the Los Angeles riots of 1. When an African American taxi driver called Rodney King was severely beaten by the police, as witnessed by the public on a videotaped that one of the witnesses made, Los Angeles erupted in a series of riots, lootings and clashes with the police, further empowered by the fact that the four LAPD officers responsible for Kings beating were soon acquitted. Cameron used this incident and incorporated it into Strange Days. The idea was originally his, but the atmosphere, politics and general setting of the film developed through a series of conversations with Bigelow. After Cameron wrote a 9. Jay Cocks to help with the script, the writer with whom Bigelow had previously worked on a script on Joan of Arc. Cameron was allegedly more focused on the romantic aspect of the film, developing the relationships between Lenny, Faith and Mace, while Bigelow was far more interested in the edginess and atmosphere. Strange Days was shot by cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti, who had previously worked on such films as Poltergeist, Commando and Red Heat, with the music of the New Zealand composer Graeme Revell From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City. Cameron, who took on the roles of writer and producer, also did a lot of the editing, but was prevented from getting an editing credit because he joined the editors union only a couple of years later, before making Titanic. The camera work was impressive, especially considering the numerous fascinating point of view sequences. Since Bigelow couldnt find an existing camera system that could help her pull off such shots, an entire year was spent on designing and producing a special, 8 pound, 3. In this way, the camera was able to mimic the human eye as accurately as possible, and Bigelow got the sequences that seemed revolutionary back in those days, when point of view video was reserved for video games such as Doom. This particular feature of Strange Days is especially relevant considering the role of the SQUID system both in the society portrayed in the film and in the broader context of Bigelows desire to make a comment on the very nature of film as an escapist, voyeuristic tool of regular people by putting on the goggles and witnessing other peoples experiences, the users escape their own reality to become immersed in someone elses. Like the brilliant Peeping Tom, Bigelow said upon the films release, Strange Days utilizes the medium to comment on the medium. Ralph Fiennes was given the lead role, even though a lot of other top notch names, such as Andy Garcia, Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell, were considered. His work on Schindlers List and The Quiz Show, however, convinced Bigelow he was the only choice for conveying Lennys complexity. Angela Bassett was Camerons choice from the beginning, while Juliette Lewis got her role of the femme fatale partly thanks to her ability to sing. Even though Bigelow had to face some harsh criticism from women who saw Strange Days as an anti women film because of the shocking violence on display, it could be argued Strange Days is a pure feminist picture, as Angela Bassetts Mace is a physically imposing, capable, intelligent yet distinctly feminine character who might be the supporting pillar of Ralph Fiennes lost soul, but in some ways remains the emotional center of the whole film. Strange Days, named after the Doors song, is a dark, gloomy but technically expertly crafted and beautiful film full of humanity. Its distinct atmosphere and unforgettable setting make it one of the most memorable sci fi films weve seen, and Camerons script features well developed characters and a story that somehow ends with an unexpected triumph, as a beam of hope pushes through all the smog of an alternate future that, given the events that unfolded in the last couple of years, just doesnt feel as strange as it should. It should be uncomfortable to watch, said Bigelow. All things this close to home usually are. Buy Pablo Movie Online more. A monumentally important screenplay. Dear every screenwriterfilmmaker, read James Cameron Jay Cocks screenplay for Strange Days PDF. NOTE For educational and research purposes only. The DVD of the film is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Absolutely our highest recommendation. The following is an excerpt from Film Comment September 1. Gavin Smith, Momentum and Design Kathryn Bigelow Interviewed. How did Strange Days come about Jim Cameron had been thinking of and working on it for about nine years.