The Quiet Earth

A scientist awakens in bed to find everywhere he goes without a single human being, wondering what has happened to the human race. He might just realize that the very research plant he works could be responsible. Will he crack if no human contact is possible?

***½ / *****

I was in the mood Wednesday night for a fave film from the VHS days, and I decided to rent The Quiet Earth from Netflix since it was available. It has been a few years since I last watched it. Anchor Bay had released it on dvd, so I thought it would be a cool time to re-visit it. I have to say that I was totally involved in the opening 45 minutes where two people are trying to figure out how to live within a world whose populace has vanished...for the most part.

Bruno Lawrence awakens to find no one around, yet it seems as if people had been "taken" while in the middle of their daily routines. Beds unmade, vehicles of all kinds unoccupied and off (or in the middle) side of roads (crashed, including an airplane, with its wreckage in the city in a remarkable scene), food left uneaten, filling stations and businesses unmanned, etc. At first, Lawrence is confused and startled at the absence of humans, and as it appears no one is left behind by whatever it was that removed most of mankind, he begins to suffer a mental breakdown (complete with donning a woman's gown and packing a rifle with suicidal thoughts in mind). When he finally encounters a survivor--Alison Routledge--he sees hope and possibly love.

I love seeing Lawrence gallivanting about and searching around places without folks, intently and intensely needing to find someone, anyone. The idea of him all alone in a world with no one to talk to or pass the time by with is almost too much to bare. When Alison and Bruno hug, this relief and joy emerges...it was as if Adam and Eve meet and their personalities even complement each other. Then Pete Smith enters the picture and I just kind of lose interest. Smith is one of those silent, tough types. He's really intense and a bit rough-around-the-edges. But when he arrives, Alison's sexual interest and attraction orbits towards him while Bruno is the odd man out. I liked the idea of the Adam and Eve story in New Zealand as these two begin to put together a reason to live and move forward. With Smith showing up, Bruno seems to become baggage.

The film, however, has an explanation for the apocalyptic scenario which involves the misuse of science and how it leads to the human race being evicted from Planet Earth. Called The Effect, the science research center for which Bruno worked was part of what lead to such eviction. Smith best described it as scientists "monkeying with the universe". In doing so, consequences follow behind. Unfortunately The Effect isn't over and Bruno will need to destroy the facility where he worked in order to protect them from being evicted also. However, with radiation too high, someone will need to sacrifice himself/herself through the use of a truck carrying explosives in order to do so.

While I just didn't care for the Smith character, I did realize that in order for Lawrence to get to that remarkable final moment that led to such a wonderful movie poster for The Quiet Earth, such a person needed to exist. I still think it was possible to allow Bruno and Alison to make it there after The Effect takes them from Planet Earth, too, but this love pairing just wasn't meant to be. Smith is the kind of tough guy who could survive in such a world without much human life and serve as protector for Alison. Bruno is a scientist, an intellectual, who was bound to wind up in a place far removed from the planet he has lived his whole life.

There are some movie posters that stand the test of time. I loved to take to the VHS shelves and discover such posters on boxes. The one for The Quiet Earth was a real stunner, and there was no way the film was certain to capitalize on that...disappointment was bound to result. However, I remain compelled by the start of the film. When it becomes burdened by a love triangle, I wasn't quite as captivated. The development regarding why these three characters still remain on the planet--through death as The Effect took everyone alive--was quite a neat little concept, I thought. We see how two of the "near" deaths happen, and that they were able to benefit while so many others were pulled away from their everyday lives by this force caused by science tinkered by man. Bruno was fun to watch for me. I loved seeing how he reacts to the ensuing crisis regarding loneliness, new love, lost love, the threat of dangerous repercussions through bad science, and at the end taking in his new environment with awe. Smith I could have done without altogether. Red-headed Alison teeters between affection for two men but fails to conceal her lust for Smith, trying to maintain feelings for Bruno and keep the peace. So all the drama kind of muzzles some of the cool that the film had going for it, but this doesn't totally ruin the experience for me.