Here’s an idea for an article: The Tree of Life (2011) is the most influential film of the past decade. There’s quite a strong case to be made. Everything from car adverts to Hollywood blockbusters seems to have a touch of the Terrence Malick. They all span from cornfield to cosmos, from ant-hill to apocalypse, while characters breathe epigrams at each other about love and beauty and rebirth. This was true of last year’s Gravity and Man of Steel. It also looks true of Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming Interstellar. Just find a few more examples, work them into 1,000 words, and I’m sure The Spectator will pay a couple of hundred quid for it.
The reason I mention this is Luc Besson’s latest movie, Lucy. At last, we have a straight-up Tree of Life action thriller – ‘Tree Hard’. You might have heard about its plot already. This is the one where Scarlett Johansson, as the eponymous Lucy, is stitched up with a super-drug that then leaks into her bloodstream and gives her access to the 90 per cent of her brain that we humans tend to leave untrammelled — apparently, although this may be dodgy science.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in