Contagion

Steven Soderbergh’s variation on Hollywood disaster films is conceived as the exact antithesis of all of the attributes of the classic form of this genre established by A-level studio spectacles in the 1950s and definitively codified in the 1970s. At the same time, however, the aim of the film is not to subvert the genre, but rather to come up with a form of the genre for the era of extensive availability of information, so that it can again function effectively and arouse horror and tension in the audience, as compared to Emmerich-style popcorn tripe. The necessary foundation for this is provided by Scott Z. Burns’s masterful, intelligently constructed and information-packed screenplay, which is based on scientific knowledge and experience from the epidemics of that time (and therefore greatly corresponds to the real pandemic of 2020, unlike the naïve, fantastical scenario of, for example, Outbreak). (05/16/2020)

Watching this with flu is only for the hard-nosed. The main protagonist is the contagion itself, that’s what it’s all about. An entirely new kind of movie, an emotionally sterile (and all the more impressive because of it) documentary about future things, which creates, through it’s infectious atmosphere, the insistent feeling of “so this is how it’s going to be, this is what’s gonna happen..." Of course, when it breaks out, it will be without Martinez’s perfect soundtrack. Which will be a crying shame. (01/02/2013)

It has too little escalation to pass for a thriller, too little space for character development to pass for a drama, and too much casual presentation of empty "facts" to pass for a quasi-documentary. The half-heartedness exuded by every other scene is at times unbearable, regularly making a hard-luck child out of Stephen Soderbergh. As nothing more than a popcorn movie filled with tension, Contagion could have landed with much greater impact, but as it is, the creative intentions here completely missed the mark. (01/01/2012)

Contagion is high-quality filmmaking craftsmanship in the typical Steven Soderbergh fashion, with the intelligent idea of a global catastrophe and how to deal with it, topped off with attractive characters. Rather than “ordinary people”, the film focuses on characters who are in a position to deal with this problem directly and who, through their vulnerability, are also shown as ordinary human beings. The “chemical” atmosphere is emphasized by progressive electronic music without a single emotion. There could be more powerful moments and the best parts should not have happened at the beginning. The explanatory ending is sloppy. Overall, Contagion is a decent alternative to disaster movies as we know them from Emmerich and such :-) (10/13/2011)

Excellent minimalist music composed by the unknown Cliff Martinez perfectly underscores the atmosphere of this currently incredibly frightening subject. It was nice, though, how many famous actors wanted to show us how quickly a malignant flu virus can spread. After some scenes, I even had a pretty disgusting feeling. The final scene, for example, along with the music, made such an impression on me as I haven't felt in a movie for a long time. Nevertheless, I was expecting anything from the movie. It was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who recently made me crazy angry with Che Guevara. However, this film cannot be boring. I was in suspense practically the whole time, mainly because I was looking at reality. Every scene was today's reality, which is happening, happened, or could happen. That makes it even more frightening. Matt Damon, Marion Cotillar, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishbourne showed me that reality incredibly frighteningly, and I had to think about it for a long time after it ended. Maybe next time I'll even give it five stars. (02/13/2012)