"Can't repeat the past?...Why, of course you can!" - Jay Gatsby
Ever since I can remember, I've been enamored by both science and literature, as well as the intricate dance they create around the problems that continue to puzzle humanity. Literature can build on the science of a time and open up possibilities that may lead to new innovations. Undoubtedly, H. G. Wells revolutionized the science fiction genre in an exciting time in England's Victorian era, when science was cultured and inventors praised. It's the perfect setting and story for a story about time travel.Intro.
Overview
The Time Machine begins on January 5, 1900, when George Wells (Rod Taylor) stumbles into his dining room, greeting his guests looking as if he's been in a major explosion. He sits down and explains to them that he has mastered time travel and thus begins his flashback story. One week earlier, on New Year's Eve, George had shown them a miniature time machine and made it disappear using some sort of pressure device to travel in the fourth dimension. When they scoff at his discovery and suggest that it has no usefulness or commercial value, he sees them off and then tests out his full scale model in his laboratory. Slowly he passes through a day at a time, watching the sun and stars move and watching the fashions change on the mannequin in the dressmaker's shop across the street. He flies through, going faster still, and stops in 1917 because his house has been boarded up around him. He makes his way out and finds a different world - one with a lot of cars and people. He sees a man who looks exactly like his friend David and stops him in the street. It's a young man in uniform who is David's son (he's referred to as a baby in the opening). He says his father was killed in the war and that the house has been kept out of respect for his father's friend George, who disappeared in 1900. George, deeply moved, returns to his time machine and decides to push onward to the future. This time he is forcefully stopped in 1940 during the bombing of Britain. It's so devastating and his house winds up destroyed, that George can't stay. He makes it to 1960 and marvels at all the building and progress that's been made, only to see it destroyed by a bomb scare. Nuclear bombs decimate the city and cause a volcano to explode, trapping George and his machine in lava. It's still moving through time though, so George is somewhat protected. The lava forms a rocky encasement and he must speed through time until the rocks wear away in year 802,701. He emerges into an Eden-like garden, properly cared for, cultivated and nurtured. He finds people too - a group of silent, golden-haired young adults gathered around a river. One of them, a young woman, slips into the current and begins to drown. Her cries go unheard until George jumps in to save her. He learns that she is one of the Eloi people who live above ground and obviously have no minds of their own. They are like cattle, dumb and driven by the people who live below ground - the Morlocks. George's machine is stolen by the Morlocks and taken into their temple-like underground dwelling. He and the girl, Weena (Yvette Mimieux), try to figure out a way to get in, but their efforts stop when an air raid siren sounds and all the Eloi start marching into the temple. Weena goes in and George has to figure out how to get in after her. Turns out the Morlocks are only raising and breeding the Eloi like cattle and eventually call them in to kill and eat them. A massive fight to save the Eloi begins and only ends once they have destroyed the temple. But George finds and returns to his time machine, and is forced to use it to escape without Weena. His friends in 1900 don't believe his story, although he does bring some proof with him. In the end George returns, supposedly to the Eloi, in an attempt to help them live and survive and re-establish civilization.Highlights
I regret that I have not read the book, The Time Machine, though I will certainly do so now. I'm curious to see just what happened to George between 1900 and whenever he reached the Eloi. What stops did he make? Were all of them due to war? Apparently this was the story that H. G. Wells wanted made into a film the most, but was one of the last to be done. It comes at a time that has seen a lot of turbulance, as noted in the three stops George makes. In 1960, the Cold War was still a threat and air raids were held. There is some hope though, as there are at least some survivors left to make it into 802,701. The writing in the film is very well done, as is the nice attention to detail. I loved the opening in George's library where there are clocks literally everywhere. It reminded me a great deal of The Great Gatsby, which I quoted in the tagline. Time is pervasive - it affects us all and yet none of us have any power over it. This desire to go into the future and to also return to the past is a deep part of the human experience. Ironically, this very desire - the curiosity we all have - is what is missing from the Eloi. They don't have any reason to figure things out, to explore or even have use for writing or reading. They've never even seen fire. In this sense, George becomes a Prometheus figure to them. He brings not only fire, but also knowledge. That's what he wants to do in the end; to return to lovely Weena and help her people survive.
What I liked the most about The Time Machine was how many questions it raised. I know they were raised when the book published, but think about how much has changed and where science and literature have gone since then. Yes, we had the story, but it took us time to be able to get it properly told on screen. The use of time-lapse photography was a new and innovative concept in 1959, and earned the film an Academy Award for best special effects. Likewise, the film itself made it easier for later films like Back to the Future, Star Trek, Dead Zone, and countless others that deal with time travel. It also adds to certain films like It's a Wonderful Life where we realize how interconnected we all are - how the absence of one person can change not only the past, but also the future. It's the butterfly effect that spans generations and so much of that creativity began with one story by one person. Equally interesting is the depiction of the split in the human race. Is that really a possibility in our future? Could some of us turn into hairy, glowing-eyed cannibalistic Morlocks? That's the real terror in the whole film; that we could degenerate into such creatures.
I loved this movie much more than I expected to. I've enjoyed some science fiction films in my time, but I've never been a die-hard fan of the genre. That may have changed though with this film. It's not merely about imagining wormholes and alternate realities. It's more about people, humanity, what makes civilization work. It's about how science can ultimately save or destroy us, but it's up to ourselves to use it justly. No, George's machine may seem commercially impractical for the present, but it helps shape and ensure our future. That's what we should strive for, with or without the aid of a machine. I definitely recommend this film to everyone!
And finally as an end note, I'd like to talk about the closing of the film. George has taken off and his friend David and George's housekeeper, Mrs. Watchett (ahh, I just got that her name is "Watch"-ett) are left wondering about his disappearance. As George is a practical man, they realize he must have taken something with him to help the Eloi. They see that three books have been taken from the library, but they don't know which ones. "Which three would you take?" David asks Mrs. Watchett. Neither of them has an answer and the film closes. So I wonder, what three books would you take if you had to help a young, naive people try to re-establish a working society? The only book I thought of for sure that I'd take would be a large dictionary to try and help them learn to write and communicate efficiently. Any thoughts or ideas from my great readers? Please comment!
P.S. Recently I read an article that scientists have developed a small-scale version of teleportation. Read all about it here. This can change the next dimension - space. (Yes, you should cue the music here and add "the final frontier".)
P.P.S. F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner, 1925.
