I once read that there are really only two kinds of science fiction movies: gleaming tower and burning garbage can. Of course, it’s reductive to say that there’s only two kinds of any genre, but it’s an interesting idea. Gleaming tower sci fi envisions the future as a bright place. Cities are tall and sparkling. Everything is made out of polished steel, white concrete, and mirrored glass. People drive flying cars, wear snazzy futuristic jumpsuits, and joke with each other about buying that condo on Neptune.
Burning garbage can sci fi sees a future in which things are
bad. Some kind of apocalypse has happened and the few survivors left stand on
the corners of overgrown streets warming their fingerless-gloved hands over a
garbage can fire. People live in ruins and wear rags. Dental hygiene is bad and
everyone talks about “the before times.”
One version is hopeful and perhaps naïve while the other is
pessimistic, sometimes punishingly so. I suppose science fiction futures are
like any other future, whether it’s ten years from now or the thought of going
into work on Monday – we simultaneously look forward to it and dread it at the
same time.
Interestingly, one of the very first big screen sci fi
movies ever made was both burning garbage can and gleaming tower. Things to Come was released in 1936 and
was written by H.G. Wells himself, the author of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man. The film takes place in the allegorically named
Everytown, a bustling small city in England. It opens at Christmas in 1940 and
everyone is talking about the imminent war looming in the near future. Some of
the townspeople fear it while others dismiss it, saying war stimulates the
economy and is good for national morale. Of course, any time a character says, “Oh
it won’t be that bad” it’s usually way worse. And it is. War strikes Everytown
in an unusually visceral air raid sequence in which the town in bombed to a
smoking ruin.
From there, the movie follows the residents through the
decades as the city devolves into a burning garbage can Dark Ages-style village
with old cars being pulled by teams of horses and the person with the most guns
in charge. But in true H.G. Wells fashion, science and technology ends up
saving the day. A futuristic airplane suddenly lands in the village and the
pilot tells the villagers that a brotherhood of engineers and mechanics has
banded together to outlaw war and create a worldwide government.
There’s some conflict but eventually science wins the day
and there’s a long, elaborate montage depicting the creation of massive
underground cities made of, you guessed it, gleaming towers, white walkways,
and lots of glass. The film ends in far off 2036 with an Adam and Eve couple
shooting into space to fly around the moon and a long, windy speech about the
nature of man and the importance of scientific progress.
I’m not going to lie – as a story, Things to Come is ponderous to say the least. The dialogue is all
pompous speechifying and the message anti-war, pro-science message is about as
subtle and artful as a baseball bat to the knees.
What makes Things to
Come worth seeing, however, are its special effects. The use of ornate
miniatures, clever camera work, and things like rear projection and superimposition
make the more futuristic sequences excellent examples of early practical
special effects. It’s even more impressive considering the film was released in
1936 which means it came out closer to the end of the Civil War than to 2015.
So if you saw Mad Max:
Fury Road last week or are planning on seeing Tomorrowland this week, you might want to give Things to Come a try and see where all those gleaming towers and
burning garbage cans came from.
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