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| Astrid Berges-Frisbey's lovely eyes in Mike Cahill's I Origins (2014) |
Mike Cahill and Britt Marling's new film was released in the states today, and I just saw it at the Fantasia Film Festival. I liked it...but not as much as Another Earth, the pair's first significant work together. Supposedly, the two have known each other since their late teens, and they seem to have a rhythm down for making "subtle sci-fi"--even though this film dabbles a bit in the spiritual, albeit grounded in the struggles between science and faith.
Perhaps part of the reason I enjoyed Another Earth more is that I Origins dabbles in some well-worn tropes, even if it tries to turn them on their head later in the film. One of the main tropes is the ubiquitous "manic pixie dream girl," that quirky, youthful, free-spirit coined by Nathan Rabin in 2007 (who has recently just apologized for its coining). The film takes place 8 years after the death of said "manic pixie," Sofi, and schlumpy scientist Ian (Michael Pitt) narrates how his traveling to India to find someone with matching irises came to be.
Ian is an "eye" scientist, and is exploring how to bring sight to non-seeing animals in order to forward ocular science for humans. He meets the enigmatic Sofi (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) at a Halloween party, they have a quickie in a bathroom, and then she scampers off. He eventually tracks her down. They proceed to have lovely adventures.
Meanwhile, Ian has taken on a new assistant, Karen (Britt Marling), who is just about the smartest person on the entire planet--way smarter than Ian or his roommate, Kenny (Stephen Yuen) who both work in the lab. With the brilliant and wry Karen, the film tries to balance the romantic weight placed on Sofi. Cahill has written a rich and beautiful role for Marling, and she steals all of her scenes away from the rather flat, affect-less Pitt. The only way he really emotes is through some loud screaming, and then some moping. Marling speaks volumes in a glance.
One of the greatest pleasures of the film is the way in which scientific experimentation and research are represented. The work that the main characters do in the lab is rich and exciting, and one keenly feels the thrill of discovery. Karen and Sofi are such polar opposites, I found myself growing increasingly impatient with Sofi, who exclaims that Ian leaves her "to experiment all day on little worms." She is the spiritual voice in what starts to feel like a very heavy-handed conversation on the relationship between science and God, and scientists as gods. Meh.
Another problem with the film is how clearly telegraphed Sofi's death is--a death in some ways that fits well into an old Dario Argento giallo. Of course, she must die in order for Ian to have his revelatory experience which shakes his very scientific foundation. And strangely enough, Kalinda from The Good Wife (Archie Penjabi) magically shows up as a helpful Indian woman during Ian's trip to India. I just wanted her to have her own movie, she's such a fine actress! But does everyone have to go to India, Tibet, or Bali to get their spiritual sh** together?
I Origins is a good movie, with some fine performances and some wonderful witty dialogue and rapport between the characters. Yet it had some very familiar tropes that made it a bit less intensely original than Another Earth. Still, if you are a Britt Marling fan, she does continue to shine.
