Invasion (2007)

Invasion (2007) is a horror thriller, science fiction and action movie directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, starring Nicole Kidman as the protagonist and psychiatrist Carol Bennell, Daniel Craig as her doctor friend Ben Driscoll and Jackson Bond as Carol´s son Oliver.

Main differences to the other movies:

-disease which changes people (no "doubling") - people can be immune - world peace VS. cure?

Narrative

Story:

- setting: Washington D.C--> the capital of the U.S. - for the first time a network of cities which are infected by the virus are shown (transnational pandemic; other big cities AND countries)

- characters: female, divorced protagonist Carol Benell who is a psychiatrist (+ son Oliver) --> love interest (withheld) in Ben who is also a doctor, Carol´s ex- husband (antagonist) who works for the CDC. Names are variations of earlier versions of the movie. Scientific community (microscopic shots of the virus developing; laboratory shots)- space shuttle that crashes (news: CNN, NBC, interviews with witnesses) --> it is a public event

-ending: "happy ending" for the family but lousy ending for the world/ humanity (world peace?) -> ambivalent "happy ending"

focus:


 * high degree of rationalization (--> plausibility), family, illness/ infection, pandemic, terrorism

Discourse:

- no frame, no narrator, the spectator does not know the end --> no comfort that people will survive, no voice- over, strong foreshadowing, interior monologue (Carol´s thoughts, muttering to herself, stream of consciousness)

Cultural context

[INFO: To look up the cultural context of this time you could use a timeline with the following link: http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline2000.html]

- war/ world in terror (weapons of mass distruction) - bird flu (SARS/ avian flu); pandemic - knowledge about microbiology - post 9/11 ("Why us?") - remakes of classical horror movies from the 1970s (revival of horror films) such as Dawn of the Dead (1978), Halloween (1978), The Hills have Eyes (1977), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - beginning of HD - horror used to be produced for frnge audiences - plenty of natural catostrophes (Huricane Katrina, tsunami) - Invasion is the first remake which has been made with a big budget (ended up to be the least successful of all four movies in terms of economy)

Interpretations

- indiviual VS. community (Jeremy Bentham, utilitarianism) - humanity/ human nature ("What does it mean to be human?") - -> infection/ cure? (Does the virus infect humans and must be regarded as something disastrous or does it "cure" the earth of humanity?) - cost ("What cost to remain human?")