Just to put all that in context, I'm writing this now in crisis hit Spain in 2015, almost 7 years after the economic collapse, which happened in 2008. Not sure what is going on wherever you all are, but I think I can shed light on post apocalyptic or just post-economic collapse.
This year, just to add to the fun, everyone is getting ready for another big dip in the economies. Oil goes down and it's usually a predictor. No it's not as violent yet as in this film for many people on this side of the recession, where the effects aren't that great by most standards, but let's face it, we need to start to prepare for futures like this in the places where it's not yet arrived. This is the best way to avoid the type of world in this film.
There's global warming which we've already seen increasing mass catastrophe, then via infectious diseases, warfare in the oil producing regions (which are now our local fracking joints too), most people I know have lost their jobs and whatever work is still out there is ultra commercial. I've seen the need and wish to learn to make the things I would one day buy, and most food I eat is grown and cooked within my close social sphere - a lot of it in community projects. You can start to see a more colourful future where you just see it from a post-apocalyptic mindset already and try and build from the rubble that was the system where there were jobs or houses for life.
The euro and the dollar, as people on this thread rightly argue, are just as faltering as the ruble, and with no clear currencies, you can't invest or save with anything and our way of living here has changed dramatically: entire families are now without jobs, evicted, or facing huge debt where just a few months ago they were maybe pushing by. So this causes a lot of fear and of course, extremism and so far mostly police and administrative violence of various types. So all that already sounds pretty bad and that's without even talking about generic species depletion and water system breakdown.
So really there is nothing left but to prioritise the kind of future you want, and try and make sure that can happen along with everyone else's positive ideas. Changing this instead of feeling the old impositions of the previous civilisation (that was going strong pretty much until 9/11) can be very empowering. So today instead of seeing ourselves as the colonial know-it-alls we can learn from today's refugee camps and slums and their urban gardens, mesh networks, lo-fi homemade tech and construction techniques: about how they make it in what we might one day find ourselves in in our European cities. Instead of ordering pizza learn to make it(making mozzarella is really satisfying if you can convince a friendly cow), instead of working to buy stuff, make it and share it. Instead of investing in banks so as to buy a house for example we could care for a space somewhere, with good garden tools and home energy generation, and organise new forms of space use that don't involve all-out buying like co-housing or a million other things. And the euro is still there, but of course it's not very useful and doesn't last very long when you have it.
So I'd say, yes, depending on your definition of "civilisation" you can argue that you live in a post capitalist time, because the recession changed things for you too- maybe even just because you went self-employed, or because . And in that case this film is post-apocalyptic, and probably set in around 2018!
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blackbeanie
9 years ago
Living in another European country where the crisis hasn't hit as hard yet as in Greece, Spain, Italy and so (but it's on its way to get us in deep trouble too), I appreciate your attempts to deal with it changing the life style we're used to, more self-producing, less consumption.
In desolate places, with unfertile ground, it won't be easy though as we've seen in The Rover.
There have been complaints by viewers that the film didn't tell a story, that there wasn't a plot...
IMHO that is the essence of this movie! When a collapse (economic) of this degree happens, it not only takes away the future of people but also their story. To tell a story, people need to have dreams, goals they try to pursue. When the only drive that remains is to stay alive, there is no story to tell anymore, people become lethargic as is shown so well in The Rover.
If David had that in mind, he is a master in touching the core.
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