2081 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Chandler Tuttle |
Screenplay by | Chandler Tuttle |
Based on | "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut |
Produced by | Thor Halvorssen |
Starring | |
Narrated by | Patricia Clarkson |
Cinematography | Austin Schmidt |
Edited by | Chandler Tuttle |
Music by | Lee Brooks |
Production company | Halvorssen/Tuttle Productions |
Distributed by | The Moving Picture Institute |
Release date |
|
Running time | 26 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $100,000 |
2081 is a 2009 science fiction featurette which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 29, 2009. It is directed and written by Chandler Tuttle, based on the 1961 short story "Harrison Bergeron" by author Kurt Vonnegut. The cast is led by James Cosmo, Julie Hagerty, Patricia Clarkson, and Armie Hammer. The story paints a picture through the use of hyperbole of a future in which a powerful, dictatorial government goes to extreme measures to ensure that absolute equality exists between all individuals.
In 2081, American society is a dystopia, in which all individual inequality has been erased by the fictional 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution and the "unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General", after that cabinet office was created to ensure a "golden age of equality" in the United States. Exceptionalness in the world is destroyed in the name of equality, achieved through the use of "handicaps"—physical devices used to nullify every inborn advantage any person might have over another: "The strong wear weights, the beautiful wear masks, and the intelligent wear earpieces that fire off loud noises to keep them from taking unfair advantage of their brains." [1]
Following closely with Vonnegut's original story, 2081 begins with George and Hazel Bergeron—parents of the exceptionally strong, intelligent, handsome Harrison Bergeron—sitting in their living room, watching The Sleeping Beauty ballet on television. George carries many "handicaps", wearing an earpiece and heavy weights to counteract his intelligence and strength, respectively. Hazel, being perfectly average and capable of only carrying thoughts in "short bursts", wears none.
Six years prior, Harrison was taken in a raid on their home by a SWAT team from the office of the Handicapper General. Sitting on his sofa, George tries to think about the event, but cannot quite bring himself to recall exactly what happened, due to the painful intermittent bursts sent through his earpiece. He continues to watch the ballet, instead. The ballet is interrupted by a government news report being read by a anchor with a severe speech impediment about the escaped fugitive Harrison Bergeron. George watches the report with a hint of interest. The report concludes and returns to the regularly scheduled ballet, featuring delicate ballerinas heavily weighed down to ensure that they are only as graceful as the average person. Just then, loud stomps can be heard approaching the stage, as the ballerinas cower in terror. Harrison Bergeron marches down the aisle and leaps onto the stage with a heavy thud, almost unhindered by the weight of his massive handicaps. In a deviation from Vonnegut's story, he begins his address to the audience in the theater and those watching at home by claiming to have a bomb under the stage, the detonator to which he holds in his hand. The audience listens to his address in shock as he peels off his handicaps and chooses a volunteer ballerina to do the same. He takes her hand, and for a few brief moments, the two dance, unhindered, as the audience watches, mystified by the pair's unbridled grace and elegance.
The enforcers of the Handicapper General, keen to keep this display under wraps, surround the theater and quickly cut the video feed to the television audience as the Handicapper General herself marches down the aisle with a shotgun. On cue, Harrison pushes the button of his "detonator", which rather than detonating the dummy bomb under the stage, sends a signal to a device that overrides the video block. He looks into the camera with a proud but slightly somber grin. George smiles back at the television. Unaware that the video feed is again being broadcast, the Handicapper General fires the shotgun, killing Harrison and his ballerina. The SWAT team leader, having been unable to stop her before she fired, informs her of their mistake. In surprise and embarrassment, she looks around in realization that this gruesome, atrocious act of oppression has been broadcast for all to see. George stares heartbrokenly into the television as the signal is again blocked, until his train of thought is again broken by the screeching of his headset; true to Vonnegut's telling of the story, [2] the gravity of the moment is lost on them, and they slip back into normalcy.
2081 was produced in 2009 for US$100,000(equivalent to $142,020 in 2023). [3] Reviewers have applauded the film's excellent production values which they consider to be on par with much higher-budget feature-length films. [4] The film features narration by Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson and an original score by Lee Brooks performed by the Kronos Quartet and Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. [5]
Revolution Science Fiction magazine described the film as "stirring and dramatic" and it "gets right to the point, and nails the adaptation." [2] Novelist and essayist Edward Cline writes that 26-minute 2081 "packs a punch as terrible as Michael Radford’s gritty, nearly two-hour long Nineteen Eighty-Four ." 2081, he says, can be viewed as a cinematic parable whose purpose is not to be taken literally, but rather to "impart profound and lasting lessons". [4] Film critic Jeremy Heilman described the film as, "Playing like a serious-minded version of Mike Judge’s comedy Idiocracy ", calling it "inventive", "clever", and "humorous" while making a "strong statement about the sadness of a world that prizes equality above all else." [6]
The film screened at VonnegutFest in November 2017 at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Indianapolis. [7]
Kurt Vonnegut was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. He published 14 novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty-plus years; further collections have been published since his death.
Hans Christian Andersen is a 1952 Hollywood musical film directed by Charles Vidor and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. The screenplay by Moss Hart and an uncredited Ben Hecht is based on a story by Myles Connolly.
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical dystopian science-fiction short story by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in October 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was republished in the author's Welcome to the Monkey House collection in 1968.
Between Time and Timbuktu is a television film directed by Fred Barzyk and based on a number of works by Kurt Vonnegut. Produced by National Educational Television and WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, it was telecast March 13, 1972 as a NET Playhouse special. The television script was also published in book form in 1972, illustrated with photographs by Jill Krementz and stills from the production.
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical music. More than 1,000 works have been written for it.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, Kurt Vonnegut's fifth novel, was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and as a Dell mass-market paperback in 1970. A piece of postmodern satire, it gave context to Vonnegut's following novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, and shared in its success.
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of 25 short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut, published by Delacorte in August 1968. The stories range from wartime epics to futuristic thrillers, given with satire and Vonnegut's unique edge. The stories are often intertwined and convey the same underlying messages on human nature and mid-twentieth century society.
Julie Beth Hagerty is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). Her other film roles include A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Lost in America (1985), What About Bob? (1991), She’s the Man (2006), A Master Builder (2014), Instant Family (2018), Noelle, Marriage Story, and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022).
"The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. The booklet consists of Andersen's "The Daisy" and "The Wild Swans". The tale was Andersen's first not based upon a folk tale or a literary model. "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" has been adapted to various media including ballet and animated film.
Harrison Bergeron is a science fiction television movie film loosely adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 dystopian short story of the same name. It was produced for Showtime and first screened on August 13, 1995. It was released to VHS in 1998.
The Story of Three Loves is a 1953 American Technicolor romantic anthology film made by MGM. It consists of three stories, "The Jealous Lover", "Mademoiselle", and "Equilibrium". The film was produced by Sidney Franklin. "Mademoiselle" was directed by Vincente Minnelli, while Gottfried Reinhardt directed the other two segments. The screenplays were written by John Collier, Jan Lustig, and George Froeschel.
Matthew Joseph Shaffer is an American musical theatre, television, and film actor, director, executive producer, author, and choreographer. He was born in Florence, Colorado, USA.
The Moving Picture Institute (MPI) is an American non-profit organization and film production company founded in 2005 by Thor Halvorssen, who was also one of the producers for some of their movies. Its current president is Rob Pfaltzgraff.
"Welcome to the Monkey House" is a Kurt Vonnegut short story that is part of the collection of the same name. It is alluded to in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater as one of Kilgore Trout's stories.
Armand Douglas Hammer is an American actor. He began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years, and he gained wider recognition for his double role portraying the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in David Fincher's biographical drama film The Social Network (2010), for which he won the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, also titled Ballet Imperial, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2. Ballet Imperial was choreographed for American Ballet Caravan's 1941 South American tour, and was aimed at showing that the Americans were capable of the classical ballet traditions. The ballet pays tribute to Tchaikovsky, the classical ballet choreographer Marius Petipa, and Imperial Saint Petersburg, where Balanchine received his ballet training. The ballet featured academic steps and alludes to Imperial Russia through the costumes and scenery. Ballet Imperial premiered on June 25, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
Carnival is a 1946 British drama film about a ballet dancer of the Edwardian era, directed by Stanley Haynes and starring Sally Gray, Michael Wilding, Stanley Holloway and Jean Kent. It is based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Compton Mackenzie, which had previous been made into a 1932 film version Dance Pretty Lady by Anthony Asquith. It was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Carmen Dillon.
Allegro Brillante is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3. The ballet is danced by a principal couple and a corps de ballet of eight. Balanchine said it "contains everything I knew about classical ballet." Allegro Brillante was made for the New York City Ballet, and premiered on March 1, 1956, at the City Center of Music and Drama, with Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallanes originating the two principal roles.
Chandler Tuttle is an American writer and director who currently serves as creative director of the Oslo Freedom Forum. He lives in New York City.
Angelina Ballerina is a British animated preschool children's television series based on the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig. The series is about a young mouse named Angelina Mouseling who loves dancing ballet, her family, and her classmates. Finty Williams performed the voice of Angelina and her mother Judi Dench performed the voice of Miss Lilly.