by Gabriel Serrano Denis
Vital restorations of classic and obscure films have rightfully dominated the physical media landscape for the past several years, with more popping up recently as a renewed interest in the virtues of ownership have surfaced. With 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray technology offering the best in video and audio quality, it’s been refreshing to see these films released as close to their original theatrical splendor. Equally deserving of this treatment, films from the early 2000’s and 2010’s are being carefully restored for the older collectors as well as new generations of film enthusiasts. 2011’s Contagion is one such film that sits perfectly at the crossroads of vital cinema and hidden treasure – its new 4K restoration stands to garner new fans as well as please the audience it first captivated.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, The Informant!, No Sudden Move) and written by Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Report) Contagion plays out like an anxiety-driven version of Soderbergh’s drug epic Traffic (2000). They share a similar structure as Soderbergh and Burns approach the sudden appearance and rapid spread of a deadly virus throughout the world by way of different characters experiencing the situation in unique contexts. It also boasts an impressive cast of A-list actors taking on small roles that are given mostly equal time to breath and deliver the story’s non-stop developing information about the virus and their specific reactions to it. Starting with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Beth Emhoff upon her return from Hong Kong on a business trip, she begins to show rapid symptoms while her husband Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) struggles to make sense of how her health could deteriorate so quickly. Meanwhile, around the world, several characters experience the same symptoms that lead towards the same outcome: Death. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is alerted of the strange virus, and Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) quickly deploys Epidemic Intelligence Service officer Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to investigate the situation in Minneapolis, where Beth Emhoff first showed symptoms. In tandem, WHO epidemiologist Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) traces the virus back to Hong Kong in an effort to determine where the virus originated, while conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) uses his blog to attack the government’s response and to benefit from propping up a drug as a “miracle cure”.
If all this sounds familiar it’s because it frighteningly predicted the actual response to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019, 8 years before it actually happened. Burns spent significant time developing the script with renowned scientists and epidemiologists to deliver an accurate account of the response to a growing epidemic, and while the virus in the film is much deadlier than anything that has come before or since, the progression shown in Contagion has proved to stand the test of time. From simple things like “social-distancing” and the desperate decisions to close down schools and shops to the full-blown panic of buying out supermarkets of cleaning products and canned foods, Contagion got it all right. Even misinformation and the power of the internet to sway public opinion are addressed in a believable and distressing storyline led by Jude Law. Since Soderbergh is no stranger to ensemble pieces, it’s not surprising that all the threads that Burns built are swiftly and cohesively put together through dynamic editing and a distinct use of color.
The 4K restoration by Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging (MPI), overseen by Soderbergh, was sourced from the original camera negative and what we get here is the film as Soderbergh intended it to be seen. The director has been described as a cold and clinical filmmaker, and though one could agree or disagree, what’s certain is that his style perfectly fits Contagion’s story and it shines through in this new 4K edition. Extreme close-ups of people turning door knobs, touching handrails on subway cars right after coughing, shaking hands with friends, and exchanging documents or money are interspersed throughout the film in between the several clinical and data-centric conversations between scientists and government officials. Having embraced RED digital cameras early on, Soderbergh (functioning as cinematographer as well) takes full advantage of the RED One MX’s 4.5 image resolution, delivering sharp and crisp close-ups that you can almost feel. The sharp angles and high-contrast imagery of office interiors come through with inky blacks and soft gradations that create intimate scenes of people coming together to find a solution to an apocalyptic crisis. Exteriors, where the RED’s sensor truly shines, are few but in the film’s latter half when society seems to be on the brink of total downfall, shots of desolate city streets and military vehicles patrolling at night feel nightmarish in such stark and clean use of natural lighting. Since the film favors intimate settings and claustrophobia, faces are rendered in sharp detail, assisting the script’s mission of humanizing the scientists at the frontline of an ongoing epidemic. Like Traffic, Soderbergh also color-codes certain settings with most of the government offices colored in warm sepia tones or green-ish fluorescent light while the Minneapolis setting which becomes increasingly infected is shot in cold blues.
Contagion is less interested in character development than in detailing how a society would handle a deadly virus. As mentioned above, the film does want to humanize its scientists and victims, but this is in service to accurately depict a realistic threat. Matt Damon’s Mitch and Kate Winslet’s Erin get more time to develop their characters due to the nature of their predicaments, which offers a pleasant balance against the play by play nature of the script. Even some of the most straightforward of characters get their due time to let emotions run free, like Jennifer Ehle’s Dr. Ally Hextall, who is determined to create the life-saving vaccine against the virus. As such, Contagion is a perfect blend of Soderbergh’s interest in interconnected characters and distant observation. Here, the objective nature of the narrative is used to maximum effect to reflect on a theory that became a reality. The 4K release’s special features detail the important work of the epidemiologists of the world and the scientists asking themselves the right questions to prepare us for our futures, and what many of the cast members frequently relay in their interviews is the fact that as they shot the film, it was clear to them that the situation portrayed was not to be taken as “what if it happens?” but as “when it happens”. Thus, Contagion remains a crucial film that, through its extensive research, provided the guidelines to fight sickness and misinformation and still functions as a deeply humanist portrayal of humans trying to survive against their own demise. This new 4K release further cements its reputation and keeps the film alive in the current zeitgeist and for future generations to do their homework.
A review copy of the film was provided by Warner Bros. The new 4K restoration of Contagion is now on sale.
