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The Matrix: A Movie With a Meaning

“But how could you live and have no story to tell?”

― Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights


While I am watching superhero movies or some action movies, I go and get a glass of water, I go to the toilet, I look at my phone and when I look at the screen again, I see that nothing has happened. Because these movies don't have a proper story to tell. I think they just "Alright, these are the characters, this is the villain we can deal with the rest." It is always the same simple and meaningless story where some good guy fights with some bad guy. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, all of these movies are the same, at least for me. But, today I won't talk about one of these movies because this post is about one of the best stories in cinema history. Today we will talk about The Matrix.


A Story With A Meaning

As I said, while watching some action movies I spend 15 minutes without looking at the movie, and in the end, I still understand what has happened. But this isn't because it has an understandable and good story, but because it doesn't have a story that has a meaning and a purpose. However, in Matrix, the story has a meaning and this story includes one of the biggest conflicts of cinema: Real World vs Artificial World. Of course, none of us one if we are in a Matrix, but the conflict inside Neo's head is real and most of us experience this conflict. It is not a Matrix vs real-life conflict in real life, but it can be success versus entertainment in life, as success seems more realistic while entertainment seems like something that only relaxes you. And the steps Neo passes through the movie are so realistic that you want to advise him while watching the movie. And that's what makes the movie so good and meaningful.

And unlike the movies of nowadays, the Matrix has a scenario that was determined before everything, and every part of the story is connected and there isn't a scene that is too long. All of the stories are written as a whole and this secret of the Matrix's story. Everything is related and everything has reason to be in the storyline. For example, have you noticed how Neo's famous line "Why do my eyes hurt?" foreshadows The Matrix Revolutions. In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo becomes blind but he starts to see with his third eye. Another foreshadowing example is when Agent Smith says "You are going to help us, Mr. Anderson." And in the next movie, The Matrix Reloaded, we see Neo was originally coded to help to protect the balance of the matrix and the system. There is also the scene where Morpheus talks about "knowing the path and walking the path." And again in The Matrix Revolutions, Neo needs to choose between knowing the path or walking the path. And in the movie, Neo can choose to save Trinity or the whole freaking world full of billions of people. (And Neo chooses Trinity. What can I say, he is just super genius.) Foreshadowing examples and connections between movies makes no sense at the beginning but, as you continue making research about the movie and watching the scenes of the movie, you start to say all of these can't be a coincidence. All of these scenes and lines are written and directed because Wachowskis think of every part of a movie in detail and every single part of the story has a meaning.


Scenes With A Meaning

Also, in a movie, every scene needs to have a purpose. But in these movies which don't have a proper story, there are also tens of meaningless scenes where nothing happens. However, the Matrix has something to say to its audience with its scenes. Of course, The Matrix has aesthetic scenes, the cinematography is great and all of the scenes are directed excellently, but when talking about legendary movies like The Matrix, it is meaningless to talk about these basic concepts about movie scenes. Because it is clear that the movie has excellent scenes. And also the directors of these movies know that the scenes of the movie are great, so they add their signature to the movie. And Wachowskis used two different color filters on the scenes of the movie. A green filter is used for the scenes in the Matrix while a blue filter is used for the scenes in the real world. Although they know that many people won't get this tiny detail, they added it. And I think that's the thing that separates the genius directors from the other directors: Adding that little detail even though there is a possibility that no one will understand it.

Another point I want to mention is how Wachowskis were determined about filming all the action scenes in the movie. As you expect science fiction and action movies need a big budget, but Warner Bros. gave only 10 million dollars to Wachowskis. 10 million may seem like a lot to you, but 10 million is the amount of money used for 15 minutes of a Marvel movie. And it is nearly impossible to shoot a science fiction movie full of action scenes with just 10 million. Also, Wachowskis were spending too much time training the actors about the martial arts. And they were getting ready for the film for 4 months. So Warner Bros. was dissatisfied. At this point, Wachowski's spend their whole 10 million on the opening scene and sent it to Warner Bros. And Warner Bros. gave time and the money they wanted as the scene was awesome. So Wachowski's gambled their money and time to direct the movie but they achieved to direct this masterpiece.


A Movie With A Meaning

There is one more thing I need to talk about in this movie. As I said the Matrix used CGI and action scenes wisely. They made all of the scenes so realistic. That's why people are trying to do the Matrix dodge in real life. The movie's CGI and action scenes are used to create a more realistic world. However, today CGI is used to make a CGI show on the screen rather than making the audience believe the story of the movie. This is the same problem as many parts of new movies: A movie should be made for the audience and its art, but new movies are just in a race where they try to beat other studios' movies. The same thing is also true in movies' stories. All of the stories are written like a cocktail. A handsome leader, one smart guy, one ugly, and one beautiful woman, and lots of meaningless action scenes. Then shake them until the story becomes to a level that a newborn can understand. If wanted you can add some nudity. This is the formula of most of the new movies. At least we have many good movies we can watch and some directors like Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, Coen brothers, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese who continue making high-quality movies. And we think that The Matrix is one of modern cinema's pearls.


If you want to watch more pearls from modern cinema;



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