In science fiction movies and novels, ‘migratory’ cities are often built on the basis of real immigrant cities like NewYork. These stories are often set in a post-disaster context, and due to issues such as resource scarcity, people often build cities in a mobile way to seek resources or avoid disasters. Therefore, stories in such a wasteland worldview tend to revolve around survival, and because of the frequent wars between people for resources, such films often bring out discussions of human nature and future. In the films “Mortal engine” and “Snow piercer”, both stories are based on moving cities, but their discussions of the unknown are very different. In “Mortal engine”, the fear that people face comes from the lack of resources, although people in the city may gain many resources in the war, they may also be annexed at any time, so their future is full of uncertainty, no one Know if you can survive each day. In “Snow piercer”, although people live in a wasteland world view, people do not need to fear for their own safety. But fear of the future is accompanied by anticipation of tomorrow. In the train, everyone’s future is predetermined, like a train that circulates on the track year after year. Therefore, their fear stems more from the despair of a given death in the future.
ZHU Yifan, 3035937886
I appreciate your thoughtful discussion of fear and certainty in comparing the two films. Perhaps you can also compare how each film discusses the topic of inequality.