High Life (2019) Claire Denis hurtles the Garden of Eden into outer space in this underrated meditation on what it means to be human in an inimical universe. A group of criminals have volunteered to be sent toward a black hole in order to see if energy can be drained from it for earth. Among them is a mad scientist (Juliette Binoche) obsessed with reproductive experiments. Monte (Robert Pattinson) is seduced into becoming father of a child successfully born aboard this prison. Impressionistic evocations of father-daughter relationships haunt this movie.
Ancient mariners knew where they were
By mapping distant stars
Because they used Earth as their reference point.
Once off the planet, ships lost their way
In the vast abyss
Where their vessel had been hurled.
Salt permeated planks. Sperm whales extinct,
Artificial insemination sank
Carbon wired mouths shut so no one could scream.
Radiation mutated photosynthesis
So leafy plants grew serrated blades
To slice the placenta of space wide open.
Rape continued the rapture of corporate cruelty,
Its S. O. S. tossed into a collapse of time,
Hoping love might survive another event horizon.
[Disposable Poem April 24, 2022]
Dr. Mike
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