Futuristic Movie 'Elysium' Underscores Today's Ills
Penelope Poulou
August 09, 2013
South African filmmaker Neil Blomkamp returns with a new sci-fi film, Elysium. Like his previous futuristic drama District 9, Elysium tackles social separation in a dystopian future.
It's the year 2154, and the world is starkly divided between the haves and the have nots. The downtrodden inhabit an overpopulated polluted earth, while the rich have migrated to Elysium, an outpost in space where there is no poverty or sickness.
The story is centered on Max, who is played by Matt Damon. Having broken the law many times, he's trying to sort out his life - on earth. He gets a job at a factory where he's exposed to radiation. "In five days time you will die," a robot tells him. That's unless he can make it to Elysium, the place of his dreams.
Neil Blomkamp directed the film. “All of the things that make life worth living, everything that's been extracted from earth, all of the medical help and the technology and the wealth and standard of living and the longevity and everything else is all there,” he said, in reference to Elysium.
But Elysium is inaccessible to foreigners - that is, everyone living on Earth, including Max.
Jodie Foster portrays the unyielding Madame Delacourt, a government official on Elysium, who will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws to protect her environment. She orders that vessels filled with women and children be shot down to prevent them from entering Elysium.
“...Her point is that the earth that she came from, that she remembers - and don't forget she's 108 years old - was falling apart and was horrible and it was a terrible place to be. And they created this new habitat Elysium to get rid of some of the bad things that happened then, the pollution, toxicity of the planet, overpopulation, all of things that we know right now are a problem,” said Foster about the character she plays.
Blomkamp’s movie is an allegory about many of today’s problems: poverty and immigration, homeland security, lack of universal health care, and the destruction of our planet.
After he agrees to go on a dangerous mission to Elysium and hack into its security system, Max turns into a human transformer, with equipment that makes him incredibly strong and turns his brain into a hard drive filled with security data. From that point on, Elysium is action packed and delivers social justice, Hollywood-style.
Language Notes 
underscore (v) 強調，凸顯
tackle (v) 著手，處理
dystopian (a) 反烏托邦的 XXXXX*dystopia 是名詞，是 utopia (烏托邦、理想國)的反義字
starkly (adv) 明顯地;突出地
downtrodden (a) 被踐踏的;受壓迫的
outpost (n) 前哨基地
南非導演 Neil Blomkamp 的科幻新片「極樂世界」上映，如同前部充滿未來寓言式的 (futuristic)「第九禁區」(District 9)，「極樂世界」處理 (tackle) 未來一個反烏托邦 (dystopian) 世界裡的社會分裂問題。
故事設定在2154年，世界涇渭分明的 (starkly) 分裂成擁有資源者和一無所有者 (the haves and the have nots)兩大集團。社會底層的賤民 (the downtrodden) 居住在人口過剩的 (overpopulated)，深受汙染的地球，而富有者則移民到沒有貧窮 (poverty)，沒有疾病的外太空前哨站 (an outpost in space)。
extract (v) 採掘;提取
longevity (n) 長命,長壽
in reference to (prep phr) 關於；(話題)指向
inaccessible (a) 達不到的；無法進入的XXXXX * 表達此意時，本字後接 to：something is inaccessible to someone 表示「不得讓某人進入」，如新聞中的用法；去除 "in-"字首後是「可以取得、可以進入」的，也接 to：something is accessible to someone。名詞 access 也接 to，但用人當主詞：someone has access to something，表示具有「使用或進入 . . . 的權力或途徑」，例：Our customers have free access to our website.
unyielding (a) (立場穩固)不屈服的；不讓步的
vessel (n) 船艦
對於 (in reference to) 電影「極樂世界」，導演 Neil Blomkamp 說，「地球上所有一切讓生命有存在意義的事物都被抽離 (extract) 到那去了，所有的醫療，科技，財富，生活品質與長壽 (longevity) 都在那裡。」但「極樂世界」是不開放 (inaccessible) 給外國人的。演員 Jodie Foster 扮演「極樂世界」裡一位立場堅定、毫不退讓的 (unyielding) 政府官員 (government official)，她不顧一切 (stop at nothing to . . . ) 執行 (enforce) 反移民法律 (anti-immigration laws)，保護她所處的環境。為了阻止外來者進入極樂世界，她會下令將載滿婦女與小孩的太空船艦 (vessel) 給擊毀 (be shot down)(編按：本句的文法句型解釋請看本期 Language Tips)。
habitat (n) 棲息地
toxicity (n) 毒性，毒力
allegory (n) 寓言
hack (v) 入侵 (電腦系統、網站)
女星 Jodie Foster 評論她所扮演的角色說，「觀眾們要知道，她已經108歲了，她會如此堅定是因為在她記憶裡的地球是分崩離析的 (fall apart)，是可怕的、糟到不能住的地方。他們創造出這個新居地(habitat) 就是為了要擺脫 (get rid of) 地球上的問題，像是汙染，毒物 (toxicity)，人口過剩 (overpopulation)，這些現在我們知道要面對的問題。」
導演 Blomkamp 的寓言 (allegory)電影裡有許多今日地球所面臨的問題：貧窮、移民、國土安全 (homeland security)，全民醫療體系 (universal care system；編按，本詞指社會中一個可以普遍照顧到廣大民眾的健康醫療體系，在台灣的「全民健保」是此社會制度的體現，可見Wikipedia的解釋)。
片中男主角 Max 執行進入「極樂世界」的危險任務，並要侵入其安全防護系統 。他裝戴了讓他超乎人類力量 (incredibly strong)的設備，大腦也變成載有系統安全防護資料的硬碟，成了人肉變形金剛。那刻起 (from that point on)，電影「極樂世界」即充滿各種動作片段，實現 (deliver) 一場好萊塢式的社會正義 (social justice)(編按：原句中 Hollywood-style 當成副詞看，表示以「好萊塢的方式」進行。社會正義的概念牽涉廣泛，在堅固的社會階層與僵硬的權力結構中，需要巨大的改革力與變動能量才能成就，不是一朝一夕的事。但在好萊塢的主流商業電影中，社會正義卻只要透過一個英雄角色，加上絢麗的打殺畫面就可以在兩小時內完成。記者在最末使用 hollywood-style 一語道破，聽起來有點譏諷商業電影的味道)。
Language Tips
新聞中有句：She orders that vessels filled with women and children be shot down to prevent them from entering Elysium. 本句的的句型是將語意有「建議、命令」的動詞加上 that 子句後，把 that 子句內的 should 給省略。
若把 should 放回去原句來看是：She orders that vessels filled with women and children should be shot down . . . 所以原句裡 that 子句中的 should 省略後，剩下的就是原型的被動語態 be shot down 這個動詞部份了。
可以使用這種句型的動詞還有 insist, suggest, recommend, urge等表達建議、命令的動詞。例句：She insisted that we finish our meal before leaving. / They demanded that we return the borrowed goods immediately. 這兩例句中 that 子句的 should 都被省去不寫，所以可以觀察到，that 子句外的主要子句動詞是過去式，但 that 子句裡的動詞卻沒有時態變化，即所謂原型動詞。
語意有「必須、重要」的形容詞也有這樣的句型，表示某事是當務之急或必須要做的，句型：It is important /urgent /necessary /vital /essential that . . .(should) V . . . 例句： It is important that somebody tell her the truth. / It is essential that every citizen have equal access to health care. 一樣的，that子句裡動詞前的 should 省去不寫，所以的動詞也沒有人稱與時態的變化。
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, select the text below to reveal the hidden answers.
1. The ancient Chinese claimed that garlic promoted longevity.
2. An outpost is a station in a remote or sparsely populated location.
3. A long flight of stairs made the center inaccessible to disabled visitors.
4. Downtrodden people are treated badly and without respect by people who have power over them.
5. Somebody hacked into the company's central database.
6. I prefer to see animals in their natural habitat, rather than in zoos.
7. The report underscores the importance of childhood immunizations.
Source：http://www.voanews.com/content/futuristic-movie-elysium-underscores-ills-of-today/1727118.html
編譯：簡嘉呈
館藏介紹
英語宅急便 
