The two Nolan brothers are quite competitive with the atomic bomb. Christopher, the eldest son of
, is obsessed with the birth of the atomic bomb. He directed the biopic "Oppenheimer" and returned home with great success at the Academy Awards. His younger brother Jonathan wants to explore the subsequent impact of the atomic bomb and controls the development of the game "Fallout" . A drama adaptation of the same name.
After the first season of the drama was launched on the Amazon platform, it became very popular. The imdb score was 8.6, and the Rotten Tomatoes freshness score was 93%. Mainland drama fans also gave Douban a score of 8.6. Considering the " "Game Modification" attribute, this word-of-mouth performance is quite good.
's original game "Fallout" was born in in 1997 and . It is set in the future United States destroyed by atomic bombs and tells the story of the conflict between the shelter group hiding underground and the survivor group on the ground. To date, the Fallout series has launched five games and has a huge number of players.
Amazon purchased the rights to the live-action adaptation of "Fallout" in 2020, and invited Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy to manage the entire project.
This Hollywood couple once teamed up to create the famous science fiction drama "Westworld". "Fallout" continues Jonathan Nolan's style in "Westworld" - the speculative nature of truth and lies, as well as the ethical paradox in a high-energy setting.
The series opens in the United States in 2077. Unlike most science fiction films, the future scenes in "Fallout" are neither as gorgeous as cyberpunk nor as simple as "2001: A Space Odyssey". It's like the United States in the 1950s, full of retro flavor.
This is because, in "Fallout", since the birth of the atomic bomb, not only has the confrontation between the East and the West been tense, but the booming development of atomic energy has obscured everything, so that the subsequent computer and Internet industries have been seriously hindered.
Even the TV set is made of old picture tubes and glass.
However, the potential of atomic energy has been greatly exploited, and people have even used nuclear fusion in everyday machines.
In this twisted world, nuclear war finally broke out, terrifying mushroom clouds bloomed in the sky, and mankind entered the dark age.
More than two hundred years later, the devastated world is divided into two extreme factions.
Human being lives in the underground shelter of . When the nuclear war broke out, he hid in a safe and complete underground fortress and multiplied for several generations.
They receive elite education from birth, behave appropriately, and dedicate themselves to the survival of mankind. When the amount of ground radiation drops to a suitable range, this group of people will go to the ground to reorganize the country and continue civilization.
The fate of human beings stranded on the ground is extremely tragic.
Most people are in rags and lack material, and can only survive in a state of anarchy; while those who are severely burned by radiation are reduced to "ghoulies". Although their life spans are extended, their organs have long been alienated, and they are not only infertile, but also beyond recognition. What's more, they will mutate into "crazy zombies" and completely lose their minds, just like zombies.
Of course, there is also a powerful armed force among the survivors on the ground, called "Brotherhood of Steel" . They abide by the iron law like monks and are born loyal to the organization. Those with outstanding performance will control nuclear armor, like "Iron Man" Perform the same tasks.
The three protagonists in "Fallout" are the three types of people in different situations mentioned above.
The heroine Lucy grew up in a shelter. She is gentle, courteous and thrifty at heart, and has never been on guard against the outside world. But on her wedding day, she experienced a bloody massacre.
The "predators" from the ground not only killed Lucy's friends since childhood, but also kidnapped her father and then escaped.
Lucy was not defeated. Instead, she came to the dangerous surface world alone and traveled thousands of miles to save her father.
The second protagonist is the corpse Cooper who has lived for more than two hundred years. Before the outbreak of nuclear war, he was the star of Hollywood western movies. The purpose that keeps him alive is to find his long-lost family.
In order to stay sane in this wasteland world and avoid becoming a mad ghoul, Cooper had to constantly replenish radixin, thus becoming a feared bounty hunter.
The last protagonist is Maximus who was orphaned in a nuclear war and was raised by the Brotherhood of Steel.
In the military camp, he was bullied since he was a child and desperately wanted to become an Iron Knight. At the same time, Maximus was indecisive and uncertain.
Because the world view of "Fallout" is grand and complex, it is difficult to fully show the living conditions of different groups from a single perspective, so the show uses Lucy (the shelter group), Cooper (the ghoul group) and Maximus (the ghoul group) to Brotherhood group) These three protagonists, cross-narrative , take us into this strange and unpredictable wasteland world.
The McGuffin that connects these three people is a scientist carrying mysterious technology. No matter which party he falls into the hands of, he will have a major impact on the world.
It is worth mentioning that starting from the third episode, the scientist only had his head (of course, the mysterious technology was injected into the back of his head), and several factions started a "war for the head", which was quite dark humor.
With this science fiction background and character setting, "Fallout" staged a meaningful show.
The heroine Lucy is well aware that the ground is full of dangers, but she cannot let go of the moral values she has developed since childhood. Therefore, you will see that when she asks for directions, she points a gun at a stranger while communicating extremely politely. Instinctive timidity and ethical discipline create a subtle contrast and absurd effect.
Or when she and Maximus encountered strangers, Lucy wanted nothing more than to get along and go their separate ways. So, in order to let everyone take off their guard, she suggested raising her hands, walking to the side, facing each other, so as to avoid the other party's secret murder.
But what was unpreventable was that when the stranger across the street saw Lucy's tender skin and tender flesh, he immediately drew his gun and planned to strike first. Fortunately, Maximus took precautions and saved Lucy.
At the same time, Jonathan Nolan also cunningly composed a beautiful piece of music, allowing the audience to empathize with Lucy and look forward to "good intentions will eventually be rewarded, and the wasteland can be saved." But a gunshot, completely It broke Lucy's dream and made her understand the operating rules of the ground world.
The "Law of the Dark Forest" proposed by Liu Cixin also applies to the drama "Fallout". Whoever exposes himself first will become the target or food of strangers.
The phenomenon of similar cannibalism is numerous in the wasteland world.
The most interesting aspect of "Fallout" is the use of black and absurd techniques to present these bloody scenes.
Especially as the plot progresses, when Lucy finds her father, she understands the cause of the nuclear war for more than two hundred years, and why the underground shelter and the wasteland world on the ground are facing each other. Furthermore, Lucy, a seemingly silly and sweet character, gives us a more vivid understanding of false kindness and real malice.
This is also a consistent theme explored by Jonathan Nolan, including his British fellow Ridley Scott, that is, the cruelty of creators and the hypocrisy of human nature.
In "Westworld", the human creator's control of the receptionist, and the receptionist's counterattack on the human player, are vivid interpretations of patriarchal control and patricide; and in "Prometheus", engineers, The relationship between humans, aliens and artificial humans is also full of manipulation, killing and backlash.
The drama "Fallout" just repeats the discussion of this proposition in a more cult and absurd way, and adds the horrific fable of nuclear war, which is more warning.
The slight shortcomings of this drama lie in the shaping of the characters and the weaving of the characters' emotions.
How does the love affair between Lucy and Maximus heat up step by step? Why does Cooper, a seemingly cold-blooded ghoul, show mercy to Lucy? Although the reason is not illogical, Jonathan Nolan's writing style makes the development of the relationships between these characters seem too rigid.
When watching the drama, fans can appreciate the chaos and cruelty of the wasteland world, and can also see the greed and stupidity of human nature in the face of war and interests, but they cannot feel the more delicate emotional fluctuations in the hearts of these protagonists. .
This may be one of the reasons why the show "Fallout" is still criticized despite its popularity!
After all, the highlight of a first-rate drama is always the characters that are enhanced by the plot, rather than the plot that combines the characters.
huawuyan
Editor-in-charge Chai Yingrui
