There are several good reasons why Richard Fleischer‘s ‘Soylent Green‘ (1973) deserves to be seen in 2023. Fleischer had made three years earlier together with two Japanese directors the film that would remain the biggest success of his career – ‘Tora ! Torah! Torah!’ – a reenactment of the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and of the attack itself from the perspectives of both sides. But ‘Soylent Green‘ belongs to a completely different category of films. It is a dystopia of anticipation, imagining then, in 1973, the sick world of 2022. Beyond the comparison of predictions with reality, it is also interesting to watch Charlton Heston, an actor who had specialized in films that did not foresee a very optimistic future mankind. The dystopia genre was also evolving, with many films transitioning the sources of destruction from atomic apocalypse to ecological catastrophe. Finally, ‘Soylent Green‘ also marks the last screen appearance of Edward G. Robinson, the actor born in Romania who had specialized decades before in roles in gangster films. Here, at 79 years old, he has a completely different kind of role.
The story is based on a novel by Harry Harrison. The population of New York in 2022 has reached 40 million inhabitants. The ecosystem is almost completely destroyed and social differences are polarized to the extreme. The majority of the population lives in poverty, even water is rationed, natural food is a luxury commodity being replaced by synthetic food produced by a large and unique corporation. A minority of the rich live in luxury housing estates, guarded by armed forces, with everything at their disposal, including women for entertainment who are called ‘furniture’. In this environment a crime takes place, which is investigated by a detective named Thorn, who, without being an incorruptible angel, still does his job. The victim is one of the rich people of this world, connected to the ultra-powerful corporation. The stake is the artificial green food, supposedly made from algae. A terrible secret hangs over this food supply, and revealing it could endanger not only the lives of those who own it, but the entire system.
In the scene that opens the film, the evolution of the world from industrialization to self-destruction is presented to us through a sequence of backflashes. The prediction of ecological catastrophe is remarkable, and still represents a possible pessimistic scenario, even if it may look now delayed by several decades. The characters still don’t know how to say ‘global warming’, but there’s no need either, because we see their faces and bodies permanently drenched in sweat. Unlike other anticipation films directors, Richard Fleischer decided not to invest too much in technological predictions. In fact, the world of 2022 he envisioned in 1973 has not evolved, quite the opposite. Futuristic gadgets are not completely absent, but they are concentrated in a few places and are located in the world of those who own and control the system. Most of the city is characterized by chaos, crowding, violence. The scenes of the mass demonstrations (filmed with yellow filters to suggest the pollution outside) or the dirty and deserted city at night are the most impressive. The police inquiry thread that connects the episodes is quite banal and the acting, with one exception, does not exceed the standard of B-movies of those years. I confess that Charlton Heston, who does the lead role, is not one of my favorite actors. I’ve always thought his repertoire of grimaces was limited and this movie didn’t change my mind. Edward G. Robinson‘s role is impressive, though. He is old Roth, Thorn’s friend and roommate, and one of those who can still read books and remember how the world used to be. The final scene in which he appears, that of the character’s death, was filmed 12 days before the actor’s death. While dying he watches a movie that shows the wonderful planet that was Earth. The message to protect it and preserve its beauty is still relevant today.