 On the other hand, being out in nature does have its benefits. Jenny Agutter (Jessica) makes love with Michael York (Logan.)
Getting into Washington DC is even more difficult in a post-apocalyptic world.
This, along with the depiction of carousel and the writhing in the orgy room, is the most visually impressive and symbolically rich scene in the movie.
Unfortunately, the old man, played by Peter Ustinov, never gets beyond being a two-dimensional character. He's too quirky, too comic, and too corny, in a way that interferes with the unfolding of the movie. * A few interjections by the old man have been left out. ______________________________________________ |
Soon they
discover what it means to be out in nature. They are exposed to the elements; they feel
lost, and they suffer physical discomfort. But they also begin to discover the freedoms
and pleasures of being on their own. As they swim in the nude, they discover that the
crystal implanted in their left palms (as it is for everyone in the city), which normally
emanates a colored light that shows their age, has gone blank. At last, they are free of
the computer, which now has no control over their "life clock." Immediately
after making this discovery, they make love for the first time, in an act of intimacy
rather than random sex. Soon the pair see the ruins of Washington D.C. in the distance, with the Washington Monument towering over it. Hoping it is sanctuary or, at least, a place with people, they head into the ruined city, and encounter what appears to be its only inhabitant: an old man (played by Peter Ustinov), who lives in what is left of the Capitol building. Just as they discovered nature, now, through the old man, they discover human nature, namely the reality of birth, marriage, aging and death, which the computer had kept hidden from them. Jessica touches the old man's wrinkles, having never before seen anyone over 30. They look at a photograph of his youth and hear stories about his dead parents, as they take the first steps toward understanding that coupling, raising children and growing old -- not an extended childhood and quick death -- is the natural order of life. Finally, Logan dispatches the other sandman, who was still on their trail, to his own private carousel, and they bury him, so they become participants themselves in the cycle of life and death. Logan, Jessica and the old man then return to the city to bring the truth of life and death and the outside world to its inhabitants. On the way, Logan and Jessica marry, repeating words they saw on tombstones in a graveyard. "So people stayed together for this feeling of love. They would live and raise children and be remembered," says Jessica, repeating what she has learned from the old man. "I think I'd like that, Logan, don't you?" "Um. Um hu. Why not," Logan responds. (Needless to say, dialogue isn't one of the movie's strong points.) "Beloved husband," she tells him. "Beloved wife," he responds. *
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