Post-war fiction and the Red Menace.

A good starting point for explaining post-war psychology and anthropology to our middle schooler this week was The Day the Earth Stood Still, one of those movies people often refer to (Klaatu barada nikto and all that) but rarely seem actually to watch. So we viewed the film as a family and discovered that its message (as well as its production design and cinematography) stand up as well in 2007 as it did when made in 1951.

This is the kind of sci-fi that uses a robot and spaceship to make a moral and political statement -- in this case, "This is one planet. Unite. Stop being fearful instead of reasonable. Stop all the chaotic destruction or you yourselves will be destroyed."

There are classic visual references, such as the spaceship becoming the public's point of reference in Washington...rather than the Washington Monument, which fades into the background. And there are also historical cultural references, such as the craziness that ensued after Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It is EARLY sci-fi so there isn't a computer to be seen, not even on the spaceship.

Possible essay questions:

Explain the "Cold War" and how this film addresses the importance of learning to live peacefully in the nuclear age.

How might the film be seen as taking a survey of life in the United States in the 1950s?

Some people see the movie as a religious allegory, since Klaatu chooses to appear in human form, walk among humans, and adopts the name Mr. Carpenter. What other elements in the film might support such a reading? (We will examine other "alien messiahs" in science fiction cinema.)

Discuss The Day's story structure as a counterpoint to the science fiction of today, where special effects are preeminent and presenting a solid, well-told story has faded into the background. For instance, is there a climactic battle scene in The Day the Earth Stood Still? Why does the film's ending work, or not work, for you?

Robert Wise directed the film, and his astonishing body of work ranges from The Magnificent Ambersons to West Side Story to Run Silent Run Deep to The Sound of Music.

Movie music history: The Day was one of the first Hollywood films to include electronic instruments on its soundtrack. Why would Bernard Herrman have chosen this particular "sound" for his score? What moments of the film make particularly effective use of music to set the tone for the action? According to moviediva.com:

The memorable music was written by the brilliant, tempestuous Bernard Herrmann. He used 2 Theremins for the otherworldly sounds, one pitched high and one low. The Theremin was an early electronic instrument that had occasionally been used with great effect in film scores, notably in Miklos Rozsa's music for Hitchcock's Spellbound. Herrmann rounded out the unusual instrumentation with electric violin, bass and guitar, along with 4 pianos, 4 harps and an unorthodox collection of brass.