Leading a loaned life

One day, as we were driving back from our casual tango lesson with a friend, out of the blue, he asked me whether I believed in the idea that knowledge could some day be transmitted into our brains through artificial means. I replied positively, and then he completed his thoughts by asking whether I believed one day we could learn tango just by connecting to a machine. I protested. Tango, as any other physical activity, is more than plain knowledge. It is a skill set. It requires both body co-ordination, and muscle capacity. This was also the kind of protest I heard from someone that had just seen "Matrix". However, as I started to think about it more thoroughly, I found myself thinking that both ideas were equally far-fetched or equally plausible.

Even further than simple knowledge transit is, as per Damir Lukacevic, spiritual transit - the ability to change from one body to another, when our own bodies fail physically. The idea behind Transfer (2010) is multi-layered, and me, having my brain bloated with conspiracy-related theories over "2001: Space Odyssey" and the career of Stanley Kubrick in general, I found myself oddly concerned by the semantics.

The film is full of comments in the global state of affairs. From the obvious "how much of a choice did the young Africans have", to the never ending racism that someone would think that, if not today, in a future society, would have been completely eradicated. But the references do not stop there. The creator devotes some time to the original driving force, the humans. The characters are pretty much conventional, and yet their profiles are hurtfully honest.

White couple

The European couple is nothing more than a conventional elder couple that belongs to an upper class, without necessarily being what we'd call "aristocrats". Fairly conservative, and clearly self-made. They were given the chance of being raised in a society that turns investment on education into future wealth. I have no doubt that they would believe they worked hard to earn their current status and to be able to spend the final years of their lives in comfort.
Anna: The woman is, as always, more romantic and considerate of others. She keeps a diary full of poetic descriptions of her regular activities. She is also touched by her husband's efforts to keep her alive, and weak as she is, succumbs to the idea of the transfer, something that would otherwise seem cruel and a subject that must be avoided when it comes up in conversations. Out of sight, out of mind.
Hermann: The man is the elder version of the typical husband stereotype that needs to protect her, as she is his only family. He is also more prone to the comfortable sense of power granted by the young and healthy body.

Young couple

Apolain is a strong-minded idealist that scorns the white race, considering them responsible for the suffering of his compatriots. His strong feelings of aversion stem from the materialistic nature of the white couple's lives as opposed to the deprived nature of their own. It is only logical that he wants a better living for him and his beloved ones, and exactly there lies his weakness. He has been "programmed" by his own society to provide security, a need that overcomes his sense of righteousness. At some point during the film, he feels a wave of guilt. Letting the white couple disappear forever would make him equal to them, having committed the same crime. And yet, under some specific circumstances (described below), he finally proceeds in the act.
Sarah is also a typical representation of a female weak character, eager to feel secure, and eager to find a more comfortable living, away from the hardships in which she grew up. She is maybe more concious of the situation she is in. And she chose it first and foremost for her own comfort. To me, she is an exact replica of the man's idea of the first woman, Eve.

It is worth noting that both Apolain and Sarah, are gradually seduced by the wealth they have been placed into. It becomes apparent that, if ever they had any ideals, they are thrown out of the window as soon as the possibility of them and their families living a better life comes along. This, of course, does not signify that all humans are the same therefore each one deserves what he gets. In reality, it is a window to our souls. We, as observers, are more likely to forget our ideals in our present situation.

Metaphors 

Returning to the religious metaphors, Apolain and Sarah remind me of the story of Adam and Eve. Placed in a small paradise by an external entity, they are instructed to live happily, but also stay off some forbidden tasks. If they do not, they must be prepared for the consequences. It is a path they have voluntarily taken, and in which they must voluntarily remain. In essence, however, they don't have much choice. Apolain and Sarah soon feel there is something important missing: Their true liberty. 

Doomed to live forever into the darkness, with the leftovers of their "masters", they are, in some respect, equal to slaves. But the darkness in which they are confined resembles the "darkness" of their lives in Africa. Poverty, uncertain future, loss of hope. Living in countries that have a long history of colonization and exploitation from western countries, their situation is never that of the privileged ones. Their rights have been violated and infringed in every possible way. The viewer understands that this presented to them was not an opportunity, but a different manifestation of their status in Africa.

Sarah's child represents the thing that they both have in common: they share the same planet. But the child, although physically black, is secretly arranged to be genetically altered to match the characteristics of the white couple. This shows that although they might equally be responsible about it, merely the fact that the white couple is the one holding the wealth, gives them more rights over it: They can change it to their liking, both physically and spiritually, and they will be spending most of its time with it. Sarah first compromises with the idea that she will have four hours a day with it. "It is more than many parents would have the luck to spend with their child".  But this compromise is only done while struggling to keep her baby, against the wishes of their masters.

The child, however, becomes the apple that makes Eve change. Driven by a new force, that of the family they have just created, the young couple realizes that the child cannot belong to both the couples. In this world, it's either them or the others. They want back what has been taken from them. They want their chance in the sun. And the only way they can achieve that AND keep their families back home safe is to make the other couple disappear.

Unfortunately, the ending of the film was not as ambitious as the rest of it, and resorts to plain guilt from the part of the white couple and accepting the consequences of their actions. It is also implied that the company responsible for all this (the true face of evil) might also be responsible behind the death of the husband. But, even with this minor disappointment, I would definitely say that this film touched me more than many others dealing with the same subject.

Transfer was the follow-up of the film "The fairy" (2011), only in the sense that, at first, they looked very similar aesthetically. Although completely different, I soon realised that they both have something in common: This grand force that is called being in love and creating a family. One of the most powerful forces in human history, along with wealth and power.