Indieweb Movie Club - The Matrix (1999)
Well, well, where do I begin. I’ve just finished watching the The Matrix movie, the original. I’ve seen this movie so many times now. I left to the last day of the month but I wanted to participate in the first IndieWeb Movie Club, so much so that it felt a bit like homework, yet I am so glad I watched the movie again.
Around the time The Matrix Resurrections was released in 2021 my wife and I got together with friends online and watched the Matrix trilogy and it was fun. So it hasn’t been that long since I watched The Matrix from 1999. Since I knew that I would be writing about it, my mind kept racing and thinking: “I should write about this.”, “I can’t possibly not mention this.”. I didn’t want to spoil the fun by stopping the movie to take notes, but maybe I should have because now I won’t remember all the things that I thought would be cool to write here.
As I think about it, one thing keeps coming back to me. The movie was made in 1999 and the cell phones were are quite unique back then, something that I look today with a certain nostalgia. The movie uses an interesting dynamic between cells phones and landlines. They use the cell phones to make contact with the operator, but the operator connects them back to the real world by calling a landline. I don’t think this has gotten my attention before and also outdates the movie quite a bit because today you can’t find many public telephones out there.
Neo and Trinity had their “meet cute” at a club and rewatching it after knowing their entire story made me think that it was a perfect place for a couple to meet, specially a couple like Trinity and Neo who are known for their cool outfits.
Two things that I have been noticing in bad movies: one is that the story doesn’t flow well, the other is that things happen and are revealed too quickly. Matrix is very different than this, even when things happen fast they are still very well executed. One example is the scene that precedes their first meeting. Neo is in his apartment, he is half a sleep and listening to Dissolved Girl by Massive Attack (which by the way is a great song) when he wakes up to words been typed on his computer, someone is telling him to follow the rabbit. Then a knock on his door, it is someone Neo knows getting some sort of electronic drug? Well, the guy has a girlfriend and other friends with him, gets what he wants and asks Neo if he is ok while inviting him to go out with them. Neo refuses saying he has to work on the next day but when the girl turns sideways he notices her tattoo of a white rabbit and decides to go with them.
This scene is perfect, it is short, so there is a lot happening in there but it flows well and it doesn’t feel like things are happening fast, which is one of the things that for me makes The Matrix a great movie.
Sorry for all these spoilers, specially if you haven’t seen the movie. This was really fun to watch and to write about. I look forward to the next movie for the IndieWeb Movie Club, which will be When Harry Met Sally… (1989). Until then.