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Soylent Green

… Jahr 2022 … die überleben wollen
Retrospective 2017
© 1973 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In 2022 New York, detective Thorn is investigating the murder of a businessman with ties to the food corporation Soylent. The company’s newest product “Soylent Green”, allegedly made from plankton, is highly sought after by the city’s 40 million inhabitants. Thorn’s investigation takes him into the insular world of the rich and the ghettos of the poor. Pursued by assassins, and with his superiors trying to impede his inquiries, the detective uncovers a fatal connection between funeral rites and foodstuff production ... With its references to the greenhouse effect, 1973’s Soylent Green showed the first “ecological dystopia”, tackling the controversial theses of the Club of Rome (“The Limits to Growth”, 1972); its predictions of overpopulation and graphic portrayal of the battle for resources was in keeping with popular scientific opinion (Paul R. Ehrlich, “The Population Bomb”, 1968). It was also released in the year of the “oil crisis”, making its depiction of a society that had become largely immobile highly topical. In the film, only cinema remains “untouched”, with moving pictures perpetuating memories of an intact natural world – albeit with fatal consequences for the viewer.
by Richard Fleischer
with Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, Edward G. Robinson USA 1973 English 97’ Colour Rating R16

With

  • Charlton Heston
  • Leigh Taylor-Young
  • Chuck Connors
  • Joseph Cotten
  • Brock Peters
  • Paula Kelly
  • Edward G. Robinson

Crew

Director Richard Fleischer
Screenplay Stanley R. Greenberg adapted from the novel “Make Room! Make Room!” (1966) by Harry Harrison
Cinematography Richard H. Kline
Editing Samuel E. Beetley
Music Fred Myrow
Sound Charles M. Wilborn, Harry W. Tetrick
Production Design Edward C. Carfagno
Special Effects Robert R. Hoag, Matthew Yuricich, A. J. Lohman
Costumes Pat Barto
Make-Up Bud Westmore
Producers Walter Seltzer, Russell Thacher

Produced by

Walter Seltzer Productions, Inc.

Additional information

Copy: Potential Films, Fitzroy, Australien