Consider…
Unless you believe in a God that judges you worthy of immortality and salvation, you’ve got only limited options in dealing with the oblivion that seems to be an inherent component of death.
Of course if you’ve got the money, the possibilities increase. For example there’s this option: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics
And who hasn’t imagined what it might be like if someone were to have this done, be reanimated off in the distant future, and make the necessary adjustments to a whole new life in a whole new world. What might that be like? How much of who you once were would be in sync with all of the changes that have unfolded over years. And, in this case, the year is 2084.
One of those films that is bursting at the seams with all manner of provocative conjecture. What if this, what if that. A whole new world in which to speculate about right and wrong, good and bad.
Love and lust.
What would you think, feel, do? After all, do you really imagine it will be the same reaction as Marc’s?
Then it all revolves around whether the plot and the characters either enhance the experience for you or encumber it with the sort of miscues that prompt you to imagine how much better it could have been. And the general consensus among the critics is that it could have been better indeed. For example, by scaling back on all those [at times] god-awful flashbacks.
Still, the subject itself is no less fascinating.
As for the science on display here, how realistic is it? You tell me.
IMDb
[b]Oona Chaplin, who plays the character of Naomi, is the granddaughter of legendary actor Charles Chaplin.
The urban legend suggesting Walt Disney was cryopreserved is false; he was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[/b]
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realive
trailer: youtu.be/Z9-xnelobwo
REALIVE [2016]
Written and directed by Mateo Gil
[b]Marc [voiceover]: Imagine, you were born… totally aware and conscious of everything around you. Conscious you were coming out of someone else’s body, joint to it by a bloody cord. That you are completely covered in blood. Conscious of the dry air entering your lungs for the first time; the sharp sounds in your ears; the blinding light in your eyes. Conscious that your bones are unbearably soft and your life is so fragile, it could disappear at any moment. That’s what being resurrected is like.
…
Victor: Good morning, Miss Mansfra. Welcome to Prodigy. Where humanity’s greatest dream is coming true. Are you aware that our team of top international scientists has developed the world’s most advanced regeneration program? We’re the only ones capable of regenerating up to 65 percent of the human organism. Prodigy Health Corporation… The only company in the world that can bring you immortality. Because immortality is only a question of time.
…
Victor: That’s a scanned map of Lazarus with an accuracy almost to the cell. We use it to study the primary difficulties and to make decisions before the big surgery. Like what proportion of the body can be reanimated and what proportion must be substituted by bionic parts and organs developed in our laboratory.
…
Marc [voiceover]: Why does time pass so slowly when we’re children? Why does the future seem like a huge endless eternity? Why do we never feel anything that intensely again? Only the pain…
…
Doctor: Our worst-case prognosis has been confirmed. It’s too late to operate. All that we can do right now is try to slow its spread with treatment. At this point, radiotherapy and co-adjuvant chemotherapy is still the most effective option.
Marc: How long have I got?
Doctor: Based on our experience with this type of tumor, you’ll be able to live, more or less comfortably for about a year.[/b]
Cue the options.
[b]Marc [vocieover]: You can’t imagine all the things that need to be done to dismantle your life. And prepare everything for when you are gone…Telling the people you love. Deciding who not to tell. Managing all the concern you will awaken. Telling your mother. Explaining to her that she’s going to outlive you. Writing your will. Selling your properties. Emptying the house of your personal belongings. Looking at them for the last time. When you get rid of everything you ever were…what’s left?
…
Naomi [to Marc]: I want to be with you through this. I want to spend the rest of your life with you.
…
Marc: What do you guys think about cryonization?
Friend: Like Walt Disney, right?
Marc: Walt Disney didn’t have himself cryonized, but yes.
Friend: So what is it?
Friend: Basically, after you die, your body gets put into a capsule with um, liquid nitrogen? Am I right? In hopes that someday, medicine might be able to cure whatever disease you have or just to live longer.
…
Marc: Let me show you something…this article is seven years old now. They extracted the heart matrix out of a dead rat and inject its stem cells into it. A few days later, the heart started beating. And this is just the beginning. I mean, since then, they’ve even managed to fabricate simple human organs. They’ve even transplanted some of them successfully. There’s a revolution coming. At some point in the not-so-distant future, they’ll be able to manufacture organs specifically created to suit each patient. I mean, imagine, I could just simply replace my pharynx with a new one.
…
Charles: Look man, the truth is, I still don’t trust it. All the websites I’ve seen look like they belong to a cult or something. There’s no guarantee. Did you know that in 1979, they found the bodies of nine people that have been cryonized? In a cemetery, here in California, thawed, 'cause the company was cutting costs.
…
Naomi [to Marc]: Why do you think that anybody from the future would want to bring you back to life? Or anybody else for that matter? The world is gonna be totally overpopulated. You’ll be like a man from the 19th century. I mean, what’s the point of that? Unless they wanna use you as guinea pigs for science.[/b]
Then this part:
Charles: Everywhere I look, they say the body needs to be cryonized as soon as possible after you’re declared legally dead.
Marc: So your cells don’t deteriorate.
Charles: But no matter what they did, it would take several hours. Even a day or more to complete the process. The damage will be huge. Not to mention the harm caused by the disease and the treatment before you die.
Martc: Yeah. I’m not doing any more chemo. I already saw my father spend years of his life fighting his disease. Dying little by little. I won’t go through that. And as far as the time between death and cryonization…well, I have a plan to make sure that they get to me quickly and start pumping blood right away.
Charles: How… How will you do that? I mean you would have to know the exact circumstances of your death.
Marc: Yeah. Um, I’m gonna make sure they’re waiting close by and that I’m in good physical shape when the time comes. I gotta die before the disease gets a hold of me.
Bingo: Suicide. That’s the bet. Abandon the present for what may or may not be a future.
[b]Marc [voiceover]: Ladies and gentlemen of the future, it’s time to introduce myself. I’ll use the same words as Dr. West. My name is Marc Jarvis, And I am the first man ever to be resurrected. To summarize, this is what I am. 20 percent remains of vital organs and tissue recovered from my old body. Mainly the brain and the rest of the central nervous system. 65 percent cloned bones muscle, skin, nerve endings, and other organ remains. 10 percent bionic implants to reinforce the muscular, skeletal system and sensory organs. And 5 percent internal technology designed to regulate and monitor the correct functioning of the organism. On top of that, add a system of external connection. A detachable umbilical cord. A nearly constant means of connecting me to my new mechanical mother. Dr. West and his team have had to face innumerable problems since my reanimation. and their respective solutions have been insufferable. More surgery. Organ removal. Induced coma. External control of vital signs. The administering of drugs to prevent adverse reaction. More drugs to ease the effects of those drugs. And so on, and so on, and so on. All this resulting in a terribly fragile organism. Permanently on the edge of collapse. The Laboratory Man. Frankenstein’s monster…But there is another way to look at it. I was going to die. I was going to disappear. Forever. And I’m alive again. I’m alive. I’m alive.
…
Dr. Gethers: Actually, Marc, there is something you’ve never seen before. Technology’s biggest revolution since computers. We call it MW or Mind Writer. If you connect it to your head, it can extract images and sounds. With concentration and practice, you can record your thoughts. Nowadays, MW is used for everything. This is where the information is recorded. Then later, it is used to substantiate anything that has occurred, or to present reports and projects. Or to simply share experiences and connect with people. Or see what they’re doing behind your back. It’s also used to create art. You were an artist, weren’t you?
Marc: Yes.
Doctor Gethers: Apart from anything else, it would help us to get to know you better. And not only us, very soon, many people will want to know first-hand, how you feel. We want you to have something ready when we present you to society to the media and to our investors.
Marc: The media?
Doctor Gethers: A lot of people have paid good money for your resurrection. It’s important that the world meets you, Marc.[/b]
Of course: the ulterior motives of the reanimaters.
[b]Marc: You got a boyfriend?
Elizabeth: I think our notion of couples is not as defined as it was back in your time.
Marc: What do you mean?
Elizabeth: Well, let’s just say that romantic love has come under a lot more scrutiny. You were truly slaves to it back then. We don’t suppress much of our love anymore.
Marc: So what do you do in your spare time?
Elizabeth: Um, well, since I started working here, not very much, um I’m a big fan of Mind Writer, almost an addict. I watch series, I have dinner with my parents. I meet with my sex group.
Marc: Sex group?
Elizabeth: I’m lucky, it’s very complete. And I’ve got good friends there. I like you. If you want, we can have sex some time. Well, later on, of course. When your body feels strong enough.
…
Marc [voiceover]: Life. What do we expect from it? Certainly not this fragility. This half speed existence. We definitely don’t expect a medical history full of afflictions and minor defects. A propensity for thrombosis. Numbness in the extremities. Involuntary movements. Loss of equilibrium. Scaling of the skin. Irritation of conjunctive tissue. Respiratory insufficiency. Cardiac insufficiency. Incontinence. Impotence. You don’t expect so many limitations so soon. You never expect this invincible fatigue which eventually becomes like a fog. Covering everything…And if deterioration, fatigue and despair do arrive, you at least expect to keep your memories. What if What if your memories were erased as well? What will become of me now that my memories are fading?
…
Dr. Serra: I don’t mean to trivialize this, Marc, but nowadays, memory loss is not considered a serious problem. Mind Writer allows us to recover memory with a 100 percent accuracy. In fact, millions of people all over the world lead completely normal lives without actually remembering anything.
…
Dr. West: Don’t you realize the importance of our achievement? It’s a giant step in the history of medicine. You’re that giant step, Marc. You’d better prepare yourself. You’re gonna be the most famous person on the planet.
…
Marc [voiceover]: I don’t know if any of you, maybe some of the oldest, have seen any films about Jesus Christ. I remember being struck once by Lazarus’ attitude in the first moments after he was revived by the Messiah. He looked deeply confused. Like he knew he was morally corrupt. As if he hated Jesus for bringing him back to life.
…
Dr. West: A large part of the success of your reanimation was due to the fact that you interrupted your life while still in very good physical shape. That’s why you were selected.
[he motions towards a room filled with tanks]
Dr. West: There they are. You spent a while here too, you know.
Marc: What will happen to them?
Dr. West: Well, it’s hard to say. Apart from the medical risks involved in each individual case, the time and resources required for reanimation are still quite high. Consider that we’d have to create organs and specific technology for each one of them. Like we did with you. And an enormous team of humans would have to be mobilized.
Marc: Then most of these people will never be reanimated?
Dr. West: Reviving cryonized people are so expensive at the moment that someone would have to have a special interest in them. And be willing to pay for it.[/b]
No getting around that. No matter how far into the future.
[b]Marc [voiceover]: What was it? Where did it come from? The need to constantly be seeking some unknown source of fulfillment. The hunger for experiences in life that always made me wanna be everywhere except where I actually was. Life seemed like it was always just around the corner. Or in some brief moment passed that only remained in memory. Never here. Never now. It was a promise always perceived intuitively.
…
Elizabeth: What about being straight with him? It might help him. You know, let’s explain to him that his neurons aren’t dying and his memories aren’t being erased for no reason. That we do know the cause. Let’s explain to him that he’s boycotting himself.
Dr. Serra: Elizabeth, even if Marc were able to understand, he wouldn’t be prepared to take control. And the process might even accelerate if you attempted to throw in the towel and give up altogether. That’s not the real issue here. Marc’s decision is what matters. He isn’t here by chance. He chose to stop living so he could have another life. Well, he certainly feels very guilty about Naomi. No wonder. He sacrificed a remarkable woman for an inadequate dream. Marc is an adult who made his own decisions and has to live with the consequences.
…
Elizabeth [to Marc]: The bosses gave me permission. We can have sex now. But softly. This pill is so you can maintain erection. And this is a desire stimulant. One for each of us. Everybody uses them. I always take them. They increase desire quickly and without side effects.
…
Marc [voiceover]: Before I died, I thought there was nothing after death. Now, I’m sure…Why do we yearn so desperately for life after death? What is it that we want? Perhaps reward for our grief. Or punishment for our sins. No. What we really expect to find is what we already know. What we once had…and lost. If there was something we would turn it into more of the same. The same chaos and the same beauty. The same reward for the same effort. The same tale by the same idiot.
…
Dr. West [to a gathering of potential donors]: Don’t worry, we won’t be asking you to take out your wallets. You’ll gladly hand them to us. Because the future of medicine is in our hands. Because immortality… is only a question of time.
…
Dr. West: Listen, not a single day goes by, not a single moment that I don’t remember those people. I recite their names to myself every morning. At first, I was so tortured by each failed reanimation, that it made me wanna quit the project. I’d prepared my resignation over and over again. But at the same time, each failed attempt brought us closer to our goal. Every time, it made more and more sense to try again. Did you think reanimating you would be the result of some miracle? The suffering of those people became a living hell for me. I couldn’t sleep anymore. I lost my family when they found out about it. But that was the risk I had to take to get as far as we have. To bring you back to life, Marc.
…
Dr. West: I have done everything I can to treat you and ease your pain, Marc. I can’t give you a better life than the one I already have. And you know what? Maybe that’s the part you can’t take. That the life I gave you isn’t the one you were expecting. You wanted paradise for a few thousand dollars, and I only gave you the life you already have, with all its defects and all its limitations.
…
Marc [voiceover]: Can a man be alive only in his mind? Live only based on memories?
…
Marc [voiceover]: Could I live in the past, going over and over it with Mind Writer, filling it in, polishing it, making things up, until it reaches perfection? I don’t know. There’s only one thing I can see clearly now. Life is nothing more than a state of matter, like a gas or a liquid, a form of molecular organization, and there’s nothing transcendent or divine about it. Its only objective is to perpetuate itself through motion, change, adaptation. Life isn’t worried about any species, much less any individual. We’re nothing more than the chunks of mud it uses as a vehicle. Life is what’s scary, not death. That it’s always on the verge of extinction. That it exists wherever it shouldn’t. And the soul, you may ask. What about the soul? Well, maybe the soul is the bit that gets lost when you freeze the meat and then thawed out again.
…
Marc: All I need is the name of the product and the necessary dosage.
Elizabeth: My job is to assist you in life, not to help you end it.
…
Marc [after drinking the poison]: Remember. Two calls. Yes. First the cyronics lab and one to 911. And cardiac…cardiac massage. Gently.
Naomi: Right.
Marc: Don’t wake me up again.
…
Marc [voiceover]: Poor Dr. West. Lazarus wants to return to obscurity. He was right. Just like I wasn’t ready to die, I wasn’t ready to live like this, either. Like most people from my time, I can’t accept anything less than the young, free and sensual world of the advertising Olympus I’d grown accustomed to. The frozen shop window existence. A heaven for skeptics. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen of the future… I hope this will help to clarify my final wish To be nothing again. To disappear. To finally rest in peace. Although, I have a suspicion. It’s possible that you might never see this recording. It’s possible that Prodigy Health Corporation, after investing so much into Project Lazarus, after putting so much time into me, might not permit this failure…[/b]