“This “Contagion” may be hard on the system, but it’s well worth catching.”

“Contagion” is a scary film, though it didn’t get that way by accident.  Part of why it is so effective is because the scenario it presents is a very realistic one, as anyone who has even remotely paid attention to the scourge of HIV, as it seemingly ran rampant throughtout the world’s population.  Another reason that the film plays so well is because of Steven Soderburgh’s masterful direction.  Oftentimes directors feel the need to employ dazzling camera angles and special effects; and while they have their place, they can distract from what the film maker, in the larger sense, is trying to do.  The camera work in “Contagion” treats the camera as if it were a participant in the film itself.  As a result, it’s more than just there and becomes a passive contributor in the events that unfold.

The relatively few camera tricks take place during flashback sequences, which serve to differentiate them from the present.  They reminded me somewhat of a stylistic conceit used by Spike Lee, though he tended to use it to show shifts in a character’s mood, or state of mind.

Mr. Soderburgh, besides being the film’s director, was also the cinematogrpaher, and some bold choices were made in the lighting of the film.  It leaned toward  characters speaking in shadow, as if foreshadoing the reach of the epidemic itself.

Though perhaps in a way as bad as the virus that raged though the population, was the way that some people changed in the face of adversity.  Some grow stronger than they believed possible, while others descend to their bases selves.

Matt Damon, played Mitch Emhoff, who manages to maintain his humanity and sense of decency, despite the madness swirling about him.  Gwenyth Paltrow plays his wife, Beth, the first person to succumb to the disease (this is not a spoiler, since her condition is featured in commercials for the film).

There are three main subplots–though Damon’s and Lawrence Fishburne’s, as an official of the Centers of Disease Control who has to make a decision that calls all that he is trying to do into doubt–were the most engaging.

In the end, the message of “Contagion” is that despite the dangers out there–some not visible to the naked eye–our greatest fear will always be us.