Anyways.. onto the next film. In Time
As mentioned in an earlier post, the story takes place in 2161 where genetic alteration has allowed humanity to stop aging at 25. However people are required to earn more time after turning 25 or die within a year. In this future time is money and society has been split between two vastly different class systems. Those poor who work constantly just to add mere hours to their lives and those rich who live forever
without having to work at all. The film revolves around character Will Salas who is born in the ghetto working just to survive another day. When he is given the chance to leave his meager existence and live among the rich, Will discovers the injustice in society and decides to rebel against it. This isn't the most deeply philosophical film besides the interesting reflection of the economic divide in our society. However, like most films, there are two key conflicts present in the film. One external and one internal. The external conflict being Will versus the system. Will feels outraged by the huge class divide in society and fights to disrupt the system. The internal conflict is with Will's motives. Is he robbing the rich for his own profit or the profit of his people? Will's motives flip-flop through the film until the end when he has to decide to survive or sacrifice himself for the cause.
1) Ordinary World: 28 year old Will lives a meager life in the ghetto of Dayton. He lives with his mother and works as a poor factory employee who only about a day left on his time clock until he dies.2) The Call to Adventure/Mentor: Will meets 105 year old Henry Hamilton in a bar. The stranger has nearly unlimited time on his clock which makes him a target in the ghetto. Will saves Henry from nearly being time robbed and the two take refuge in an abandoned factory. There Henry reveals the truth to Will saying, “For few to be immortal, many must die.” He continues stating that there is plenty of time to go
around and that no one needs to die. That night Henry transfers over all his remaining time to Will, killing himself in the process. 3) Refusal the Call/Accepting the Call: At first Will doesn't think much of what Henry has told him and sees the extra time added to his clock as a bad thing likely to get him robbed/killed. But when his mother runs out of time and dies, Will decides to take the extra time given to him and put it to good use.
4) Crossing the First Threshold: Will leaves his poor Dayton toward his new life in the big city. On the way he must pass through several boarder check points that tax his time. Finally he reaches his destination of Greenwich city. This city populated with the wealthy and immortal is a total opposite of Will's Dayton.
5) Road of Trials: Will has several challenges to test his skills and resourcefulness. First there's the poker game against millionaire Weis where he bets all his time, risking his own life, in order to win a huge pool. Then there are his numerous escapes from both timekeeper police and gangs trying to steal his time. Finally there are the bank robberies where Will takes time and gives it out to the poor in a very Robin Hood sort of way. 6) Crucifix- Will's 'scarring' comes at the point in which Will is captured by Timekeeper Leon and gets his time confiscated by the police. In a scene they strip him of his life leaving his at the brink of death once again. It is after this encounter that Will is reborn into a life devoted to fighting the system.
7) Temptation: While As Will and his partner Sylvia rob time banks and amass a vast amount of time they contemplate running away together and living forever. However they would have to abandon their mission of fighting the status quo. They continue fighting the system and instead give the time away to those who need it most.
8) Apotheosis: Will and Sylvia pull off a daring robbery of 1 Million years. Pursued relentlessly by Timekeeper Leon and with their time clocks running out, they manage to get the time to the ghetto and selflessly give it out to the people. On the brink of death with their lives ticking away to zero, they are captured by the Leon who holds them at gunpoint. However his time clock runs out first and he dies immediately. Will and Sylvia make a desperate run for it and are barely able to find time to keep themselves alive another day.
9) Ultimate Boon: With the surge of 1 million years floating around the ghetto, the poor are able to rise up. Factories shut down and people begin leaving the ghetto for Greenwich. The wide divide between the classes has been taken down and the system destroyed. Will and Sylvia have survived the ordeal, won a huge victory for their goal, and now head to rob yet another bank.
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