There's a primal level at which all of God's creatures exist. It's always funny to me when, as humans, we speak of the "animal kingdom" as a separate realm from the kingdom which we seem to feel we inhabit exclusively. The film Pate reminds us that though we may have come far in our evolution as a species we still find ourselves tenuously balanced over the precipice of deevolution. It reminds us that while having evolved mentally,(we like to think), far beyond our fellow earthly inhabitants, that physically, at an instinctive level, perhaps we really haven't evolved at all. That indeed these primal instincts, deep within us for all these millions of years, are far more firmly entrenched, and consequently far stronger, than our evolved, superior, intellectual powers. They are in essence our driving force.
One of the great pleasures of the movie going experience for me is what I call the "what if?" challenge. A movies ability to show us, and if well done as in the case of Pate transport us into, a world apart from our own, presenting us with situations that beg us to ask, "What if I were there, if I were in that situation? What would I do?" Pate presents this challenge superbly, utilizing one of the ultimate "What if?" settings, a postapocalyptic world, wonderfully brought to life through meticulous attention to detail in the set design and beautiful yet haunting cinematography. The challenge presented by Pate takes us to unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory though, where the question isn't simply "What if?" but rather "What if I have NO choice?!". We watch as the characters in this film try desperately to retain some semblance of their former, aristocratic, preapocalyptic selves, clinging to anything human they can salvage from the carnage that is their new world, hoping to hold on to some of their fading humanity amongst the collected nostalgic artifacts. The desperation with which they cling to their past, mirrored by their denial of their present, is grotesque in its gaudiness and consequently the beautiful artifacts become ugly, rather than pleasant, reminders of better times.
I appreciate it when a filmmaker presents his/her audience with a film that takes us out of our comfort zone, and forces us to think. I greatly appreciated Pate for this reason. Pate treated me to a visual feast that filled my senses much more completely than its namesake could have hoped to fill my stomach, and left a satisfying albeit disturbing aftertaste on my intellectual palate. Like its namesake though I have a feeling that Pate is just the appetizer of this budding and talented young filmmakers career. I eagerly await the next course!
