The Powerful Short Film / From a Short Story By Kurt Vonnegut
A short glimpse into a not-too-distant future of 2081. Produced by the Motion Picture Institute (MPI). The story taken from a 1961 short story by Kurt Vonnegut called “Harrison Bergeron.”
The story of Vonnegut’s is full of Vonneguts usual satire and offers a dreary, dystopian story set in a future equality is the key law. The results of this equality is revealed in the story. A brilliant little gem of a film. One of my favorite Vonnegut stories. From a big fan of his. Perhaps it was his satirical perspective on life. It matched/created my own outlook on life in many ways. I think I read everything Vonnegut wrote. Not only was he the most creative writer I ever read, he also approached life with a slight smile on his face as if he’d seen all of this before, or seen it coming.
The story first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in the October 1961 issue. It was later released in Vonnegut’s own story collection of 1968 titled Welcome to the Monkey House. A year after the Welcome to the Monkey House collection of stories, was his breakthrough sixth novel novel Slaughter-House Five (1969) which was both commercially and critically successful. Its anti-war sentiment resonated with its readers amid the Vietnam War, and its reviews were very positive. It rose to the top of The NYT Best Seller List and made Vonnegut famous.
Armie Hammer as Harrison Bergeron, the son who revolts
I came upon the fascinating interpretation of the Vonnegut story in the film 2081 by the Motion Picture Institute. The film is a 2009 science fiction featurette which premiered at the Seattle International’s Film Festival on May 29, 2009. It is directed and written by Chandler Tuttle. The cast is led by James Cosmo, Julie Hagerty, Patricia Clarkson and Armie Hammer. The story paints a picture of a future in which a powerful, dictatorial government goes to extreme measures to ensure absolute equality exists between all individuals.
The 2009 film came out a few years after Vonnegut’s death in 2007. It is too bad he could’t see it as I think it brilliantly captures the satirical Vonnegut attitude towards the world.
One of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. A fantastic cast. From a story that only Vonnegut could come up with. A story that I saw the film somewhere (YouTube?) and started communicating with Rob PfaltzgraffI. Rob was a member of the Producers Guild of America and had served as the president of MPI since its founding in 2005. Rob procured a copy of film to a group I was in. The film created much discussion. Through the years, I’ve watch MPI tackle some more powerful and hard-hitting subjects that Hollywood seldom touches.
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The Motion Picture Institute (MPI)
See materials for teachers of 2081