The Grey(2012)- User Reviews

Obscurity lies beyond the realm of the physical world for most people. We fear the unknown and often perpetuate the delusion that our own eventual mortality is not inevitable. Writer, director Joe Carnahan closely examines and illustrates this universal fear of death by transforming into an actual physical prophecy.

Cinematographer, Masanobu Takayanagi allures viewers in the opening scene with shots conveying the magnificence and beauty of the Alaskan outback. Abruptly those aesthetically pleasing images are interrupted with a violent plane crash stranding a group of oil roughnecks out on the open arctic. Hunger and cold become the immediate antagonists. The plot shifts again and the basic necessities of food and shelter are quickly subdued by a pack of hungry wolves.

An ingenious metaphor for death is scripted by Carnahan. As desperately they try, they can not escape the wolves -just as death is inevitable. The whole context of death and dying are vividly explored. As well the revelations of what people see right before dying, a graceful death is juxtaposed against the viscious mauling by wolves.

Writer, director Joe Carnahan is ingenious throughout the film by never foreshadowing an event or outcome; and neither does he clearly identify the main threat or conflict. A phony suspense built up in the early stages creates an illusion that the story revolves around a mysterious women that the main character, John Ottaway is estranged. A bond naturally develops with the main character, John played by Liam Neeson for his resourcefulness and instincts for surviving the tumultuous conditions of the arctic.

The universal inevitably of death eventually becomes accepted. Moreover, the audience’s strong conviction and virtue for having it met gracefully is channelled through Carnahan’s main character, John Ottaway.