A Wave of Curiosity Before It Even Began
Before its release, Luc Besson’s Lucy generated tremendous excitement and buzz. Here was a film billed as an action-packed sci-fi thriller focusing on a woman who is unlocking the potential of ‘full brain capacity’. It even promised some philosophical elements. The trailers were sleek and mysterious, featuring a cool Scarlett Johansson, only heightening excitement further.
This is a concept that is bound to spark debate. While scientists have proven the idea of utilizing ‘100 percent of one’s brain capacity’ as a myth, the audience would want to entertain the possibility. Lucy was marketed as intellectually engaging, featuring action sequences as cutting edge. The presence of Morgan Freeman as the narrator, only added to the level of excitement.
The hype was also real for Indian genre cinephiles. The audience has always been fascinated by western sci-fi and Johansson, starring as Black Widow in the marvel universe was an action icon. Most audience members were expecting an action thriller similar to The Matrix and Limitless with some European elements from Besson, while claiming it as his own.
A Shift in Narrative Direction
Primarily, Lucy details how an innocent American student in Taipei becomes ensnared in a drug trafficking operation. An unfortunate accident allows a synthetic drug, CPH4, to enter her bloodstream, beginning a process of unlocking greater and greater potential percentages of her brain.
What starts out as a simple survival tale quickly pivots to a far grander scale. Lucy begins to possess the outrageous supernatural powers of augmented perception, telekinesis, and a command over electronic streams, and the extraordinary capability to bend time and matter to her will. By the latter part of the story, she surpasses the confines of her body, leaving only a thumb drive containing the totality of the universe’s knowledge.
The emotional progression is, in a way, a contradiction. In the beginning, Lucy is petrified, desperately clinging to her humanity, and as she gains immense power, she becomes passive, almost machine-like, devoid of feelings and emotions necessary to survive. Some spectators applauded this transformation, but many felt, misplaced or not, an absence of the warmth and emotional anchor her character typically provided.Scarlett Johansson at a Fork in the Road
By the time Johansson accepted the role, she was already one of the most marketable stars in Hollywood. Nevertheless, she was in a transitional period. Having established herself in the action genre as Natasha Romanoff, she was also dabbling in the art-house scene, earning rave reviews for her performances in Under the Skin and Her, where she voiced one of the main characters.
Lucy was released at the perfect time. It allowed Johansson the opportunity to carry an entire blockbuster for the first time, something that was still uncommon for female characters in high-budget science fiction. It was a role that represented a risk for Johansson, but also a statement of sorts. She was no longer a supporting character in a male-driven franchise; she was a leading star who could carry an original action thriller.
Just as Lucy was evolving to shed her skin, Johansson was stepping into a new Hollywood. Like Lucy, Johansson was shedding limitations and defying the roles that Hollywood had assigned her, changing the kinds of stories women could tell.
Morgan Freeman, The Voice of Authority.
Morgan Freeman’s casting as Professor Norman was an equally calculated choice. By 2014, Freeman’s on-screen persona had attained almost definitive value as a purveyor of wisdom and gravitas. Even if the film’s brain-capacity premise was debunked, Freeman’s presence added credibility to the pseudo-scientific premise.
Freeman was in an interval of his career where he often lent his image to mentor figures, but in ‘Lucy’, his role became more metaphorical. He was not there to contest Lucy but to articulate her metamorphosis in philosophical terms. People may have doubted the science, but they were ready to suspend disbelief when Freeman explained it in his sonorous baritone.
The Film That Divided its Audience.
The audiences’ reaction to the much-anticipated ‘Lucy’ was, if anything, not cohesive. The film had a strong opening weekend when it outperformed Dwayne ’The Rock’ Johnson’s ‘Hercules’ during its opening weekend. With a reasonable estimated budget of $40 million, the film had a worldwide gross of over $460 million. The hype paid off commercially.
Views on the piece were polarized, however. Some praised the film for its audacity, striking visuals, and the impressive presence of Scarlett Johansson. Others, however, felt the film took a sharp turn and was fundamentally an action-thriller. Some Indian audiences, who tend to prefer more linear narratives in mainstream cinema, may have viewed the ending as overly abstract — the closing sequence, in which Lucy melts away into digital space, appears more puzzling than a definitive ending.
Nonetheless, the film did raise some questions. Was it thrilling to see a female character in full control yet disempowering to see her lose her personhood? Was the myth of the “10% of the brain” the most infuriating part of the film? Finally, was it a problem to audiences if the film did not align with current science, or was it a justification for a loose plot?
The Real Burdens Behind the Camera
As with The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita, Luc Besson still wanted to pursue a story about knowledge and evolution. Reports suggest the studio wanted to add more conventional action scenes, which Besson was able to avoid to retain the film’s intellectual premise.
There were difficulties during filming in Taipei. Shooting chase scenes was a challenge due to densely packed city streets, and local officials were, for good reason, apprehensive about possible traffic chaos. While filming, Johansson, who was almost always surrounded by admirers, had to learn to concentrate on her work while being the center of public attention.
Most notable, the most controversial aspect of the production was not the filming, but the science. Neuroscientists attacked the film because they believed it was a gross misrepresentation of the science of brain functionality. Besson dismissed the criticism, saying it was metaphorical and an exploration of human potential rather than an actual scientific treatise.
The Untold Ripples After Release
People often overlook the fact that Lucy was the first film to shape the narrative and future of sci-fi cinema. It paved the way for female-led projects to flourish globally, such as Annihilation and Johansson’s Ghost in the Shell (which was criticized for whitewashing). It was and still is, a remarkable achievement. Uncharacteristically, and with purpose, Johansson stated that the alienation and emotional toll it took to perform Lucy was all due to the humanity that her character lost. It is the only role that required an actress to not perform with vulnerability, which, as a performer, is the most instinctual and natural response.
Then there’s the unconventional trivia – Lucy’s black stick painted a USB drive left behind at the end? In one interview, Johansson joked a stick did not hold the secrets to the universe, only “a horrible playlist of ’90 pop songs.'”
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