In his most recent film, “Avatar: El camino del agua”, the Canadian director uses the postmodern strategy of self-reference to recall the themes, perspectives and visual resources that have interested him throughout his career. .
One of the authorial strategies of postmodern cinema consists of self-reference. It’s not just about the autobiographical brushstrokes that directors like Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu or Steven Spielberg trace in Rome, Bard Yes The Fabelmansrespectively, but also in the possibility of creating and expanding one’s own universe, whether stylistic, thematic, ideological or formal.
Just as we identify with Quentin Tarantino (and his complex web of connections and ties between his own films) and Tim Burton (with the nods to his own films and characters), also in james cameron the phenomenon of proper references is presented. His last film released at the cinema, Avatar: the path of wateris convincing proof of this.
Nearly two decades after his Na’vi transformation, Jake (Sam Worthington) has raised a family with his partner, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), raising several children, including Kiri (a wonderful Sigourney Weaver). By becoming a tribal leader on Pandora, Jake finally has peace and purpose, but that calm is soon disrupted by the return of the “sky people”..
General Frances (Edie Falco) and Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) arrive on Pandora to retrieve it and destroy the Na’vi home to proclaim themselves the new owners as the Earth is dying. The scenes of destruction are made using the technique of chiaroscuro (from an intense contrast between the backlight and the darkness of the facade) and they refer to the apocalypse of terminatorfilm directed by Cameron in 1984 and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Orion Pictures/20th Century Studios
‘Terminator’ and ‘Avatar: The Path of Water’.
Jake recognizes the danger he is in and leaves the forest with his family to hide with the “reef people”, including Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis)hoping to stay away from the invaders and protect the innocent, but the military forces will not rest until they find their prey, even if it is submerged in water.
Lightstorm Entertainment / 20th Century Studios
“The Abyss” and “Avatar: The Path of Water”.
The machines, both Avatar as the avatar 2somewhat reminiscent of the underwater vehicles of the abyss. The film starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and is best known for its cutting-edge computer-generated water tentacle.
20th century workshops
‘Avatar: The Water Path’.
Without spoiler, we can also point out that, in his new film, Cameron creates sequences that allude to the sinking of the ship in titanic (film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) above all to emphasize the capacity and immensity of ocean waters.
In some way, all of Cameron’s films deal with the idea of man versus machine. Sometimes, as is the case with aliens, the abyss, titanic Yes Avatar, it becomes man against machine against nature. But finally Cameron, early in his career, was interested in how humanity interacted with technology, whereas now he is interested in the relationship of human beings with nature.
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