“The Matrix” is 20 years old: how Wachowski made the cyberpunk that set the agenda for a whole generation

The other day the film "The Matrix" turned 20 years old. Fuck, is not it?

On this occasion, WIRED made a longrid based on a book about sisters (then brothers) Wachowski, from which you can learn a lot about the career of directors and screenwriters before and during the creation of the cult film.

• Since their very childhood, Lana and Lilly dreamed of making their own bi-movie, and many times they have unsuccessfully tried to pin on quite incredible stories to Hollywood agents and studios.
• As the sisters were engaged in carpentry and repair in Chicago, when they got a call from Hollywood, and really offered to make a movie (at first, not particularly successful).
• As an opportunity for the sisters arose from the fact that the industry was looking for cheaper ways to make films, and Lana and Lilly invented scenarios so that they did not cost like launching a rocket into space.
• As the diverse interests and zadrotskaya nature of Lana and Lilly allowed them to mix the mythology of Odyssey of Homer with the films of Stanley Kubrick, the principles of Zen Buddhism and the philosophy of Rene Descartes. Drop there Baudrillard, a Japanese cyber-punk from the 80s, Plato and Socrates. Shake, but do not mix. From this cocktail turned out the script "Matrix".

• How, to convince Warner Brothers leadership, the sisters had to hire comic artist Jeff Darrow to draw key manga episodes.
• As presenting the big bosses concept of the film with pictures, Lana told the story, and Lilly made sounds of special effects.
• Having received 60 million money, the sisters still had to make a movie in Australia, where everything was much cheaper than California.

• As Sandra Bullock was offered the role of Neo (it was not a problem to change the hero's gender for Wachowski), but she refused, and as sisters they found Keanu Reeves, a soul mate: an intellectual and philosopher by nature who is in an existential search.

I will not talk here about everything kungfu - and so you will find out if you read the article . I just want to note that the history of the creation of a great movie is sometimes no less fascinating than the movie itself.

It is interesting how strongly the Matrix has influenced the generation, from expanding the boundaries of what is possible in the cinema, to manifesting questions from the scale of millions of viewers who are becoming more relevant every day.

In this regard, the Oracle and the spoon do not just overlap with the shamanic ceremonies that suddenly became so widely available. The choice of the blue pill is also slightly different from the choice of a blue antidepressant (or something else serotonin) in modern pharma.

Lana Wachowski said the following about the philosophical legacy of The Matrix: “In our world, the Matrix is ​​everywhere. People accept ways of thinking that they are being imposed on instead of working on their own. Free-thinking people are those who question the Matrix of any kind, any system of thought or belief, be it religion, politics or philosophy. ”

Lorn - Anvil : One of the many examples of how The Matrix influenced the aesthetics of films and videos about the technocratic future