The 'Allegory of the Cave' is an excerpt from Plato’s book, The Republic, which describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality.
The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life. The prisoners manage to break their bonds one day, and discover that their reality was not what they thought it was. They discovered the sun, which Plato uses as an analogy for the fire that man cannot see behind.
The main theme of Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave' is that human perception cannot derive true knowledge, and instead, real knowledge can only come via philosophical reasoning.
Which of these films that were influenced by or use the 'Allegory of the Cave' as a base for their plot do you consider the best?
Discuss here.
