Hazegrauw

Man's desire for immortality is as old as the hills. But in each age, the topic is seen in a different light. Today, as we see in Remco Texer's short surrealist short film, Hazegrauw, the theme of immortality, or at least significant life extension, is seen in the light of western society's ageing population. We find an older man who seems to be on the verge of death having a conversation with a doctor about the possibility of taking a pill that will make him immortal, barring any sort of violent death. Many would jump at the chance, but this man is not so sure. There are several reasons for his hesitation.

For one, he would go on through time as an old man. This reminds us, of course, of Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel, Gulliver's Travels, in which Gulliver travels to the land of Luggnagg where a small percentage of the population are in fact immortal. The only catch is that these immortal beings are very very old. They can hardly see, they have enormous trouble moving and can't really do much of anything. Rather than being a source of envy, these Struldbruggs, as they're called, serve as a warning to other about the horrors of immortality. The mortals in this country believe themselves to be blessed because they are not immortal. This is exactly the worry that the protagonist of this film experiences. He doesn't want to be crammed into an overcrowded room playing chess with a couple of 500 year olds.

The doctor tells him that he need not worry about overcrowding because people won't be having as many children in the future. The protagonist balks at this, believing that children are one of the things that make life meaningful, regardless of how long their parents live.

It is in this conversation about the desirability of children for those who are immortal that we find what I thought was the most interesting philosophical point of Hazegrauw: the protagonist argues that without children, there will be no change. There will be no new generation to challenge the old one.

If we think, as Immanuel Kant did, that we should think about the progress of the entire human race rather than the fate of any one individual, then we would have to acknowledge that without new generations, there would almost certainly be no social or political progress. It is always the youth who have the drive and the fresh eyes to see how things should be changed. It is the old who are stuck in their ways and would rather not change anything. In these terms, immortality would stifle progress and be a curse on the human race, even if it benefitted the individual.

And if we go back to the question of meaning, the protagonist says that it is only death that makes life meaningful. Living forever would make our lives ridiculous. This may at first seem counter-intuitive, but in fact, there is a very long standing tradition that bears this line of thinking out.

One of the most striking facts about Homer's Iliad is that it is only the humans who lead serious meaningful lives with real stakes. For the Greeks, it was never entirely clear what happened after death. In Homer, death is described as horrifying blackness. There are descriptions of Hades, where individuals seem frozen in the underworld doing whatever it is that they did most in life. But Hades does not in any way seem to be a place anyone would want to go. When a human beings dies, For Homer, it really matters. Being defeated and killed in battle is horrifying and without any silver lining. The gods, on the other hand, are immortal, and when they get involved in battles, they often come across as completely ridiculous. These are, I believe, the very reasonable worries of the protagonist. It is because of all of these considerations that he decides that he does not need to wander this earth forever.

Hazegrauw is visually very engaging. The landscapes and dreamy scenes are the perfect backdrop to this philosophic discussion about some of the most important topics human beings can discuss. According to IMDb, Hazegrauw is Texer's directorial debut, and as such, it should be considered a great success.