Matrix3:
The Matrix series, ever since its first installment in 1999 has been eagerly awaited, as much for its technical finesse as its symbolisms.
I have been a fan of the Matrix series as much for the technical wizardry as for its deep rooted symbolisms.
In Matrix1, the idea of Matrix (’’a world that has been pulled over our eyes, to blind us from the Truth’’, quoting morpheus) was introduced. Neo was told that he was the One, who could free the world from the clutches of the Matrix, but had trouble
sinking that into his head.
The problem with the Matrix was that humans did not accept it as real and kept ’waking up’. This was because the freedom of
Choice was given to them. Since they had freewill, programs that would keep mutant people under control needed to be designed. Agent Smith is one such program.
The sequel, Reloaded, focussed on the battle with the machines for control over Zion, the last human civilization.
The last installment provides a fitting conclusion to this trilogy, but the message is much more subtler than its predecessors- So subtle that on the surface most part of the movie seems like a hi-tech video game!
I didn’t really like the extended battle sequences that seems to stretch forever!
And the way the makers have made the whole thing seem like just a battle between the humans and the machines, I feel
if they had any compulsion to pull the story along this way... Matrix 1 was more ’to the point’ and focussed on dialogues
and characters. Morpheus’s role in the Revolutions is almost negligible!
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Anyway, since I thought there’s no point in just detailing the story here, this is my first cut on Matrix-Revolutions, with more focus on the some specific scenes and their deeper meanings (if any!)-
Some of them might be too much of imagination and some might have more meanings that I might have missed! Comments are
welcome on these!
1) Neo wakes up in a land that is between the real world and the Matrix.
He is waiting for the trainman to take him to the next ’station’.
He meets an Indian couple, Rama and Kamala, alongwith their daughter Sati.
The conversation here is very interesting, much for its deeper meaning.
Rama says that he is there to do his karma. He talks of love and Neo asks how a
machine could talk about such concepts as ’love’...
Rama says that it is just a word, like any other, and what matters is the connection that the word implies!
Neo says that he is ready to do anything to hold onto that connection..., to which Rama says that then
the reason why Neo is there in that place could not be different from the reason why he is there!!!
Deep rooted symbolisms here...!!! however the religions of the world preach words for the upliftment of
humanity, unless a connection is sought and a sacrifice made to keep it alive, there can be no
’trainman’ who can lead us out!
Rama explains that he is just doing his karma, which on the surface is also just a word, like love.
And that every program has a purpose and a program without a purpose anymore is deleted.
Their daughter’s name is Sati. The makers wouldn’t have chosen such a name without
an attached symbolism here!
Sati means conscience. That means, whe he sees her , he sees his own conscience.
And he learns what he has to know... i.e. his Purpose!
(In reference to https://geocities.com/prapant.geo/sati.htm)
2) The final Rain battle scene with Smith:
In the final rain battle with Agent Smith, Neo is asked, ’Why, why do you have to train so hard when the net result is
nothing? Is it because you are so insane as to trust in something as insipid as ’love’?’’
Neo answers: ’Because I choose to’.
This represents the fact that our destiny is framed by the choices we make and our commitment to these choices!
All this was shaped from the very moment Neo took the Red pill in Matrix 1.
The background music of ’Asa thoma sat gamaya’ which translates roughly to ’lead me from darkness to light, from the unreal to the real, from death to immortality’... that plays in the background is an apt tune for this moment. Neo is fighting so
that he may come out of the matrix... Come out of the bondage that is inherent in the Matrix (refer to Morpheus’ definition of The Matrix in the first Matrix movie), into the ’Real’ world.
3) Agent Smith merges into Neo in the last fight sequence:
The revelation is that Agent Smith is the antithesis of Neo. He represents that side of his mind that suppresses the need to understand the nature of the Matrix and come out of it!.
In reference to our world, it is the evil tendencies that distract the human mind from our chosen path. Everyone has to battle with these tendencies till the final goal is achieved. It is the goal of every religion to battle these tendencies and extensive references to every religion is possible.
When Agent Smith is destroyed, Neo cannot ’exist’ too in the same level of consciousness as before. He has transcended that level of consciousness. In this sense we could call him ’dead’, but the Makers have left that part to the audience to conclude!. Another sequel would come by probably, that gets deeper into this!
4) The ending scene when the Oracle and the Architect meet
The architect asks the Oracle something like, ’Did you know that it would work out this way?’
The Oracle replies ’No, but I believed!’.
This is an essense of the entire 3 parts!
’As we believe so shall we be!’
A great truth told by an original plot and tremendous special effects to attract the audience!
Also the Oracle points to the beautiful sunrise and asks Sati if she created it. Sati nods and says ’For Neo’.
I didn’t understand the significance of this piece, but I am sure it has a deep significance. Comments welcome...
5) My favorite scene in Matrix 1 was the Neo-Morpheus simulated fight sequence
where Morpheus tells Neo to ’Stop trying to him and HIT HIM’. Neo is then fed the ’jump program’ where he is asked to
jump across two buildings. FREE YOUR MIND is the underlying theme of this sequence.
Doubt and disbelief are the clogs that prevent Neo from seeing the truth and asserting his choices. Ditto for the current
human civilization!
The reference couldn’t be more obvious!
Amidst much fanfare, graphics and stylized sequences, what the trilogy attempts to convey is that whatever be the
limitations imposed on us, to prevent us from realising our true potential, we have the element of Choice to take us
to the light!.
Also, I have to borrow a few words from ’The Matrix explained’ site,
https://matrix-explained.com for my conclusion.
In hinduism, they have something called yugas, which are essentially ages. After each set of four yugas, the world was
destroyed and recreated all over again, with the same people being created. And according to the hindu calendar, we are in
the 7th cycle, which means each of us has been here 6 times before and this is the 7th time. That explains the 6 Neos
before! .
Many thanks to the Matrix reloaded screenplay page https://pitt.edu/~bobhaus/revolutions.txt
and https://matrix-explained.com
Do visit these pages too!