Plot synopsis
By 2035, only one percent of the world’s population remains. This is because a terrorist released a lethal virus at a string of cities around the world in 1996.
Using a time machine, scientists send a series of convicts back to just before the virus was released. They are not hoping to change the past, only to gain a sample of the virus in its pure form, before it has mutated, so they can control it better in their world.
They choose convicts with a strong visual memory, who will be able to retain detailed information about their trip. James Cole is chosen because of strong recurring images he has had since childhood of a running man being shot by a security guard at an airport.
His mission is to locate ‘The Twelve Monkeys’, a radical group who they believe posses the virus. When in 1996, he can leave messages for the scientists by phoning a number. They can then listen to the answer phone messages in the future.
He goes on to discover that the Twelve Monkeys are a harmless group of animal rights activists. His girlfriend, Kathryn, rings the answer phone and leaves an ironic message about the ‘dangerous’ Twelve Monkeys as a joke. This creates a causal loop because this message is why James was originally sent back in time.
James then finds and chases the terrorist with the virus through an airport terminal. A small boy with his parents looks on in disbelief, as a security guard shoots James.
Kathryn looks up and realises that the boy is witnessing his own death as an adult. The terrorist gets on the plane and sits next to the female scientist from the future. She smiles because she is close to getting a sample of the virus.
My comments
This film is based on Chris Marker’s acclaimed short film of stills, La Jetée (1962) that takes place in Paris in the aftermath of World War III.
Summary of time travel
Each time James returns, nothing has changed in his world, which suggests that the model of time used here has a converging or double-well timeline. James said that he could not change his past, as it had already happened.
So maybe parallel worlds exist, in which case it would make no difference to the scientists’ timeline whether the terrorist was stopped or not. A change could only be made to their world by bringing the virus back in its pure form.
Due to several causal loops that exist in the plot, the timeline in this film has to be fixed. Although it looks like the past is being changed, in effect, every change that happens is causing the pre-existing future to occur.
Category of time travel
Science fiction: time-travel transporter.
Model of time
Closed past, closed future with a fixed timeline and a causal loop.
