The joy of 'Back to the Future'

Ah, those good ol 80s time. When everything was simple and sweet. Story-writers wrote simple stories, with simple dialogues and simple action, when the sheer simplicity of the characters made them memorable. How one started with a premise, built it to a conflict and then marvellously resolved it.

Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future is a child of that era. A coherent, brilliantly executed script where every events seems to fall in place in harmony with others. Every dialogue plays a part and I love how one must play close attention to all the little details — the dialogues, the characters, their behaviour to understand the plot completely. Same goes for scene props: television news, mayor’s campaign, billboard signs, even the donation lady event for the old clocks renovation plays a part. I love how there are little morsels to chew on that when decoded burst into an enriching experience. Zemeckis wrote a tightly knit — there’s a lot of things going, a lot of things to be explained; and delightful story which under the hood is a transformation story of an introvert with a subplot of a love story all wrapped in the sci-fi premise of time travel.

Like any time travel loyalist story, BTTF explores the Grandfather paradox and the Bootstrap paradox. Planting the idea of running for mayor to the coffee shop attendant, Goldie Wilson. Chuck Berry apparently had inspiration for rock n’ roll after listening to Marty play a riff (LOL). Same goes for the idea of a skateboard. Interestingly, Zemeckis side stepped the Bootstrap paradox by citing that the idea of the flux capacitor, the device that makes time travel possible, came to doc “before” he made any contact with the Marty from the future. The name Marty itself was given to Lorraine by Marty from the future.

Characters

There’s Marty McFly, the handsome skateboarding, metal guitar playing guy who hangs out with a mad scientist named Dr. E. Brown (who has a Rube Goldberg machine to serve food to his cat, Einstein…told you the 80s) . Goes back in time, almost makes out with her mother, saves the scientist, change his father’s outlook, alters the history of the world and makes it back home to get her girl. How cool is that? The premises makes for incredible ROFL moments full of irony. Eg: the dinner at her grandfather’s place in 1955 when Lorraine, his mother, is charmed by him, was a laugh riot. Emmet Brown’s (Played by Christopher Lloyd) eye-popping behavior at everything. LOL.

The Florence Nightingale effect when nurses fall in love with their patients in hospital. Hmm, learnt something interesting.

Rough edges

The doc knew all along that Marty is the traveler who tells him about everything - his death, the design of the machine etc.

Why is the DeLorean ice cold after a temporal displacement?

Okay, so Lorraine and George have actually seen their son before he was born. Weren’t they alarmed at having a “doppelganger” son? I let it pass for the Doc because he is aware, I’m assuming, about the mechanics of time travel.

Conclusion

I marvelled at how brilliantly the climax was executed that though it was elongated, raising tension (I remember being almost at the tip of my toes) yet it didn’t feel coerced or boring. Glad that like most time travel movies, instead of sucking, or being ridiculous or cringe, BTTF did very well. In fact, it stands out for good reasons. I have already seen it twice since!

Then of course, there is “Back in Time” by Huey Lewis and the News. I read about it in RP1 (obviously); my sole counselor in 80s pop culture.

Can’t wait for the sequels!