In Time Film Essay

Describe at least ONE significant setting in the text(s). Explain how the
setting helped you to understand one or more key ideas in the text(s).
In Time directed by Andrew Niccol is a film that takes place in a dystopian future
where time is money and money is time. The film consists of several significant
settings such as the dystopian future itself, the ghetto of Dayton and the rich
upper-class time zone of New Greenwich. It is these significant settings that help
understand key ideas the film conveys such as the value of time, social injustice
between the rich and the poor, and the meaning of life.
The film In Time is set in a dystopian future where humans have been genetically
engineered to stop aging at twenty-five and are born with a bioluminescent
digital clock on their forearm bearing a years worth of time. This clock starts
counting down once a person reaches twenty-five years old and keeps track of
how much time a human has. When it reaches zero, a person will time out and
die. Niccol sets this dystopian setting in the opening sequence of the film where
the protagonist, Will Salas, narrates through a voiceover explaining how time is
now the currency; we earn it, we spend it and how the rich can live forever
while the poor must live from day to day. Time has become a precious
commodity which determines how long a person can live for and what they can
afford. This is demonstrated by dialogue in a scene when Will attempts to rob a
New Greenwich resident: Id say your money or your life but since your money
is your life The significant dystopian setting of the film helps understand the
idea that time is a valuable resource in which humans cannot afford to take for
granted, particularly in this film where ones life can be jeopardised if time is
wasted. Niccol uses frequent close up shots of the clock on Wills arm to help
further emphasise the priceless value of time and how there will never really be
enough which is the concept and idea the film is based on.
The United States of America has been split into multiple time zones in order to
separate the rich from the poor. Two of these time zones in which the film takes
place are Dayton, the ghetto where Will grew up in, and New Greenwich, the rich
zone where the antagonists reside. Dayton consists of grungy buildings and dirty
streets filled with an overgrowing population that are desperate for more time,
resorting to crime to sustain their lives. A medium shot in the opening sequence
shows Will gazing out of his window which is barred and padlocked. This displays
the safety precautions Will must take to protect himself from crime in the ghetto.
The constant danger and impoverished setting of Dayton contrasts with the
affluent setting of New Greenwich which is filled with sleek black and white
buildings and streets groomed to perfection. New Greenwich residents indulge in
the luxuries that their poor counterparts will never have and are essentially
immortal because of the growing death toll in Dayton. It is this stark contrast of
the quality of life between these two significant settings that helps understand
the idea of social injustice conveyed in the film brought about by the haves and
have-nots. A long shot of multiple Dayton residents timed out on the streets is
an example of how the poor must suffer scraping by with barely enough time to
live with many people dying every time because they lack time. Through the
technique of dialogue, Henry Hamilton, a Greenwich resident, revealed to Will
that the cost of living keeps rising to make sure people keep dying because

for few to be immortal, many must die. Niccol has cleverly used the timewealth difference as a metaphor for the unequal distribution of wealth which has
led to social injustice in the present today and what is suffered by Dayton
residents in the film.
New Greenwich by itself is also another significant setting in the film. It is the
rich time zone where the wealthy reside and residents do not worry about living
day to day as Dayton residents do. In the setting of Greenwich, everybody moves
slowly at a leisurely pace and are more worried about dying by accident than
lack of time, as Sylvia points out that the poor die and the rich dont live. We
can live forever as long as you dont do anything foolish. This is demonstrated
by a long shot of New Greenwich residents constantly flanked by bodyguards
when going about their everyday lives: the rich are clearly cautious in ensuring
they maintain their immortality at the cost of never doing something dangerous
or foolish in their lifetime. With the wealthy New Greenwich residents practically
living as immortals, they lose sight of the value of life by never experiencing
what it truly means to live while you still can and instead choose a long life of
monotony than a short life of excitement. Achieving immortality has revoked the
reason for living in the first place which Niccol skilfully conveys by utilising the
dull and uneventful setting of New Greenwich.
In Time comprises of several thought-provoking ideas that are expressed with
the help of some significant settings throughout the film. Niccol is able to deftly
emphasise how time is taken for granted by both the characters in the film and
by the world today in the present through the use of the dystopian future in
which the film is set. Viewers are then encouraged to take aboard the idea of
social injustice both in the film and in the present day where wealth creates a
social hierarchy to separate the poor from the rich such as the two settings of
Dayton and New Greenwich. However, one of the more philosophical key ideas of
the film is the meaning of life and how it is lost in the dystopian world of the film
due to the achievement of immortality. Niccol has comprised together a film of
significant settings with a concept that has branched into interesting key ideas
that viewers are constantly encouraged to think about.
By Ye Rim Won.