What Is A Pit & Why Gorgen Was At The Bottom: We Understand The Idea Of the Film The Platform (2019)? The Meaning Of The Film “The Platform” : Explanation Of The Ending, Plot, Metaphors
The meaning of the film “The Platform” for many viewers remained a mystery. Produced by Netflix, this atmospheric Spanish thriller is hard-hitting and very accurately depicts the problems of social inequality in society. Judging by the reviews, many really do not understand how this film ended. Let’s try to put an end to this issue.
Plot and idea
Let’s start with a short review of the film. The storyline of the picture is out of time, so the action can equally take place both in our days and in the distant future. Everything happens in the vertical center of self-government, where every inhabitant of this sinister place is free in their actions.
People are arranged on levels of two people. Once a day, a platform with food descends from above, which lingers on each floor for only a few minutes. During this time, free and involuntary prisoners can eat whatever their heart desires, after which the platform descends further. It is impossible to store food for the future: in this case, the temperature begins to fall or rise at the level. This continues until the person throws out the stash or dies.
The protagonist of the film is Gorgen. He is a voluntary prisoner of this place. The guy just wanted to calmly read a book and quit smoking. Gorgen signs a contract for six months in the Pit, after which he must receive a certain certificate. What it is, the viewer is not informed, but it is understood that the thing is very necessary.
Gorgen wakes up at level 48, where he meets his neighbor Trimigashi, who is here for a crime. A man accidentally killed an illegal migrant and was given a choice: a pit or a psychiatric hospital. Trimigashi says that all the people who are here every month get to a different level. The choice is random, so you can get to the upper floors or go down.
The platform passes through all levels, and on each of them people try not only to fill their belly, but also to spoil the products that go down as much as possible. As a result, there is no food left for people on the lower floors. At the same time, according to the idea of the administration of the pit, if everyone takes as much as they should, everyone will be able to feed themselves.
Gorgen does not agree with this system. He is initially squeamish about food that comes down from above. Then he is forced to resort to cannibalism, being at the lower levels, but when he gets to the 6th, where there are no special problems with food, he decides to fight, enlisting the support of his new neighbor, Baharat.
The actors of the film “The Platform” perfectly performed their roles, and very clearly displayed the problems of society. In the pit, as in real life, the benefits are unevenly distributed, while those at the top try to grab more, despite the fact that they cannot digest everything. At the same time, the problems of the lower ones, who are forced to fight for survival, do not care about them at all.
Metaphors in film
You can try to understand the meaning of the ending of the film “The Platform” only by understanding the metaphors that are present in abundance in the plot. Let’s try to follow the logic step by step.
The Platform
This is the main element of the film, which is associated with social mobility. Food is delivered daily on the platform, prepared by the best chefs, carefully monitoring the quality of the food. Before placing a person in a pit, they always ask him for his favorite dish, which will be on the platform.
If each of the people would take away the dish prepared for him, there would be enough food for everyone. The problem is that people have different gastronomic preferences, so some order a huge cake that they are unlikely to be able to eat alone, others (like Gorgen) choose snails, and it is very difficult to get enough of them. So everyone grabs everything.
The platform always moves in only one direction – from top to bottom, and not once in the film is it shown as it rises back. Only people who find themselves on the lower level, then on the upper level change. In the first case, they are forced to starve, eating each other, in the second, they overeat gourmet dishes, not caring about the rest.
Frame from the film.
Pit
This is a society that unites all people who are in the center of self-government. The dialogue between them usually takes place only in one direction: from top to bottom. At the same time, the lower ones complain that they do not have enough food, and the upper ones simply do not respond. It is almost impossible to rise from your level to the top. This is clearly demonstrated by the experience of Velvet, who tried to use a rope to move from the 6th level to the 5th. As a result, people from the fifth level simply defecated on him, cutting the rope.
You can go down without any problems, and this is constantly done by Miharu, trying to find her child. However, it is not clear how a woman manages to get back to her level, because the platform does not rise.
Imogiri, an employee of the center who decided to voluntarily be in the Pit, assures that there are 200 levels, and there is not a single inhabitant under 16 years old in the complex. Gorgen meets this woman at level 33, but the next month he ends up with her at level 202. It is Imogiri who explains to Gorgen that if everyone spends resources rationally, there will be enough food for everyone. However, the woman commits suicide. She explains her act by the fact that Gorgen will be able to eat her for a whole month. However, most likely, she simply realized that the administration of the complex was hiding the whole truth even from her: there are much more levels in the pit.
lonely girl
This baby is found at level 333 by Gorgen and Velvet. The girl has a bright Asian appearance, which makes it possible to assume that this is Miharu’s daughter. However, the baby looks too neat and is where there are no living people. If Miharu constantly went downstairs, she could not help but find her child, and Imogiri told Gorgen that the woman got into the complex alone: she personally processed the documents.
Frame from the film.
At the same time, the girl does not speak, like Miharu. From this we can conclude that this is Miharu, who died on one of the levels. Most likely, this is her posthumous incarnation. Mihakaru always wanted to get down, and living in the dirt, she strove for spiritual purity.
Why Gorgen stayed down
It’s a perfectly logical ending to the movie. Gorgen with Baharat decided to fight the system. The guys thought that if they went down on the platform, handing out food in portions, they could feed everyone. According to their plan, the inhabitants of the first 50 levels will be able to suffer without food for one day, so they decide to start distributing only from the 51st floor. However, anticipating the misunderstanding of the others, they arm themselves, and as the platform descends, they fight off people who are trying to get more than they should.
However, there are more levels in the pit than they expected, so even if the complex is full, there won’t be enough food anyway. At the same time, trying to achieve justice for everyone, Gorgen becomes the one through whose fault evil is happening in this place. The platform symbolically reaches the bottom. In fact, Gorgen falls to the very bottom of the social ladder, and remains here, not seeing the meaning of his further existence. Here he is already dead and remains with his inner demons – Trimigashi, whom Gorgen had to kill and eat at level 171.
Frame from the film.
The meaning of the ending
The point of the film “The Platform” is that society depends on what level we are at the moment. Regardless of whether it is the 6th level of the platform or the 200th, one is envious of the upper ones and disdainful of the lower ones. It is impossible to break this social ladder, even if you have to kill for the sake of justice. Having changed the social status (level), the person remains the same. He becomes overfed, remembering his hungry past, and takes revenge on people who used to be above him in position.
The explanation for the ending is pretty simple. Those who try to change this state of affairs drop out of society. It is impossible to influence the superiors – the social platform only moves downwards. Therefore, those in power do not hear those who are below, and even having exchanged places with them, they will strive to get to the top.
