Who turned out the lights? Dark secrets from below

Saoirse Ronan, left, and Harry Treadaway are shown in a scene from "City of Ember." Saoirse Ronan, left, and Harry Treadaway are shown in a scene from "City of Ember." Photo: Walden Media, Twentieth Century Fox Photo: Walden Media, Twentieth Century Fox Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Who turned out the lights? Dark secrets from below 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

City of Ember: Fantasy. Starring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan. Directed by Gil Kenan. (PG. 95 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

Movies are planned months and years in advance, and yet it's not uncommon for films to arrive that speak directly to the thoughts and fears of the particular moment. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising: Just as a person expresses the unconscious in dreams, a culture expresses its unconscious in movies. And so today, just as everyone is on edge about the global economic crisis (and no one has forgotten 9/11), we're getting movies about civic catastrophe, about civilizations absolutely and completely falling apart.

Last week, it was "Blindness," a well-made and unsettling film in which millions of people suddenly lose their sight. Today, we get "City of Ember," an impressive and imaginative fantasy about human beings who live in an underground city, two centuries after a nuclear war. They have no knowledge of the earth's surface. They know nothing about the world that went before them. For them, Ember is the entire world - and that world is about to go to pieces.

If you want to look for a metaphor, the search won't be long. The elders who established Ember gave it 200 good years. They gave it a generator and enough food to last two centuries, but now time has run out. The pipes are rusting. Food is scarce. Most ominous, the generator on which the entire civilization depends has started to stall. Two or three times a week, it just stops functioning for a few seconds, causing all the electricity to go out.

"City of Ember" has an emotional impact that goes way beyond a clever metaphor. In an early scene, a chipper young messenger (Saoirse Ronan) is making her way through the town square when the generator stalls again - and this time for longer than ever before. The people are so relieved, and so willing to believe that maybe it won't happen again, that the moment is touching. It's also rather touching that their world is such a pathetic echo of real civilization, that their sky is just a bunch of lightbulbs and that their religion has something to do with waiting for "the builders" to return. Yet they want to hold on to what they have.

The tone of "City of Ember" is flexible enough to allow for both drama and satire, with neither feeling discordant. Bill Murray plays the mayor, a complete phony who is looking for a way to escape Ember, even as he is announcing "a task force to investigate the blackouts." It won't surprise anyone to know that Murray is funny in the role - he's funny just sitting at his desk with a deadpan expression. But he goes deeper. For example, take the moment in which he's walking onto a balcony to address a throng of citizens who idolize him. Just as he's about to reveal himself to the masses, he assumes a look of theatrical geniality that's so unnatural and bizarre, and yet so calculated to please, that it's chilling to see. For a split second, that face actually scared me.

Though Murray makes the most of his scenes, and Tim Robbins has a nice featured role as an inventor, the film focuses mainly on the adventures of two teenagers, who gradually come to discover the City of Ember's founding secrets. The young actors, Ronan ("Atonement") and Harry Treadaway, couldn't be better. If you have any reservations about going to a movie starring two teenagers, put them aside. Also, if the thought of a movie that takes place underground holds little appeal, think again. The film's design is not murky and shadowy, but rich and bright, and the whole rendering of this underground world is fascinating.

I've said almost nothing about the story. Good. I'll let you discover it. But just two general comments: The pacing is varied but energetic, and for that you can credit director Gil Kenan ("Monster House"). And the story, based on Jeanne Duprau's novel of the same name, is beautifully constructed. It builds until it reaches the point that it's one edge-of-your-seat moment after another.

All this, and you won't have to check your brain at the door, either. "City of Ember" offers a rich reward on a modest 95-minute investment.

-- Advisory:Moments of menace and a scary monster, but, otherwise, this is pretty wholesome entertainment.