eXistenZ
***1/2
Cinema
Releases - April 30, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. Canada/France/UK/USA. Written and directed by David Cronenberg. Starring
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Callum
Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston.
Central to the main plot of David Cronenberg's
"eXistenZ" is a virtual reality video game. Its name: 'eXistenZ'.
Its power source: the body energy of the human player.
I mention this because the movie's own power is
generated by the intense sexual energy of the two leads. Jennifer Jason Leigh
and Jude Law play Allegra Geller and Ted Pikul, characters who delve into
the world of 'eXistenZ', with consequences that range from horrific to beautiful
-- exactly the kind of intriguing combination that Cronenberg finds so
fascinating.
The film opens in what seems to be realism, and
slowly entices us towards its strange visual peak. By the time we get to
the virtual reality world, we have the same wholly involved visceral response
to the game as its players, and it's very exciting. Cronenberg, as writer
and director, along with production designer Carol Spier, creates a world
where anything goes, giving himself the freedom to make "eXistenZ" swim between
the truly frightening, oddly dazzling, urgently erotic and surprisingly
funny.
I enjoyed the mixture of 90s high-tech production
values and 70s low-budget mood in "eXistenZ". Cronenberg has made both kinds
of films before, and revisits motifs from that earlier work here -- pros
and cons of technology, abstract sexuality, living gore, characters who are
virginal to the oddities of their situation, etc -- but the way he pieces
it all together is still changing. "eXistenZ" feels fresh, even if the impulses
behind it weren't wholly original.
I have not given much away about the plot, but
when you see the picture you'll understand why. As well as being one of the
best films of the year, "eXistenZ" will join the list of Cronenberg's biggest
cult films. So many valid different points of view will surface about what
is real or fake in this layered film, since the plot twists blur lines between
reality and fantasy right up to the chilling final line. The same speculation
will be made about the message -- although the film can be seen as pure eye
candy, parts of it do inspire thoughts about modern gender role reversal;
men at the mercy of machines; desensitisation to the consequences of violence;
and even artistic freedom, from a sort of Salman Rushdie point of
view.
Even if you strongly disagree, and think I'm
exaggerating, then right there is the spark of a discussion. The attention
of your eyes and post-cinema conversation will be demanded by "eXistenZ".
Your senses will be jolted and stirred.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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