FFWD Weekly
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| Film by Richard Zywotkiewicz eXistenZ David Cronenberg’s career began with ultra-low-budget horror films. Because of the director’s subtle yet provocative intelligence, he had improved from one film to the next, peaking in horror with his remake of The Fly and perhaps in psychological horror with Dead Ringers. It’s been downhill from there with the director hitting rock bottom with his last film Crash, a senseless exploration of twisted sex (sadly, something many recent Canadian directors have reveled in as an exportable theme). But with eXistenZ, Cronenberg will probably shake them up again and incur harpoon size slurs from the critics. Set in the near future, eXistenZ depicts a society in which game designers are worshipped as superstars and players can organically enter inside the games. At the centre of the story is Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whose latest games system, eXistenZ, taps so deeply into its users’ fears and desires that it blurs the boundaries between reality and escapism. When realist fanatics attempt to assassinate Allegra, she is forced to flee. Her sole ally is Ted Pikul (Jude Law), a novice security guard who is sworn to protect her. Persuading Ted into playing the game, Allegra draws them both into a phantasmagoric world where existence ends and eXistenZ begins. eXistenZ has a cheesy amateurish look to it that is inescapable. If you know and love Cronenberg’s early work, that may be a good thing. With eXistenZ, he has definitely returned to his roots and, hopefully, left behind the kinky sexual topics he’s become obsessed with in recent films. It would not be fair to criticize Cronenberg without understanding the banal malaise that was the film industry in Canada some 25 years ago. With his absolutely tasteless, yet remarkably original horror films, Cronenberg created in himself Canada’s first infamous, and easily identifiable auteur – a legend in other countries, yet chastised and largely ignored during his early years in Canada. This is definitely not a film for everyone. Frankly, Cronenberg appears like a man playing with children’s toys in his fanatical depiction of gore, gloop, and the grotesque. But if you can stomach a man muttering to the foot-long parasites emerging from his stomach in Shivers and see the absurd humour behind this complex director and his work, then you’ll find eXistenZ thoroughly satisfying. If you’re one of those normal people that Cronenberg loves to take a poke at – viewer beware. Fear ye all who enter here. |
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