EXISTENZ |
| Some of the reviews I’ve read about Existenz (or eXistenZ to be
correct) have suggested that the virtual reality that features in the film is not
spectacular enough. The Sunday Times reviewer, whose name escapes me (it should), thought
it was more of a philosophy lesson than a film and tells us that Cronenberg forgot to make
the film interesting. Are these people nuts? In a word, yes. One: it would destroy the
whole purpose of the film if the VR was any weirder; two: there is more to interest and
challenge the viewer in this film than all the other Hollywood fodder produced in the last
decade put together. That’s how nuts they are. So, everyone has a bioport where you jack in the game console (itself a bio-whatsit). Jennifer Jason Leigh is probably the games designer and Jude Law is probably her reluctant bodyguard. Everyone else is possibly who they appear to be. Leigh and Law have to play the game to see if it has been damaged. Along the way they and everyone else in the film has to try and figure out what is real and what is not real and who is or is not who they appear to be. Your role, constant viewer, is also to figure out what is real and what isn’t. Good luck. J J Leigh, usually the least expressive actress of her generation, is utterly compelling here. Either she just learned how to act or she was so baffled by what was going on that Cronenberg tricked her into this performance. Jude Law is effective in his role but I’m not affected by his boyish good looks like Warrior Mouse and other girly cinema-goers. There is good support from Willem Dafoe and Ian Holme and, as you would expect in a Cronenberg film, various and sundry twisted body parts and icky gooey things and creatures. Cronenberg lives up to his reputation of being obsessed with the flesh. Not of course with good healthy pink stuff but with internal organs, blood and pus and undeniably sexy bioports which get a good fingering and sucking by all in this film. But he excels in what he is best at – making the ordinary look menacing and frightening and unbelievably grimy and, well, real. That is why the film does not need a bagfull of CGI effects or flashy set pieces. The scariest VR you could create would have to be one where you are not sure whether it is real or whether everything in that reality is real or whether some characters are real, some events are real, you are really yourself. And how do you know when you have really returned to reality? Now that would be the game of a lifetime and that’s what he has given us in eXistenZ. If you have ever enjoyed playing computer games (as opposed to just shoot-em-ups) then I am sure you will love this film. If you have a brain and have ever wondered about the nature of reality you will love this film. If you are sick of seeing yet more Hollywood product and want to see real independent film making you’ll love this film. Only people who have failed to arrive in the later part of the 20th century and film critics who ought to be literary critics instead of film critics (that’s most of them) will fail to get it. Lizard’s Rating ***** |