Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

 

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future is the story of a performance artist and his partner who stage a show in removing live organs during a climate-ravaged future where an investigator takes notice to see how the show would play a role in human evolution. The film, which bears the same name as Cronenberg’s 1970 sophomore feature film, marks a return to body horror where Cronenberg explore humanity’s fascination with their own body parts in which a couple creates a performance involving body parts. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, Don McKellar, Scott Speedman, and Kristen Stewart. Crimes of the Future is an entrancing and unsettling film from David Cronenberg.

Set in a futuristic, climate-ravaged world, the film revolves around a performance artist and his surgeon collaborator/lover as they stage shows to showcase the evolution of internal organs as they’re asked to take part in a project involving an autopsy with political and social implications. It’s a film that explore an underground subculture as people go to these shows to see people embrace inner beauty in a literal sense as well as see a growing evolution into the human anatomy. David Cronenberg’s screenplay definitely play into a future where food resources are becoming scarce while the human body begins to evolve as some can eat normally but others have to eat different things. Pain is something that no longer exists as Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) sleeps on a special bed to check on his organs while eats on a chair that is mechanical as he struggles to feed himself sometimes. His lover/collaborator Caprice (Lea Seydoux) is a former surgeon who helps in the performances by cutting aspects of his body and narrating it as it attracts the attention of a couple of investigators for the National Organ Registry in Timlin (Kristen Stewart) and Wippet (Don McKellar).

Timlin and Wippet are fascinated by Tenser’s show with the former wanting to get closer to Tenser while the latter is hoping to have Tenser be part of something bigger as it relates to the government. Yet, there is another person interested in the work that Tenser and Caprice are doing in an underground cult leader in Lang Doctrice (Scott Speedman) who wants them to perform an autopsy on his son who had been killed by his ex-wife Djuna (Lihi Koronowski). It all play into Doctrice’s fascination with human evolution as he wants to use Tenser’s profile to display a message though Tenser is unsure as he would have secret meetings with a detective named Cope (Welket Bungue) about what is going as Cope is investigating what Wippet is doing.

Cronenberg’s direction definitely bear elements that he is known for from past films that relate to the world of body horror yet it is presented in a more grounded idea of reality based on a world ravaged by climate change and physical evolution within the body. Shot on location in areas near Athens, Greece as this world that is seemingly in ruins as much of the film is shot in abandoned buildings. Cronenberg would use some unique wide shots to establish these locations that would include abandoned boats on the shore and buildings where many events occur as he would use wide and medium shots to get a scope into what people are witnessing. Notably as Cronenberg would create these shots that gaze into the activities that Tenser would do in public with Caprice at his side such as the images of him pulling an organ and revealing something. The world of body-horror would include a man filled with ears around his head, arms, and torso as he does a dance while a beautiful woman would get scars on her forehead and such to express her own ideas of pain.

Cronenberg would also emphasize on this idea of evolution as it relates to the fact that food resources become scarce as those with unusual evolution in their bodies are forced to eat something else as they struggle to eat with the machines they use. The film does open with a young boy sitting on a rock at the beach as he would later eat a plastic wastebasket as it would play into the underground subculture that Doctrice is involved in. There are also some close-ups that Cronenberg play into as it also play into the body mutilation that Tenser and Caprice would involve themselves in with people cutting themselves for sexual or personal pleasure with some trying to get that feeling of pain again. The film’s climax does involve this big event but also play into this idea of evolution where a lot is on the line as well yet there is also something personal from those involved. Even as it play into the need of trying to find meaning through this internal evolution in the body and soul. Overall, Cronenberg crafts an eerie and disturbing film about humanity’s obsession with inner beauty and its evolution.

Cinematographer Douglas Koch does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lighting for many of the nighttime interior/exterior scenes as well as using natural lighting for some of the daytime interior/exterior scenes. Editor Christopher Donaldson does excellent work with the editing as it does have bits of style yet it manages to let shots linger on to play into the horror and suspense. Production designer Carol Spier, with set decorator Dimitra Sourlantzi plus art directors Dimitris Katsikis and Kimberley Zaharko, does incredible work with the art direction from the design of the beds, chairs, and chambers Tenser uses for his show and at his home as well as objects that are used for the shows. Costume designer Mayou Trikerioti does fantastic work with the clothes that some of the characters wear such as the black robe that Tenser often wear as well as some casual-looking clothes that the other characters wear except for some stylish work in some of the performance shows.

Prosthetics special makeup effects designers Alexandra Anger and Monica Pavez do amazing work with the design in some of the prosthetics and make-up design in how some of the performance artists present themselves as it is a highlight of the film. Special effects supervisor George Alahouzos and visual effects supervisor Peter McAuley do terrific work in making sure some of body parts look real in some bits as well as in the movement in some of the arms in Tenser’s machine. Sound designers Rob Bertola and Tom Bjelic, with sound editor Jill Purdy, do superb work with the sound in the way some of the machines sound as well as some sparse moments that help play into the drama and suspense. The film’s music by Howard Shore is phenomenal for its haunting electronic-based score that is driven mainly by synthesizers to play into the suspense and horror as well as creating some original electronic pieces for some of the performance art pieces.

The casting by Deidre Bowen and Stavros Raptis is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Sozos Sotiris as Doctrice’s son Brecken, Ephie Kantza as a curator who gives Tenser a card that relates to Doctrice, Tassos Karahalios as the performance artist Klinek whose body is filled with ears, Denise Capezza as a performer who has scars all over her body, Jason Bitter as Doctrice’s assistant, Lihi Kornowski as Dotrice’s bitter ex-wife Djuna, Tanaya Beatty and Nadia Litz in their respective roles as Berst and Dani as two women who work for the manufacturers of Tenser’s bed and objects who are big fans of his work, and Welket Bungue in a superb performance as a detective who asks Tenser to find out what Doctrice is up to while is becoming suspicious into the activities from both Wippet and Timlin. Scott Speedman is fantastic as Lang Doctrice as an underground cult leader who believes his dead son is key to a future as it relates to human evolution while also battling a government who wants to prevent all of this from happening.

Don McKellar is excellent as Wippet as an investigator for the National Organ Registry who is fascinated by what Tenser does as he wants him to be part of a pageant as well as be someone who can be the face for the government. Kristen Stewart is amazing as Timlin as an investigator for the National Organ Registry who is more fascinated with Tenser as a person as well as wanting to be his collaborator as she believes that surgery is the new sex. Lea Seydoux is incredible as Caprice as Tenser’s collaborator/lover who makes sure he’s well and also narrates the performances while lamenting over the project they’re about to embark on as well as wanting to be part of the culture that celebrates human evolution. Finally, there’s Viggo Mortensen in a phenomenal performance as Saul Tenser as a man who grows new organs in his body as he deals with his physical changes from the inside while also working with a detective in uncovering Doctrice’s activities where Mortensen brings a restrained approach to his performance.

Crimes of the Future is a phenomenal film from David Cronenberg that features great performances from Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart. Along with its ensemble cast, study of human evolution and its search for meaning, eerie visuals, and a mesmerizing score by Howard Shore. The film is definitely Cronenberg not just returning to his roots but using the genre he helped create to study the idea of humanity and their need to feel in a troubled future. In the end, Crimes of the Future is a sensational film from David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future (1970 film) - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash (1996 film) - eXistenZ- Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - A Dangerous Method - Cosmopolis - Maps to the Stars

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2022

eXistenZ

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, eXistenZ is about a video game designer whose new virtual reality game is the talk of the video game world only to be targeted by assassins. With a security guard to help her, the two go on the run while trying to save the game that she creates. The film is among of Cronenberg’s themes with new technology and its implications that recalls such earlier films as Videodrome. Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Callum Keith Rennie, Christopher Eccleston, and Willem Dafoe. eXistenZ is a mind-bending yet thrilling film from David Cronenberg.

Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a revered though reclusive game designer who is at a focus group to premiere her new virtual reality game. With help from a seminar leader (Christopher Eccleston) and a security guard named Ted Pikul (Jude Law) watching, things seem to go well until an assassin (Kris Lemche) tries to kill Allegra. With Ted saving her and taking her away from the place, the two go on the run as Allegra is worried about her game pod that she’s been working on for five years. Needing Ted to be in the game so she can check its status, she realizes that he doesn’t have a bio-port on his back. Turning to a black-market bio-port installer named Gas (Willem Dafoe) for help, Gas puts a bio-port hole in Ted’s back where things don’t work out.

Hiding out at the home of her mentor Kiri Vinokur (Ian Holm), Kiri fixes Allegra’s pod as she and Ted begin to play the game. With Ted realizing he is in a very different world, he learns that in order to play the game. He had to abide by their rules and talk in cheesy dialogue to advance the story as he and Allegra get close. Meeting such characters like the strange Yevgeny Nourish (Don McKellar) and a resistance leader (Callum Keith Rennie), things get blurred as Ted wants to stop playing. Instead, things become more complicated and violent as Allegra believes something is up about her pod. In the game world, she encounters another pod which turns out to be very bad as it’s up to Ted to get her back only to realize they’re in the middle of a battle between anti-reality game groups and pro-realist groups that wants Allegra dead.

The film can be described as a strange, multi-layered film about a game designer whose life is in danger because of the work she’s created that further blurs the line between reality and fiction. During this journey, she goes on the run with a man that is sworn to protect her as he steps into a world that he doesn’t know about at all. In turn, they take on roles and say awful dialogue in order to play a game where only the designer knows what to do and there’s a guy who has never played a game before.

David Cronenberg creates a film where it’s about reality vs. fiction and technology being part of something organic where it can be connected to a body. The pod and other objects such as guns have a strange, organic look that acts less like a machine rather than something very real. Throughout the film, Cronenberg creates a lot of exposition in order for the Ted Pikul character to figure out what is going on. Exposition is fine though it does overwhelm the plot a bit as complex as a film like this due to its reality vs. fiction narrative. The script is truly fascinating for its development of characters as well as motives over why Allegra is being targeted. At the same time, Cronenberg understands the world of video games as he does create cheesy dialogue that is intended to help move the story.

Cronenberg’s direction definitely plays up to what is expected of him in terms of creating a world that is surreal but also fascinating. Though he sets it at a not-so-distant future, many of the objects that are made has this organic look and feel to them where the guns shoot out teeth as bullets while the pod looks like a body organ. Still, Cronenberg makes the real world and the video game world seem almost realistic as he often keeps the film straight in terms of camera work and compositions. It’s Cronenberg keeping a controlled approach to the filmmaking while using his odd, surreal ideas to help add a quirky element to the film. Cronenberg also likes to play with the idea of reality and fiction that becomes much more complex with a strange twist in the last 10 minutes of the film. While it’s not a perfect film due to the overuse of exposition at times, it is still one of Cronenberg’s enjoyable films.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky does a wonderful job with the cinematography from the grimy yet colorful lighting schemes in many of the film‘s interiors to the naturalistic camera work for some of the exterior scenes. Editor Ronald Sanders does an excellent job with the editing as he creates a mostly straightforward style to the film while maintaining a leisured pace for the film. Production designer Carol Spier, along with set decorator Elinor Rose Galbraith and art director Tamara Deverell, does some fine work with the set pieces such as Vinokur‘s home and the factory that Ted and Allegra work at in the game world.

Costume designer Denise Cronenberg does a very good job with the costumes such as the colorless yet stylish clothing of Allegra to the more casual look of Ted as it’s mostly very low key. Visual effects supervisor James Issac does an amazing job with the visual effects such as the mutant amphibians Allegra comes across to some of the creatures that is made in the world outside of the factory. The sound work of Ryan Shore and Glen Gauthier is pretty stellar for the atmosphere that is created from the suspenseful scenes to the intimate moments when the pod is making strange sounds. The film’s score by Howard Shore is superb for its sweeping orchestral arrangements to play up the film’s suspense as well as some low-key yet heavy scores to help underplay the drama.

The casting by Deirdre Bowen is brilliant for the appearances and people she put into the film such as Vik Sahay as Vinokur’s assistant, Kris Lemche as the assassin, Oscar Hsu as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, Robert A. Silverman as a game character Allegra and Ted interacts with, Christopher Eccleston as seminar leader, and Sarah Polley in cameo as a mysterious woman towards the end of the film. Other notable appearances include Don McKellar as a mysterious pro-game leader named Yevgeny Nourish, Callum Keith Rennie as a resistance leader, Ian Holm as Allegra’s eccentric mentor, and Willem Dafoe as a creepy gas station owner/black market salesman.

Finally, there’s the duo of Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh who each give superb performances for the film. Law brings a wonderful sense of energy and naiveté as a security guard new to the world of virtual reality games. Law also brings a determination and drive to his character as it’s definitely one of his most overlooked performances. Leigh gives a gritty yet troubled performance as a gifted game designer who is desperate to save her game while showing Law’s character the ropes of playing and living the game. It is also one of Leigh’s darker performances as she also add a bit of sexiness to a strange character as she and Law have amazing chemistry together.

eXistenZ is a remarkable yet provocative film from David Cronenberg featuring terrific performances from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law. While it’s a film that doesn’t live up to some of Cronenberg’s great films, it is still a pretty original yet daring film that plays to his themes about the dangers of technology. Particularly as some of the ideas in the film about reality and fiction would have audiences thinking about Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception. In the end, eXistenZ is an excellent yet suspenseful film from David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - A Dangerous Method - Cosmopolis - Maps to the Stars - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2011

Clean

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 5/17/08.

French director Olivier Assayas is known for his prolific styles of filmmaking whether its exploring teen angst, film satire, mystery, or straightforward drama. Assayas is considered to be one of France's premier directors of the 1990s and so on as he also admitted to his appreciation towards Asian cinema. In 1998, he married Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung whom he has collaborated with in 1996's Irma Vep. Yet in 2001, the couple divorced though their relationship was still amicable for their 2004 collaboration in the drug abuse drama Clean.

Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, Clean tells the story of a former video jockey whose relationship with a musician takes a troubling turn as they succumb to drug addiction. Upon a tragic moment where she is discovered with heroin, she goes to jail, loses custody of her child, and then tries to redeem herself while trying to pursue a career as a singer. With Maggie Cheung in the leading role, the film is an exploration of addiction and redemption. Also starring Nick Nolte, Beatrice Dalle, Jeanne Balibar, Don McKellar, Martha Henry, James Johnston of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, James Dennis, and Emily Haines. Clean is a harrowing yet provocative film from Olivier Assayas on redemption.

Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) for several years has been trying to help her lover musician Lee Hauser (James Johnston) as his music career is at an all-time low. With no deal and all the connections running out, they turn to their already troubling addiction to heroin. With their son Jay (James Dennis) living in Vancouver with Lee's parents Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), Lee and Emily are still struggling. When one of their friends in Vernon (Don McKellar) has an offer to help Lee with a deal, Emily turns it down as Vernon along with the band Metric led by Emily Haines believe that Emily is the reason for Lee's decline. Following an argument about drugs and their troubling lifestyle, Emily walks out of their motel room as she does heroin in their car where she passes out. The next morning as she wakes up, police arrive where she learns that Lee had died of an overdose while she was arrested for possession.

When Albrecht and Rosemary hears the news of Lee's death, they're distraught as Albrecht is now dealing with Lee's estate as well as what's left of his music career. Emily is sent to prison for six months as Albrecht and Vernon handle Lee's business. Following her release, Emily meets Albrecht as she reveals she's on methadone as Albrecht asks if she stays away from Jay for a while. Emily moves to Paris to begin a new life though her methadone intake has taken a toll. After meeting Jean-Pierre (Remi Martin), she tries to get him to send a letter to one of Lee’s old friends Tricky as she reconnects with her old friend Elena (Beatrice Dalle). Emily reveals she's made demos of music with a friend named Gloria (Jodi Crawford) as Elena listens where she helps her get contact with a former employer named Irene Paolini (Jeanne Balibar). After being snubbed by Irene, she finds comfort in Irene's lover Sandrine (Laetitia Spigarelli) who had been a fan of Emily in her old days as a video jockey.

Still working a Chinese restaurant, Irene finally meets with her but the conversation goes nowhere as she moves in with Elena while getting a job selling clothes. Meanwhile in London, Albrecht and Jay accompany Rosemary for treatment as she had fallen ill. With Albrecht concerned for Rosemary's health and Jay's well-being, he realizes that the boy has to be with his mother no matter what Rosemary had told Jay about her. With Emily now clean and no longer on methadone, she becomes more determined to clean herself fully for her son. When Albrecht decides to go to Paris with Jay for a visit, Emily is ecstatic to see her son until a call from Gloria where she revealed to have gotten some sessions with David Roback of Mazzy Star in San Francisco. Unsure of what to do, she decides to see Jay, though he is reluctant to see her where she turns to Albrecht for help about what to do where he gives her a choice to think about her own future as well as her future with Jay.

Assayas' eerie yet moody take on a woman's journey from rock bottom to redemption is truly mesmerizing as his script reveals the affect of the death of this man and how his lover is trying to find ways to redeem herself in front of her son and her father-in-law. The film has an added subplot that involves Albrecht and how he's trying to deal things where unlike his wife who blames Emily for her son's death. Albrecht is aware that Lee is at fault for his own actions and is willing to forgive Emily for her own actions. While the screenplay is superb, it's the direction of Olivier Assayas that is spellbinding. With dreamy images, intimate settings, and observant camera, it's clear that Assayas is creating a film, though harsh and unsettling, that is all about mood as he unveils a harrowing portrait of redemption where the ending is complex yet emotional.

Cinematographer Eric Gautier adds a wonderful moodiness with his camera that includes stark colors for the film’s eerie, exterior settings in the daytime scenes in Canada, Paris, and London. The nighttime scenes in Paris are more colorful including some great interior shots with different array of colors. Gautier's photography is superb in every frame as he captures the tone of each scene in the film. Editor Luc Barnier does wonderful work in the film's editing with the use of jump-cuts and fade-outs to add a unique rhythm and style to the film. Production designers William Fleming and Francois-Renaud Labarthe do superb work in the different location and settings for the film as well as the French apartments that Emily visits. Costume designer Anais Roman does nice work with the costumes that range from rock-star like clothing to more casual, street clothing to convey the mood of the characters throughout the film. Sound designers Roman Dymny, Nicolas Moreau, and Daniel Sorbino add to the film's moodiness with on location sound work for the streets as well as the concert scenes shown.

Music composer David Roback of the Rain Parade and Mazzy Star brings a dreamy, moody score to the film while contributing original songs that are sung by Maggie Cheung herself. Additional contributions for the film's soundtrack comes from Tricky, Luna's Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, Joey Ramone, and a lot of cuts from Brian Eno in his various periods including his collaborations with David Byrne, Daniel Lanois, and Roger Eno. The music of Brian Eno works to convey the melancholia of Emily's character as it's used greatly.

The cast is truly superb with an array of appearances from David Roback, the band Metric led by Emily Haines of Broken Social Scene, and Tricky as himself. James Johnston of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is excellent as Lee Hauser, a struggling musician who is having problems with Emily that would lead to his own death. Jodi Crawford is good in her brief role as Emily's music collaborator Gloria while Laetitia Spigarelli is also good as Irene's secretary/girlfriend Sandrine who is a big fan of Emily in her old VJ days. Remi Martin is fine in his role as Emily’s old friend Jean-Pierre who helps her give a letter to Tricky while Don McKellar is superb as Lee's friend Vernon who handles his affairs after his death while giving Emily her cut. Jeanne Balibar is excellent as Emily's former employer Irene who seems to be unhelpful as she has become disenchanted with everything only to conform to corporate leanings.

James Dennis is great as Jay, the little boy who is unaware about his mother only to be told lies about her as he tries to figure out why she wasn't there for him. Martha Henry is good as Rosemary, an ill woman who is so heartbroken over her son's death, she couldn't bear but to hate Emily for what happened to her son. Beatrice Dalle is excellent in a supporting role as Elena, an old friend who helps out Emily while giving her a home and guidance on what she has to do for her career. The film's best supporting performance truly goes to Nick Nolte as Albrecht, Lee's father who provides a sense of wisdom and support for Emily as he helps her try to redeem herself as his character is the one with a huge conscience and the one with moral value.

The film's best performance truly goes to Maggie Cheung who would win the Best Actress prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for this film. Cheung's performance is magnificent from start to finish as she speaks English, French, and a variation of Chinese in the film as she plays a woman who is very flawed and then, tries to redeem herself. Though Cheung's beauty is definitely striking to watch, it's how she sells herself through the performance where the result is truly raw and also unsettling. Cheung also display subtlety to some heavy emotional scenes as she restrains herself in the performance while also displaying greater talent in her singing that is true to the film's mood. If there's one real highlight of this film, it's Maggie Cheung.

Clean is a harrowing yet engrossing film from Olivier Assayas led by the sprawling performance of Maggie Cheung. Fans of the work of Assayas and Cheung will no doubt consider this as essential while the film also includes an amazing supporting turn from Nick Nolte. While the film might be harrowing, it's subject matter is truly universal while both Assayas and Cheung create a film that is accessible yet arty. In the end, Clean is gratifying film that shows a woman's attempt to seek redemption for her actions and trying to find a new hope.

Olivier Assayas Films: (Disorder) - (Winter’s Child) - (Paris Awakens) - (A New Life) - (Cold Water) - (Irma Vep) - (Late August, Early September) - (Sentimental Destinies) - (Demonlover) - (Boarding Gate) - Summer Hours - Carlos - (Something in the Air) - Clouds of Sils Maria - Personal Shopper

© thevoid99 2011