JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentoneXistenZ (1999)
February 18th 2008 00:01
The sins of Virtual Reality.
Disclaimer:Taking advantage of eXistenZ structure is an opportunity to mix up John Doe's established reviewing format for this one.
eXistenZ - Available on DVD in Australia
Writer/Director:David Cronenberg
Starring:Jennifer Jason Leigh, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, Don McKellar
"I'm feeling a little disconnected from my real life. I'm kinda losing touch with the texture of it. You know what I mean? I actually think there is an element of psychosis involved here. "- Ted
David Cronenberg’s intellectual science fiction thriller eXistenZ takes Phillip K Dick’s novel of existentialist addiction “The Three Stigmata” into an alternate technological reality. It’s a world, within a world, within a world scenario.
Commenting on our insatiable desire to escape reality through reliance on artificial stimuli, the lust to purge our real selves through video games and act out the alternate persona that we adopt has been established.
"Free will... is obviously not a big factor in this little world of ours." - Ted
Within the story, eXistenZ refers to the latest breakthrough X Box or Play-Station style gaming platform. It is an organic machine that must violate the flesh for the user to achieve illusionary bliss from danger and adventure. In order to play the system jacks don’t plug into a television or monitor it is inserted directly into the base of the human spinal chord.
Game On
A small group has gathered for an early beta test of the unit, its creator Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is there to participate in the initial journey and together with some eager volunteers begins to boot up.
Quickly an assassination attempt is made on Allegra and corporate espionage is behind it. In the alternate dimension, assisted by promotions man Ted Pikul (Jude Law) she flees and the pair soon discovers the secret to survival lies in unravelling the purpose of their computer generated mission.
"Death to the demoness Allegra Geller!" - Repeated line
Techno Menage a Trois
These two central figures are supported by the remainder of the players each with their own programmed guiding principles. Commenting on the insular nature of society, peripherals remain mute until an appropriately phrased trigger elicits a response.
"It's your character who said it. It's kind of a schizophrenic feeling isn't it? You'll get use to it. There are things that have to be said to advance the plot and establish the characters, and those things get said whether you want to say them or not. Don't fight it. Just avoid it." - Allegra
Praying on the subconscious, real life character morality slips away, replaced in favour of an adaptive game part less concerned with consequences. Primal urges are unrestricted once the rules of play are processed, murder and sex are flippantly embraced for quasi-liberation.
Overly stimulated, hyper realism causes disorientation, the deeper into the web of projected reality they plummet the more the lines between truth and fiction are blurred.
"It's worse than that. I'm not sure... I'm not sure here, where we are, is real at all. This feels like a game to me. And you, you're beginning to feel a bit like a game character." - Ted
David Cronenberg’s (Scanners, Dead Ringers, Rabid, Shivers, Naked Lunch) screenplay shares many thematic and narrative similarities to his earlier masterwork Videodrome. His usual obsessions being flesh and obtuse human behavioral science etc. Controlling the confusion in an exponentially expanding universe, information is often shared in hindsight. Carefully layering dialogue that encourages dissection. The surface scenarios capitalise on profound behavioural philosophies.
Cronenberg’s regular and Empire Strikes Back cinematographer Peter Suschitzky’s (Naked Lunch, History of Violence, Dead Ringers etc) creates an atmosphere to support the narrative. The deliberate camera angles recreate the mood of RPG, cleverly refraining from any first person shots. The equally conscious tone of colours and light, the organics caught in the lens add to the concept.
The visual and special FX compound the organic versus mechanical motif. The final component in drawing us to believe and muse on this parrel dimensional riddle is the cast.
jennifer Jason Leigh in eXistenZ
It is a point of constant wonder to John Doe why Jennifer Jason Leigh (Last Exit to Brooklyn, Husucker Proxy, Kansas City) is not recognised as the greatest female actress working today. In eXistenZ there is a natural
ease to her demeanour that beautifully contrasts with the constructed reality of the film.
Jude Law (Talented Mr Ripley, Gattaca, Enemy at the Gates) neither detracts nor adds to proceedings, his sometimes wooden delivery seems overtly forced when trying to communicate his characters surrendering to impulse. Still in other scenes there is an appropriately palpable tension in his eyes and body language.
Willem Dafoe (To Live and Die In LA, Shadow of the Vampire, Platoon, Wild at Heart) again embraces his freedom of expression, this time as a duplicitous mechanic with a charismatic air. In most of his work it seems once he finds the core substance of his role in the narrative he experiments liberally and we have the privilege of witnessing it. There is a spontaneity that reflects the game itself here.
All the performers deserve admiration for carrying through the fishing line plot. Open to supposition and interpretation all the answers are there if your willing to look.
JD basks in the engagement of the cerebral cortex in order to fully comprehend the story. The suspenseful intricacies and intelligent conceits are not merely devices but tools for understanding our own microcosm. How we interact, our nurtured existence within a culture that curtails our primal side in the name of civilization. How would we behave without the morality programmed by parents, media and government?
eXistenz - The Trailer
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I must admit I was expecting your review to be even more removed from your usual style ...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I imagine you will enjoy, go pick up a copy next time its chep weeklies day at your video store...curious to know your verdict.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Your right the film has never received the rspect it deserves...proved by the fact as you say there is only a no frills version available on DVD globally.
As for Jude I am indifferent to him generally, not that he's bad, just doesn't soar either.
Comment by Linear North Film World
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Videodrome is my favourite Cronenberg film, but Existenz is a cracker too.
The film is not an adaptation of Phillip K Dick's "The Three Stigmatas" but it does borrow its primary concepts.
As for Jennifer Jason Leigh, I consider her one of the finest actors working today, have you seen Last Exit to Brooklyn? Astonishing!
Thanks for the visit. I look forward to chatting film with you.