Film & TV on DVD - John Doe Film News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

Science Fiction Horror - Film & TV on DVD

Splice (2009) - Trailer Included

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A revealing poster for Splice - Available on DVD.

Writer/Director: Vincenzo Natali
Starring:Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac

Writer/Director Vincenzo Natali’s new film tries to be many things and as a result muddles its impact. Telling the story of a pair of genetic engineers who create a hybrid species by combining the DNA strands of a dozen different animals including human, Splice itself seems to be an amalgam of cinematic building blocks.

Part body horror, part heady science fiction and part parental relationship drama, what begins as an intelligent David Cronenberg’s The Fly type Bride of Frankenstein scientific morality fable (the lead characters are named for the actors in that classic) gestates to become a gleeful Paul Verhoven style assault of excess and high concept imagery.

When romantically involved geneticists Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) manage to manufacture a completely unique creature in their lab they are invigorated to attempt to add Homosapien coding to the equation.

Despite being expressly forbidden by their corporate pharmaceutical sponsors, N.E.R.D. (Nucleic Exchange Research and Development) they proceed with a secret experiment that birth’s Dren.

Dren is a beast from a Petri dish, an alluring mix of anthropomorphized cosmetics and animalistic appendages. Growing at an accelerated rate, she is soon absorbing her surroundings and learning through her surrogate parents.

Problem is that both Elsa and Clive have led isolated existences that leave them under equipped as parental figures. Elsa carries deep issues from childhood and Clive struggles with ethics but is easily persuaded by Elsa to continue down a nightmare path.

Playing god to a new breed of morphing amphibious omnivore quickly exposes weaknesses in the personalities of the creators, passing down toxic traits that lead to inevitable confrontation.

"Why the fuck did you make her in the first place? Huh? For the betterment of mankind? You never wanted a normal child because you were afraid of losing control." - Clive

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Mother, why am I different?

John Doe says:

Despite its spasmodic tone and stilted dialogue Splice is an entertaining bastard child. A flawed film that is best enjoyed for what it is, rather than what it could have been. It asks its audience to swallow some serious hokum, but in return there is insane imagery that once viewed will remain forever.

Director Vincent Natali instructs Delphine Chanéac.

Right from his cult debut Cube, Writer/Director Vincenzo Natali (Cypher, Nothing) seems to be consistently drawn to intellectual material that hypothesizes and philosophizes about human nature. His teaming with producer Guilermo Del Toro seems to be a natural fit even if the results are convoluted. Failing to sustain tension but replacing it with amusing conceits, the first half of the film benefits from Vincenzo’s restraint. After playing like a cautionary science fiction tale, in the second half it descends into monster horror after essential procrastination on the relationship of the central characters. That his euro sensibilities are not afraid to repulse his audience mutates controversial taboo into intriguing debate fodder.

The easily distracted script stumbles in developing the dynamic between Polley and Brody. Relying on metaphor to forward plot and motivations, certain actions are questionable if you have not immersed yourself in the genre. Obsession over ruling logic is nothing new, in the words of Natali,

“Clive and Elsa are smarter than they are wise, and while they play with the building blocks of life, they don’t really have any deep understanding of what life is. You could say this is a coming-of-age film in that they are forced to grow up and become responsible parents, in a sense. As Dren becomes a catalyst for their own darker needs, she sets off a downward spiral of their scientific ideologies obscured by the moral imperatives of parenthood. We watch the humans turn into monsters, as the monster reveals its humanity.”

The sterile Kubrickian cinematography of Tetsuo Nagata, (Micmacs, La Vie En Rose) carries the essential cold atmosphere, especially when combined with the menace of Cyrille Aufort’s musical score. (WARNING: Spoiler ahead) – A grandiose example can be found in the framing and composition of inter-species fornication that carries a surreal mood thanks to the combination.

Adrien Brody’s, (Dummy, The Brothers Bloom, The Jacket) serious performance is not concerned with making his part sympathetic but focused on layered believability. Succeeding for the most part, his socially awkward uber geek expresses his individuality with hipster T shirts instead of verbal communication.

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Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley don't quite mesh at a genetic level.

Selling the isolation of Clive’s career choice where Brody falters is the codependent chemistry. The hesitant scruples of his character against costar Sarah Polley's combustible spontaneity never gels as genuine love. (Go, Dawn of the Dead, The Sweet Hereafter). Both talented thespians, they convince as emotionally detached cerebral beings, but the illusion of onscreen romance and affection is beyond their grasp. Still Polley makes the baggage heavy Elsa a complex blend of bitch, babe and brainiac.

Casting a real life human as Dren and only relying on CG when anatomical impossibilities arise was a wise decision from the FX crew and Director. Delphine Chanéac makes her creature a mix of vulnerable, sensual and deadly in equal measure with expressive facial contortions and emotive movement. The feline bulb eyeballs a substantial component of the computer generated assistance.

Not a great film, but not terrible either. For John Doe the good outweighed the bad considering the "guilty pleasure” factor. Sure it fails to reach its potential but that didn’t dissuade JD from smiling as the inevitable repercussions of human fallibility emerged onscreen with glorious revulsion and devious perversion.

The Official Trailer for Splice