9 readers saw this film and well, this is pretty much how it breaks dow. 2 out of 3 readers love eXistenZ. Now I don't know how the screening as a whole went, but I imagine Cronenberg's films don't test well with an average american audience. But then... ya know... his films aren't made for an AVERAGE AMERICAN AUDIENCE. I would listen to the group that 'got' the movie, as opposed to those that didn't. To try and attempt to homogenize a Cronenberg flick.... well... It'd be like milking a bull, you still get white stuff, but it ain't for sipping. The first two reviewers loved the film, and the lost one was... uneven on it. So here ya go...
Woka! Woka! Thank you, Harry, thank you and thank you! An asparagus walks into a bar and says "I'd like to get a bite to eat". The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve food here!"
But seriously, New York City's Union Square was a happening place last night. In addition to the PHANTOM MENACE trailer playing in the new Lowes 14th St. theater (which I understand is nothing spectactular. The theater, not the trailer), Mariah Carey made an appearence at the new Virgin Megastore there, but just a few blocks down, at the Sony Theater on 11th and 3rd, something even more important was happening: A test screening of David Cronenberg's new film "eXistenZ"!!!!! (And yes, it really is spelled like that, even in the movie)
I believe Cronenberg is God, perhaps the finest film-maker alive today. I am always awed by the intelligence and power of his films. This man makes the kinds of films that I myself would be more than proud to associate myself with, and I always can't wait for the next one out. Plus, he can act. So anyway, as I gave the NRG flunkies my fake name and occupation, I sat down with my friends for what is truly the first of what I hope will be many great films of 1999. I don't want to say too much about the film for fear of giving away too many of the delights, but I'll give you the basic concept:
It's set in another time when technology (in this case VR games) have gone beyond mere wires and power circuts and are now bio-mechanical, grown from amphibians, placed inside the human body.
"eXistenZ" itself is the game that Cronenberg creates to show us how this world works. Within, there's another cast of great actors that Croneberg has assembled (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Iam Holm, Willem Dafoe, Don McKellar, and Sarah Polley), and concepts from VIDEODROME and NAKED LUNCH permiate the proceedings. The film is once again a variation on Croneberg's favorite theme, the interface of man and technology, and it can also be seen as perhaps an analogy of drug addiction or perhaps it could even be seen as about the relationship between the film-maker and his audience. In fact, you go away from this with so much that I can't wait to see it again... and it doesn't open until the spring! The absolute highlight of the night (and for me, the highlight of my YEAR) was that Cronenberg himself was in attendence. My friends and I got to speak to him briefly after the screening, and he was so nice and approciable, answering all of our questions (No, any connections ! to VIDEODROME weren't intended; The film is pretty much finished; It's looking like it'll come out in March or April, ect.) and I even got to shake his hand! Before I left, I said to him, "Don't let them touch a thing!". "I hope you said that on your card", he replied, and I smiled as I looked back at him and said, "I did."
So once again, I've got to reiterate, this time to Dimension Films head Bob Weinstein (who was also at the screening, and if he knows what's good for him, he's reading this) DON'T TOUCH A THING, IT'S PERFECT!!! I can understand if the MPAA gets to you about the Chinese waiter, but otherwise, this is the best thing Dimesion's ever been associated with! I understand your need to try to make it "commercial" because it is called Show Business, but this is one time when you've got to listen to the director. I don't know what the focus group said, and if it wasn't "Brilliant!", it doesn't matter. I loved "eXistenZ", my friends loved it, and I'm going to tell everyone I know to see it. I even believe that, if you market it right (and this is one "Science Fiction Thriller" that really lives up to that moniker), it will make you your money back. But most importantly of all, you will be able to say that within the Dimension Films library sits at least one truly great film.
So! listen to me, booby. Don't touch. Let it be. To all you AICN readers out there, George and Stanley have some competition for the title of next year's coolest movie. And the David Cronenberg, thank you for one of the most pleasurable moviegoing nights of my life.
DEATH TO THE REALIST!!!!
Fozzie
Here is Dick Jones' take on the film...
Dick Jones here, reporting on a little movie called "eXistenZ." Well, folks, David Cronenberg is back! Not that he ever went away, but this is a return to the Cronenberg of THE BROOD and (especially) VIDEODROME. Instead of the cool psychological terror of DEAD RINGERS and CRASH, he dives back into the viscera with a vengeance. And he does so with all the imagination and precision he has brought to all his movies. This is a graphic, mesmerizing, constantly surprising experience.
And because it's so surprising, I'm not gonna say much about the plot or characters, because this is truly a film in which the less you know about it before you see it, the better. I will say what it's not: The advance publicity describes it as a virtual reality story, but don't expect any hi-tech labs, onscreen hardware and CGI environments. The characters do go through artificially enhanced worlds, but these worlds are down and dirty and the transitions are handled through expert editing, not morphing.
And that's all I'm gonna say about that. I will say that the performances are expert, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is even more so. Man, she is beautiful and smart and sexy and a little obsessive and altogether stunning in this film! She takes a difficult character and makes her completely believable. The indie/Canadian supporting cast is also fine, and you have to love a movie that includes "Willem Dafoe as Gas"!
The FX (most of them makeup FX, including some really seriously gross stuff that may not survive the trip to the ratings board) are superb and the production design is wonderfully nasty and creative. I want to say more, but...man! I want everyone to be able to experience it for themselves! Dimension Films has this for release next spring and I really hope they don't tinker with it too much; not everyone is going to get it, but trying to make it more "accessible" will only harm what is so unique and wonderful about this movie. Bottom line: It's Cronenberg's best film since THE FLY and the type of horror movie we should be (but aren't) getting more of these days.
Dick Jones
And here's the mixed review. Warning though, there are some spoilers in this review...
Hey there, Harry. We just saw the test screening of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ in New York City last night. The people running the screening said we were one of the first test audiences, and made us sign about twelve different forms promising we wouldn't tell anybody about the screening, so naturally we wanted to give you the scoop as soon as possible. Since we wrote this review together, call us Iskel and Sebert. So let's get right to the point:
THE CUT
This was a rough cut, maybe 85% done. Most of the effects are rubber / animatronics type gizmos, but it looked like a couple of CGI shots were missing. The music was a temp track, and most of the sound effects were missing; it seemed as though none of the Foley had been done yet.
THE SUMMARY
This movie has the potential to be a worthy addition to the "mindfuck" genre of cinema -- Total Recall, The Game, The Spanish Prisoner, etc. Several scenes in the middle of eXistenZ really capture the excitement of having your world turned upside-down, and having to discover the rules all over again. But this cut of eXistenZ is missing the essential ingredient in all three of those films -- HUMAN INTEREST. Jennifer Jason Leigh, one of Sebert's least-favorite actresses, is only marginally more life-like than usual in this role, and Jude Law spends a LOT of time whining. There's no real hook at the beginning of the movie, and the ending deliberately undermines what little emotional stake we had in the main characters up to that point.
Now, to speak in Cronenberg's favor, Iskel points out that it's quite possible that the artificiality of the characters was intentional. Sadly, the characters in the computer adventure games that eXistenZ is modelled after are usually caricatures without depth or emotion. This holds doubly true for the lead characters in games, since the player is supposed to supply the personality. Cronenberg obviously has a good grasp on the world of Adventure Gaming. But even if showing how two-dimensional these characters are was the was the point of the movie, we still have to watch these bland characters muddle about for two hours.
GORY DETAILS
The movie starts too fast, and then goes nowhere slowly. We're dropped right into the beta-test of a new virtual reality game, but without any context to make us care about whether the beta test goes smoothly, whether the game is any good, or whether Bruce Willis crashes through the wall of the adjoining theater looking for Arab terrorists to assault. The only amusement comes from watching the dippy beta-testers play with their "game pods" (aka "the pink plastic toys that sit on your lap and wiggle, but are NOT vibrators"). Suddenly the plot thickens. Shots are fired. Cryptic warnings are issued. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law go on the run. We don't quite know why. We don't quite care. Neither Jennifer nor Jude do anything endearing, so we don't really bond with their characters. We wouldn't complain so much about the opening, but this infernally dull part of the movie goes on for like forty-five minutes, so Sebert had a lot of time to think about how bored he was.
OK, so much for the opening. The movie picks up considerably when Willem Dafoe shows up as "Gas." It's not a real deep part -- his gas station attendant is kind of a Cooter for the 21st century -- but Willem keeps the perfect balance of ham and understatement. Lots of laughs here as Jude gets fitted with a "bio-port" so he can use one of the aforementioned "game pods." This is also the scene where the line between reality and the game begins to blur. Leigh's character marvels at the details of her surroundings -- the feel of a gas pump, the way that dust floats through the air -- as if she were admiring the handiwork of an artisan. The plot thickens again, Ian Holm shows up wearing a thick Eastern European accent, and finally Jennifer and Jude get their pods in gear and start the game. This is where eXistenZ really shines.
Attention readers: if you were an Infocom game addict, or if you love modern-day graphic adventures like Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE. We get to watch Jennifer and Jude absorb the visual richness of the weird environments they enter, and work out the rules of their world by talking to the other characters they encounter. Cronenberg even throws in some inventory management. It's exciting, it's funny, and it does an almost PERFECT job of replicating what it feels like to play an adventure game. After about a half hour of this, we're totally captivated. We had a blast watching what came next, guessing at the game's next move, and trying to figure out what the characters had to do to get to the next stage.
What's REALLY amazing about this part of the movie is that this movie DOES NOT LOOK LIKE TRON. Even the "game" parts are in a very natural twentieth-century setting. There's plenty of weird Cronenberg biological messiness (slimy wiggling mutant reptiles!!), but he creates a sense of hyper-reality that stays close to the real world and doesn't depend on CGI up the wazoo. We know that everybody expects Episode I to convert the world to all-digital all-the-time, but in this part of eXistenZ Cronenberg reminds us of the magical things you can do with good old-fashioned sets and props. Whoever designed the "Trout Farm" and Chinese Restaurant scenes deserves an Oscar.
Unfortunately, we don't spend nearly enough time in this magical middle period. As the movie progresses, Cronenberg lays the mindfucks and plot twists on with a trowel. Pretty soon the characters are switching from reality to reality faster than a bad holodeck episode of Star Trek. The sense of awe and wonder from the middle of the movie vanishes and we're back to the "don't quite get it, don't quite care" mood of the beginning. The ending is a MAJOR disappointment. Any sense that the characters have become real people is pretty much demolished in the final scenes. Do you remember the emotional catharsis at the end of The Game? This cut of eXistenZ ain't got none of that. There's just a big "oh." And then the lights come up.
We don't want to sound like it's hopeless. This was definitely a rough cut, and Iskel wouldn't be surprised if the ending was changed before release. There's a lot of clever stuff in the movie, and like we said above, the middle "game" section is brilliant. But when you don't care about the characters at the beginning of a movie, and you don't care what happens to those characters at the end of the movie, a strong middle act will only take you so far.
[HEY, DAVID CRONENBERG! If you or anyone else with clout over this picture is reading, we both agreed that if you ended the movie about 20 minutes earlier, right after Jennifer Jason Leigh shouts "did I win?!?", eXistenZ would REALLY be the mindfuck of the decade.]
-- Iskel and Sebert (or is that iZkeL and sEberT ?)
