Cannes Review: ‘Crimes of the Future’ by David Cronenberg

Just when fans thought David Cronenberg called it a career (now 79 years old and hasn’t drawn anything since his false career). star maps 2014), followed by a movie that only Canadian Perversion Master could make.

More than ever before, Cronenberg, obsessed with body parts and the crooked and/or constructive goals he saw fit to give them, didn’t exactly do comedy. future crimes. But an eerie and even pointless spectacle of devious experimentation and corruption was handled in an unexpectedly light and at the same time hilarious way, underscored by the silence of the characters and also the overt acknowledgment that they weren’t. They are fully aware of what they are doing in search of adventure to connect the human and the mechanical.

Scheduled to be shot in 2003 before being cancelled, this film is aimed at the director’s core audience; Rarely, if at all, have human organs played such a prominent role in any of his works, and that suggests something. But regardless of age or inclination, here he has some fun with their grotesque arrogance and takes them less seriously; He’s not in the parody stage himself, but there is something he hasn’t seen before that condones what he’s doing.

Everything that happens here falls into a claustrophobic, man-made world; There are very few outdoor scenes (the movie was shot at Greek studios a year ago, a month ago) and there is some pretty crude art in a setting that highlights the marginality of the characters and their worlds. .

Yet they see what they are doing as transformative, potentially (and inevitably) revolutionary. Just like the invention of explosives, surgery, flight, electricity etc. as well as the most fundamental achievements. While it sounds unlikely, the premise is based on a strange combination of technology and performance art.

David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” received a six-minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere.

The latter is the domain of artists Saul Tenser (Cronenberg’s regular Vigo Mortensen) and his partner Caprice (Lea Seidu), who create a spectacle that goes beyond body art: they transplant organs and create alternative uses for body parts. . Needless to say, this is an exciting and vibrant cast; One argues that what they’re doing is a very underground, newer form of entertainment, but it can be suggested how the rest of civilization is now.

Saul obsesses over his own body, injects new growth-promoting hormones into his bloodstream, and then acts as a “bodybuilder.” The process can be somewhat stressful, but it is clear that it is not too painful; Whatever it may be, it’s worth it for Saul, who pushes the limits, is a pioneer and adventurer, knows no bounds, and proclaims that “the artist’s purpose is to seek pain.”

Naturally, the old goblin of censors is still here in the form of a new departmental assistant whose investigator is Timlin (Kristen Stewart). While he admits that “surgery is a new sex,” he still seeks faults (despite exposing himself to this world), but his character is still quite unstable, which Stewart interprets as oddly tense.

In terms of history and technology, Kronenberg takes his story to a few interesting places, some of which open the door in wilder and sometimes stranger directions; The director carefully sets the tone while arranging the halfway mix between the shocking/exploitative elements of his previous work and his more ambitious serious work. The combination works more or less similarly future crimes It’s serious, elegant, and provocative enough to reach skin competition as an art film, with the surrender of all body parts and the provocations of exploitation films.

Not many filmmakers can handle these two, but Cronenberg still manages to do the right thing.