From the legendary filmmaker who brought audiences The Brood, Scanners, and The Fly, but also A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method, comes a sort of return-to-roots movie that promises the shock-and-awe for which he is (in)famous. David Cronenberg has had a rather fascinating career in cinema. He made a name for himself as a master of body horror, but then, had his moments where he tackled drama and romance. His latest, Crimes of the Future combines science-fiction, extreme body-modification and performance art. Though the film does reflect a certain level of competent maturity, I also feel it struggles a little to clearly convey some of the filmmaker’s messages.
In a dark dystopian future, humanity struggles with the next steps in their evolution. Most of the pain that has plagued humankind for so long, seems to no longer exist in the traditional, natural sense. This leads the people of this era to go to extreme measures to feel physical pain. Meanwhile, certain members of the human race begin experiencing bizarre changes/mutations, in response to their environment.
The protagonist of the film, an enigmatic and mostly private, performance artist by the name of Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) has a rather bizarre condition that enables him to grow new organs within his body.His artistic partner and “lover” Caprice (Lea Seydoux) surgically removes the new organ before a captive audience. While struggling to deliver his next, ground-breaking work-of-art, Saul is approached by an unusual, underground figure by the name of Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman), whose movement wishes to expose the new incredible next step in humanity’s evolution.
Written and directed by David Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future is an utterly captivating film because of its shocking and bizarre visuals. As far as Cronenberg body-horror goes, the film’s visuals may eventually get recognized as a master work. From the production and art designs to the cinematography by Douglas Koch, the film is a beautifully hideous experience to behold with one’s eyes. In addition, the incredible score by Howard Shore is absolutely sublime.
While the aesthetic and sensory experience of the movie is absolute incredible, I struggled a bit to find the same level of love for the writing. While the movie has some amazing thematic material going for it, the finished product often raises more questions by leaving some elements of the story unsatisfyingly unexplained. Between the writing and the editing of the movie, I feel that there may be some better explanations left on the cutting room floor.
As far as the cast is concerned, I feel that everyone simply understood what Cronenberg wanted and perform mostly exceptionally. In addition to the actors I mentioned previously, the film features great and entertaining turns by Kristen Stewart, Don McKellar, Welket Bungué, Lihi Kornowski, and several others.
Going into this movie, I felt a rush of excitement, but also some fear and trepidation. I left the film mostly pleased with the finished product, but with the reservations I expressed above. Body-horror Cronenberg is back and it is a welcome return to form for the director. I only wished that it had been the movie that my mind built it up to be. I know that’s my fault, but one can only hope that the mad/demented/ingenious filmmaker still has his swan song in him.