eXistenZ
1999
Directed by David Cronenberg
I loved this movie and would recommend it to anyone. The special effects are believable. The story intriguing. It has twists and turns and is fun to watch and then talk about.
This is not a review to get someone to go and see this movie. Its is a review to make people reanalyze what they have seen. It contains spoilers, so stop reading if you have not seen this movie.
Let me begin by saying I haven't seen this movie since sometime in 2000 on video. I did however see it in the theater as well.
I liked this movie. I like most of David Cronenberg's movies since I saw The Fly when I was 17. His movies are weird, sick, creepy, twisted, surreal, and borderline brilliant. They always make me think after seeing them. I would give this movie a 7 out of 10.
But wait...
Recently, I have been seeing some criticism of this movie. People were complaining about several things:
- Flat or bad acting.
- The tooth gun couldn't really function.
- When Allegra enters her own game she doesn't understand it.
- The fish factory is so sick and boring who would want to play in such a game.
So, I began to think: Was the movie really bad and I was being blind or was it really subtle and much better than I thought?
The movie begins at what seems to be a church or a school to me; it just always gave me that feeling. A group of people begin to play this game and then it is halted because of an assassination attempt.
Allegra and Ted leave suddendly and end up at a gas station where there is a strange creature on the gas pump. (This is where Cronenberg messes with his fans. I just assumed that it being a Cronenberg film, strange things just exist. His movies exist outside reality. When something happens you just accept it.) This should have been a dead giveaway that they were playing a game. Even if you pick up on this you still might think that it was a game begun at the school/church beginning.
At the end of the movie we seem to come out of a game started before the movie opens called tRanscendenZ. All of the characters we have seen during the movie are on a stage playing this game in what seems to me to be a church. The movie ends with the question 'Is the game over and what is reality?'
Now to address the so called problems:
1: At the end of the movie we (the audience) discover that the whole movie has been a game played by a group of average people that probably don't really know each other (with the possible exception of 'Allegra' and 'Ted'). The bad acting that can be seen now becomes a subtle and great job by the actors. If you met some people to play a game (that was more than just shooting a laser gun at aliens from a spaceship) you had never played and required to talk and do things with people you didn't know how would act? Shy, hesitant, confused. If this is supposed to be regular people playing a game then their characters would come off flat or boring.
There are more clues if you are paying attention, which I wasn't. It would have been different if their characters had been actors. Imagine a game of Dungeons and Dragons with Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon, and Drew Barrymore with Michael Mann as the Dungeon Master. That would be interesting to watch. Their characters would probably come to life. I think there are more layers to this movie than meets the eye.
2: I think this complaint is just silly. People play video games and in them their characters use laser guns, light sabers and morph rays that turn their enemies into chickens. At this point in the movie we (the audience) know that Ted is playing a game. Normal rules don't apply in other games why should they here. Enough said.
3: I was confused at this both times that I saw the movie. The second time around I should have understood. 'Allegra' is playing the game started before the movie opens. Her character in the game designed eXistenZ not her 'real' persona. The game taps into peoples thoughts and develops the game based on the players personalities.
'Allegra' and 'Ted' hate games and their designers so that is why the game revolves around assassinating 'Allegra'. When she enters eXistenZ, having no desire to play games, she doesn't understand her own game because she didn't really design it, it's not real and she has no desire to create one for the 'real' game to tap into to create. So the 'real' game has to create this, therefore she is alien to it. Again this is another hint that we are in a game already before 'Allegra' and 'Ted' enter eXistenZ.
4: This last one says much for the 'reality' of the movie. Why do people play these games in the first place? To escape the drudgery of reality. The problem is that the games they play tap into their minds and thoughts to create the 'alternate reality' of each game. Unfortunately the people who play the games are so involved with their mundane and depressing jobs that the game can only create a world that's just as boring as their 'real' lives. The escapism of the game isn't really much on an escape. Another subtle hint to the attentive.
Cronenberg was ahead of his time. People play games like SimCity on the internet now. If in reality you are a dork or jerk and can't get the girls, you can just log on and be a suave stud. The problem is if you try to meet somebody sooner or later you'll act like that dork or jerk and just get dumped on line. Even on the internet you can't hide your true self and for some it is only intensified. The escape isn't an escape after all.
I am now seeing just how much better this movie really is. I would have to re-rate it as an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 after considering these things. Enjoy, please.
M. Patrick Ebright
January, 2003