Crimes of the Future

As another 21st century art object, not a "movie" which is an early 20th century concept, this delivers everything the brand name (David Cronenberg) promises. Plus it's pretty high-brow. Superior production values but I really think it'a more of a moving painting. When everyone has 4K video projection it could play silently on a wall, slowly changing from pale, wan faces to exotic biomorphics to visceral, pulsating fantasias. If you want date night (unless your date is Amy Taubin) forget it.

I just remembered what this kinda, sorta reminded me of. Quintet, Robert Altman's arty, dystopic from 1979. That wintry society was pre-occupied with the stylized rituals of the titular board game. And everyone was cloaked and draped against the cold with hats and hoods. Similar end-of-world feel.

This movie starts out great, with an awesomely dark opening scene to set the mood. It's really weird immediately and reaches high levels of grossness, but I surprisingly dug it. In many movies set in the future, it really isn't much different except for the technology and a few aesthetics. But here, we see a really interesting depiction of where humanity ends up, some of which I find scarily possible.

Unfortunately, it's extremely dull with just the slightest hint of a story and doesn't amount to anything. By the end I was checked out, or else I might've been furious at how it ends. I think many people will think this is one of the worst movies they've seen. (1 viewing, 6/8/2022)

"crimes of the future" is an efficient film, it does a lot with little, without big sets and gigantic practical effects, everything is very simple but very convincing, the scenery compositions are dirty with a dark photograph, always looking for an intrinsic degradation, the effects practical are good, the few CGI are weak, but the sound editing is magnificent, always looking for sounds that seek the viewer's discomfort, another positive point is the performances, the duo Vigo mortise and Léa Seydoux are very good, Viggo manages to show all the pain and anguish of her character with her body and vocal posture, Kristen is another highlight, making an anxious and paranoid character the actress delivers a very good performance, despite her little screen time, but the best point here, I bring the classic and brilliant Canadian director, david cronenberg, is his script, which, despite being a little confusing, has as its main premise the limit of art, its contradictions and subversive appreciations, its criminal lity, and with that it makes a self-reflection of its own filmography, the film is also a critique of state bureaucracy and government intervention in art, all on a derogatory dystopian futuristic science fiction plan. The feature has some problems, the biggest one is perhaps the subtexts that are open and not always completed. We don't have the best version of Cronenberg here, but his style remains authorial and inviting. Grade 7/10.

As mankind develops more and more technology, there will likely be more and more of an interest in the quest for immortality. And that brings various ramifications, some not so positive perhaps. It might be better to just accept the natural cycles, accept natural death rather than trying to fight against it so much with these man-made, unnatural processes. This seems to be the overarching statement of the movie. It is an important topic that deserves exploration and discussion, certainly.

But getting to this statement is certainly a bit of a slog. The mechanical dialogue and characters' robotic mannerisms become tiresome. The whole thing feels cold, detached and hard to connect to. Sure, this is a cold and detached dystopic world, but there isn't a counterbalancing element which is needed to build empathy in such a world.

I get why Mortensen would make the actorly "choice" to be almost constantly throat clearing. The character has internal organ issues, I get that. But that doesn't make the choice any less annoying. It just becomes excessive and annoying.

As usual, Seydoux is sexy and talented and probably the best thing about the movie.

Some people in the future muck about with their saucy organs and that's about it. Some of the effects and prosthetics are creative, but some of them are bobbins.

The drama is mundane. There's no suspense, tension or stakes. If all the movie had is a premise, then the body horror needed to be bonkers to give the audience a bit of fun. But it's all too serious. The philosophical aspect is brought to the fore, which is the least interesting thing about it. I like that it's trying something different, but it comes at the cost of good storytelling. A simple thriller element would have balanced the movie nicely. Unfortunately, the plot is too thin to hold any weight.

The sets and cinematography are good. The acting is clunky and the dialogue is waffling, when it's audible. Cronenberg has fallen victim to the trend of dialogue being whispered, mumbled, fried or delivered in an accent so outrageous that it's hard to decipher what anybody's banging on about.

A meandering, middle-of-the-road sci-fi.