CRIMES OF THE FUTURE - Movie Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
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#cronenberg #crimesofthefuture - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
My boyfriend and I always watch your reviews after we see movies together. You’re by far the most articulate and interesting movie critic on TH-cam!! We love you 🥰🥰
Vigo's pain was so well communicated that the climax (when finally he is at peace) was really relieving for me. Like having a bowel movement after eating something toxic ahaha
This film reawakened me I haven’t seen a modern film (maybe besides Titane) in a few years that I really felt hit the nail on the head. It’s so succinct and organized in themes yet it serves as a springboard for SO MANY ideas and concepts. Felt like classic cronenberg. I loved the mix of vintage technology in this futuristic society as well. My favorite line: “she said sex is the new surgery…. No I believe she said surgery is the new sex”
great review! i enjoyed this film a lot more than others i knew that were fans of cronenberg and wanted to like this film more than they did. aesthetically, it's everything you'd want from cronenberg, however, the ruminativeness this film has and this feeling of uncertainy and vulnerability that viggo mortensen's character expresses well had resonated with me a lot and i feel like distinguishes this one from his previous body horror works.
I haven't seen a Cronenberg movie in theaters yet, this will be my first.
Edit: Just saw it, it was crazy and awesome. I'm not entirely sure what it's about yet but it was a wild ride.
I really dug this film. I need to see it again to get a better grasp of these themes. I really liked how "body horror" was merely a setting, and the film itself is more of an existential drama more along the lines of Crash. To me, Crash is about human technology rendering sex obsolete, and the need to replace the old sex with something new. And to me, Crimes of the Future is about human technology rendering humanity itself obsolete, and the need to replace that old humanity with something new. Some resist it and turn that existential pain into art; some embrace it and transform into something monstrous, or beautiful.
I also really liked the ending. Without spoiling it, there's a light at the end of the tunnel; a twisted sense of hope and optimism that I found rather beautiful, where often his films tend to feel pessimistic and nihilistic (which I also love, but it's nice to have something else).
I'd love to hear your full thoughts on some of his other films, particularly Videodrome and Crash!
I wanted more. The movie ended and I was like "Where's the rest of the movie?"
Eastern Promises great Cronenberg flick. With Vigo
That final shot really does bring out the message that Cronenberg is trying to tell
Man choking and dying on its own omnipresent industrial byproduct was a pretty poignant final shot.
Like how we eat trash food today.
@@VFRZenhe didn’t die, he understood his evolution… he knew where he fit in
I was surprised by how many people loathed this movie, as a Cronenberg fan I think this was his best film in years. Is it perfect? Far from it. Is it gonna be etched into my brain for the rest of my life? Absolutely.
Very good new film review, Maggie. I'm a huge David Cronenberg fan. my favourite films of his are Videodrome. The Fly. Naked Lunch & Existenz. I'm really looking forward to this one. I hope it gets a uk cinema release soon.
Wasn’t a bad movie it was a little too slow performances were good but I was unsatisfied and left wanting more
I had a cyst removed out of my arm when I was a baby, but it grew back in my arm years later. It's harmless and I don't want any more surgery, so I just keep it there. No evolution there, unfortunately.
Just watched it tonight. Loved it. Found it weirdly hypnotic. Didn’t want it to end. Great performances. Great direction and grim bleak stunning cinematography
You added the word “auteur” to my vocabulary and I thank you
Videodrome is my favorite movie of all time. I hope this is closer to that than any of his other films.
This is the best review I’ve seen of this movie, I’ve been looking around to see if others gathered the same conclusions or had similar thoughts from watching. No one else I know seems to have enjoyed the film or understood very much about it. Kudos
I understood the film but didn't enjoy it, unlike almost all of Cronenberg's other films. He's one of my favorite directors of all time but for me this had loads of interesting ideas but they weren't animated, they didn't come to life, as in great films of his like Crash.
Totally agree. This is by far the best analysis of this film. Most people are harping on the "body horror."
This needed to be a full length series. There is so much to explore in that world.
I was shocked how some of the imagery got "drilled" into my head!
Great review, your insight is fascinating and you've done what many people can't do - make Cronenberg accessible!
Kristen Stewart is definitely amazing on screen. I've been seeing her grow for a while.
She’s a brilliant actress,& has such a beautiful face,truly love her.
HYPED for this. really impressed at how much hes sticking to his guns even this late in his career.
would love a review of the dead zone, my fave cronenberg, at some point.
I'm a huge Cronenberg fan - I have most of his films in my collection (I even enjoyed his novel Consumed). Viggo is absolutely one of my favorite film actors. Sadly, I found Crimes to be dull and derivative - not of another's work but of Cronenberg himself - Cronenberg imitating Cronenberg. It felt like he copied and pasted a bunch of different elements from earlier movies that were way more fascinating in their original form. It took an act of will for me to finish it - I found it lifeless and dull. It seemed to me that Cronenberg played to his brand and gave people the body horror Cronenberg that they've been craving, but it really felt like he didn't have his heart in it. I'm sure it was much easier to market it as a straight-up body horror project. He's done this type of thing so much better in the past - this felt forced and self-conscious.
My thoughts on "Crimes" is more of a deep-dive into the metaphorical meanings within Cronenberg's on-the-nose, satirical (albeit horrific) and sometimes humorous view of modern-day technology (ex: eating chair, sleeping bed, autopsy bed), exhibitionism and voyeurism (ex: Saul, Caprice, Timlin, two women with drills), pop culture (ex: Klinik/Ear Man, others), celebrity status (Saul and Caprice), and ultimately the "plastic" society that we have become (ex: plastic eaters, non-plastic eaters, and those "evolving" into eating plastic). There are also the "policing agencies" (Cope, Wippet, Timlin) that try to regulate and/or terminate humanities permanent decline into a meaningless existence of seeking out ever-greater, "shocking" sensualities (ex: government's attempts to regulate social media and the moral decline of society).
The story clearly identifies "plastic" as the synthetic, cheap, easily consumed and digested content in social media (I think of "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, Madonna's "Material Girl"). Each of the main characters is participating in the so-called "art" in some way with a brief glimpse of a "normal person" who dies from eating "plastic".
The boy Brecken, from the outset, has already "evolved" into a full plastic eater. The mother, representing parents of young "social media artists" today, smothers him. This represents the consequences of parents allowing their children to consume and produce cheap, easy to consume exhibitionism eventually leading them to be killed by it (ex: kids being killed by their stalkers, older men being fans of young girls) as if the parent was the actual murderer.
Through the entire story, the main character Saul resists "evolving" into a plastic eater (ex: "tumor-like organs" that grow inside him = the cancers of society) using alien-looking tech just to eat and sleep (Ex: cpap, hospital surgical devices, feeding tubes, mechanised beds etc). Finally, after just giving in to "evolving" into a plastic eater does he find complete contentment and peace. However, never does he realize that his "painless" exhibitionism is the very cause of his morphing into a plastic eater; he's now desensitised to it all.
Along the way, we also meet two woman voyeurists who drill holes into people's heads representing the mindless, intellegence draining people of TH-cam Channels and pornography; they create content that displays to everyone their so-called "inner beauty" but is secretely "horrific" for us to watch, and we can't turn our eyes away (ex: Adrienne, Ear Man, zipper device, etc.). In addition, Ear Man (Klinik) demonstrates how even the hippocritical Producer of his "Art" (ex: the music and entertainment industry) can be the very one who exploits the financial successes but joins the "popular" view of hating it (ex: anonymous likes, dislikes, etc.).
There are many more metaphorical references throughout the story and Cronenberg uses the genre as a warning of the future "horrors" of becoming "Plastic Eaters". Cronenberg asks us If we are disgusted by what we are watching and thus why are we not disgusted by what we "consume" in today's media? He suggests that if we are not disgusted by what we're watching, we're already a plastic eater. Indeed, ultimately society will become senseless, meaningless, painless, completely devoid of the characteristics that make us human if we don't stop eating plastic both metaphorically (ex: social media, empty entertainment, exhibitionism, voyeurism, pop culture, celebrity status, etc.) and physically (ex: oceans being full of plastic: fish eat it, we eat the fish). Neither has any nutritional value and can kill us metaphorically, physically, spiritually, and socially.
I think this was a brilliant analysis that deserves more views. Rewatching it later with this more in mind.
Your review mirrors my thoughts exactly. I left the theater feeling I had just watched a new Cronenberg film. It doesn’t get much better than that.
The scene where Kristen Stewart's character seduced Viggo Mortensen's character was the highlight of the film for me.
The moment they kissed, I had an actual epiphany. I suddenly felt like I understood so much of what Cronenberg has been doing for most of his career. I actually shouted in triumph when it hit me.
That scene alone was worth the viewing, imo. And also of course, the final shot of Viggo's blissful face was cinematic perfection.
I went in expecting a specific movie and it ended up being completely different than I expected. The more I think about it, the more I love it. Fantastic review as always 👍
Just saw this movie and so glad you reviewed it so quick. I was glued to the screen and completely fascinated with the concepts this movie presents. Some of those one liners were epic..don’t spill 😂
The soundtrack was so good
THIS was possibly the most interesting and intelligent review I have seen concerning THIS film. Thank you.
Enjoyed your thoughts. Just got out of the theater and I think I need some time to digest the material (pun intended). There were some things about the movie I did not like; however, I really love that interesting, provocative movies like this can still get made. We need more movies which take chances.
Got excited for a moment. Thought this was a review of Crimes and Misdemeanors. One of my all-time favorites.
Soooooo glad you did a review. Im seeing the movie today and can't wait to come back to this afterwards
Fantastic! Happy to have found you in here.
I love the conversation you generate over the film. I also believe that metaphors to art creation/consumtion and how this is related to an extreme society are very present and very open to interpretation. Without mentioning great acting from Vigo. Great review. Cheers 🇲🇽
Very reliable and fair reviewer, subscribed.
I totally agree with a lot of what you're saying, Vigo and the acting all around just sucked you emotionally into the film. The film dialogue is super pretensions, poetic, and philosophical, but Cronenberg has always been a rather explicitly philosophical filmmaker, and that's a large part of why I love his films. This one felt very much like Vigo's character had surrogate traits for Cronenberg himself, and I found that that seemed to reveal a lot about Cronenberg's creative process and how he views art and his films. felt to me like parts of the movie were commenting or explaining some of the spine of Cronenberg's whole career and sort of philisophical goal or aim.
Sounds like his explorations of body and tech melds like Videodrome and of course Crash. I tend to like his more humanistic journeys like The Fly (an AIDs allegory) and Dead Ringers.
I’m young, I didn’t grow up with David’s work but I LOVED his son’s ‘POSSESSOR’ film. I thought that one was absolutely beautiful and humanly fucked and bleak. Is ‘Crimes’ anything like that one?
I haven’t seen this yet but it seems like it’s well suited for 2022. With all of this technology we have that we now that we even wear on our bodies that tell us our vitals and track our sleep, etc. Our hollow obsession with minimizing pain and disease and mastering the physical aspects of being human via consumerism is all the rage, while what it means to be human still remains unanswered. What other future can we envision at this point?
I just love your reviews. Thank you for all you do!
Your review skills are amazing. Always a joy!
@10:11: You always worry about how to say Léa Seydoux's name...but rest assured, Maggie, that you are saying it right!
A very *easy tip* to remember when *pronouncing anything in French* is that the *last syllable carries the weight* for the whole word or name.
I really liked it when I saw it in Cannes. It felt refreshing in a terrible competition, even if it didn't break any new ground. Still, it was gorgeous to look at, and Léa Seydoux was amazing.
It’s a masterpiece of a movie. Talks about evolution of tech yet the secret hinderance of humanity. The perversion of what’s suppose to enhance humanity towards kindness and generosity and no corruption becomes the actual goal. How he presents the incredible advancements of science but yet the infrastructure (the buildings the graffiti the grittiness) remains intact or even worse than it is. The biggest take as well is how the father thought he was natural and embracing body evolution despite the source of power (society) condemning them as plastic eaters yet it was the actual governmental organizations that created them to be part of the “parasitic” elements of society. I could write a whole essay but I believe that’s my major take. We’re so distracted with the sexual elements that we get seduced and deviate from the true intent of human evolution .
Looking forward to this.
Have you seen Naked Lunch?
I really enjoyed that one.
Going to see this movie at the theater within the next couple hours. I'm a big fan of 'The Fly' so this movie will be very nostalgic for me. Anticipating it to run like a classic sci-fi drama. Fingers crossed. Loved it! It leaves you wanting more at the end and questioning. It is graphic so I don't recommend it for the faint of heart. Two thumbs up.
Viggo reminded me of Roy Batty from Bladerunner in a way. Loved everyone in this
I really enjoyed your insightful and articulate review! I love Cronenberg's horror too, but personally i kinda wished he would take it even further especially in this day and age. To me Videodrome still is one of the best movies of all time and it was revolutionary in its time, it was the first to have this merging of technology and media into a new kind of flesh to house our hedonistic souls.
Well this time is more like changing our bodies for the sake of creating art in a society that fetishizes surgery? To me it only made sense if when watching the movie, whenever they said growth or tumor or new organ or gland, i replaced it with the word idea (artistic idea). That's how i got the notion that maybe their lack of pain perception reflects how desensitized we are about to become (Viggo feels pain because he is the tortured artist).
The thing is i seen so many iterations of Cronenberg's work, so many movies that drew inspiration from it i wished this movie would be more, you know, extreme (or maybe i'm just too damn desensitized).I expected Cronenberg to take his theme of merging or changing the human form to new heights (instead of turning it into a recycle bin...really) I'm not saying i did not like the movie, the movie was great and he made all the cast look great, i even loved Kristen Stewart, i think she did an awesome job depicting this horny weirdo. I am a big fan of his use of practical effects but i can't say they where exceedingly gory (not to me anyway). My gripe was the ending, i thought it was too abrupt and as i said before it was a bit disappointing to me, although satisfyingly grotesque. That being said, it is a great comback from a director that influenced horror as we know it, and i hope he makes more movies.
Videodrome is more relevant than ever right now, but I also think that Crimes of the Future has a real resonance what with the trans contagion that's going on. We have teen girls chopping off their breasts because they think it will save them from the nightmare of becoming a woman, and teen boys looking to castrate themselves, like Jazz Jennings did.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 I don't think there is any trans epidemic going on today, it's just kids being as confused and misguided as they ever where and twisted people taking advantage of it like they always did. You are right, it's true horror but the reason why i even watched Crimes of the future was the fact that it did not try to push any politics on me. Sure, you can interpret it in different ways, you could say for example the movie talks about transhumanism or you could use your interpretation, saying it's about trans kids today, the thing that i respect about it is the fact that it doesn't preach, it just tells a good story. Granted there is a bit of preaching, but it's about plastic pollution and not fucking gender politics.
Wonderful take, per usual. Jus saw today and loved. A couple of aesthetics taken from '99s eXistenZ but that's OK. Great world building and noir future sci fi amid a waning pace dystopia, loved the human/detritus evolution message. Agree super cast all the way through. Bring your drill. Crimes of the Future we are creating today.
Great insights.
Quite possibly the best review on this film, please keep up the great work
When is this film coming out in North America or Europe
What are your thoughts on the movie Morbius?
Why did those 2 women kill, the guy with the beard?
Were, they the villains of the movie?
Fantastic review!
I recognize the density of ideas, but it didn't entirely work for me me as a cohesive story. Interestingly, I found the more conventional subplot elements distracting. I've come to realize it's hard to do exposition well. I'm glad you also saw the humor - I found myself laughing when the audience remained mostly silent in their reverence - not unlike some of the over-the-top, but all too familiar, characters in the movie. For me, its sledge-hammer approach ultimately came off as more parody than humor. Sometimes a scalpel will do more. Ahem. Anyway, the acting here is first-rate all-around, and I agree - Kristen Steward is outstanding! It didn't have the same impact like so many other Cronenberg films, but it's still intriguing. For me, a more conventional examination of the real-life subculture of body modification would have been far more compelling and horrific! Excellent review!
Great. Liked your review. Now, can’t wait to see the movie.
Just watched the 4K... wow, best Cronenberg since Eastern Promises imo. The score by Howard Shore is my favorite in awhile.
Did it already come out in your area?
yep. I saw it last night and shot the review right after.
So much to say about this film, a multi-layered dissection (wink) of the artist, art, and human existence and meaning itself. Contradictory beings, walking paradoxes. Lovely analysis as always, I felt a lot of the same touchpoints (self-reflection by Cronenberg and so forth) upon first viewing. The subjective meaning and meaninglessness of art. If this is David’s final work, it captures the essence of his oeuvre remarkably well. Leaves you thinking.
I’ll add, given that this was originally written in 1998 between Crash and Exystence, it struck me immediately that this film is a bit of a synthesis of those two. Some of the imagery specifically seems to have been used in eXy while Crimes was placed on the back burner. I agree that Crimes is a bit controlled and lacking that usual Cronenberg edge or uneasiness (I didn’t get queasy at all during this) which ironically neared its peak in those other 1990s works.
Tis true, we are all closer to becoming Brundlefly. See Shivers and you will never eat Szechuan beef again. But anway....LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!!
Great review. Totally agree about Stewart, her performance was amazing!
🖤great review👏... I loved this movie, it's pretentiousness as you mention, the symbolisms, the drama, the dark humour, of course not everyone's cup of tea. And yes, Vigo's performance was captivating🖤and the irony at the end 😂loved it. Must re-watch...
Can you do a “Naked Lunch” review? One of Cronenbergs older movie it’s so weird
Thank you for making a review on this film ❤
Did you know Crimes of the Future is a remake of sorts? He made a version of this film in the early 70s. I highly recommend it.
Great review helps my insight on the movie as well
LOVE the concepts and ideas. The acting is wonderful and Lea Seydoux is stunning. Knowing pretty much his entire filmography, I feel the body horror elements no longer have effect, in particular the mind/flesh furniture in the film. (They also seemed a bit too plastic. There was that missing, glistening fluid, or perspiration or something, kind of like that texture you felt was missing from THE NORTHMAN.) I don't agree with Mortensen's body contortions, unless they were meant to be humorous. And if it is intended to be a somewhat, satirically pretentious film, then I could accept that. Otherwise, an absolutely marvelous cornucopia of Cronenberg's themes, in a film that seems strained and tired of its parameters. One other thing: the body horror was, at the same time, outstandingly improved, during the autopsies and how the mutated organs were expressed.
I felt that the film had significant budget constraints. Yet somehow , cronenberg was incredibly economical and it still had a strong visual identity and a thick atmosphere.
I wanted to see more of these ideas fully expressed but I guess he can't have a true tent pole budget.
Must have seen a different movie cause this movie was trash
the concept of this film it's interesting and thought-provoking, but the unexistent characters' arcs, cringey dialogue and most of all, the way it presents its social commentary made me think of it as complete garbage.
As a long haired dude I feel your open hair placement struggle, it's almost painful to watch. :D Great review, really not my kind of movie but it's always nice to hear a thoughtful second opinion!
Have you read Cronenberg's novel, Miz Deepfocuslens? If so, what did you think?
"Consumed"
I’ve always considered myself an aficionado more than a cinephile. Nevertheless, I’ve always dug Hitchcock, Kubrick Welles, Scorsese, etc, all the big names. But it was because of Maggie that I started to appreciate more (a LOT more) David Lynch and David Cronenberg films. They’re both amazing, original and so against trends, formulas and pleasing the audiences.
There's also the other 'Crimes of the Future' from 1970, also by Cronenberg. (easy to find on youtube ) Completely different other than the title...
It was a densely layered, complex film. Kinda wish I could watch again.
I really like your more intellectual style of movie review.Nobody else does this the way you do(that wasn’t meant to rhyme.Sorry, and have a good rest of your day).
Thanks!
the cast is sooo good
I just watched this for the second time this morning. I really like it now. The first run wasn't hitting for me.
Hey Deepfocuslens yesterday was my Birthday.
It was deliberately bizarre and unpleasant, to the point of feeling satirical yet heartfelt at the same time. I loved its reflective and surrealist self-awareness.
Please can u review Charlie Says (2018), its about the Manson Family and well... they try and sympathise for the murderers?? It's... I'll just let you watch it.
This was… incredibly poignant 🤌😆👏 lol It waaaas cheeky as hell, as well as everything else you said.. perfect review! 🥳🤘 Haven’t seen enough of his films, saw the other Viggo ones at a pretty damn young age and many times since, recently Metropolis.. still unsure how to feel about that one lol whether I like it.. or def do not.. 😂 but saw Videodrome in 2015? 🧐 and looooved it soooo much, and now want to see it again after seeing this LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH! ❤️✊😆
in the end it really was a movie on a plastic candy bars
This movie is incredible. Loved everything about it
Been waiting and hoping you would have a review of Possessor by Brandon Cronenberg...quite a film with some fantastic acting by Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott. Young Cronenberg is off to promising start imo.
I didn't get why the general public would fear mutation/plastic eaters. The "society" portrayed here seemed pretty open and well positioned to embrace that change.
They were doing all sorts of invasive procedures and modifications and had stopped feeling pain. I would argue that the loss of pain is as big a deal as the switch to synthetic food.
Why it be so shocking and horrific for them to accept that someone can process inorganic material...Bleh.
I loved this movie especially the dancing ears 👂 surround sound
It was well constructed and fully realized artistically. The atmosphere and vibe were totally on point (as always with Cronenberg). But it really lost me with the extended autopsy of the 8 year old who was murdered by his mother. I don't understand the artistic value of that. It's just unpleasant. I don't think there's any inherent value in inflicting pain and extreme discomfort upon the viewer.
History of Violence themed throughout all his films, Crash seems to be his existential or esoteric vision but in many circles even when that came out it was already cliche' and out of date for that scene even at that time . Really and very very..... grotesquely Erotic, imagine that..Be Well Friday Yum Yum
James log jamming Woods
I liked the guy with ears all over his body. He must be a good listener.
Beautiful and intelligent. A winning combo.
The movie makes completely no sense.
107 minutes of my life lost in the theater with no way of getting them back. Please don't be like me.
I liked this movie. It's was like reading a book but left me a little confused.
I admire the breakdown and the analysing on the film.
But I detest the word "perfect", and you say it quite a lot.
REVIEW MORBIUS
No
I thought the movie was fine but it left me a little disappointed. The premise was novel and interesting. However more time was spent establishing the setting rather than developing the characters. The plot of the movie was a little slow and meandering. There was not much in the way of climax or resolution. And the ending isn't very satisfying as it comes almost out of nowhere.
The movie didn't do it for me...it was too confusing. But the casting was really on point and the art was pretty cool.
Thought this one was pretty disappointing. Im a big Cronenberg fan and not that the movie was terrible but it felt kind of half baked in concept and execution. I also agree with you on wanting more edge from the film, as I feel like something more impactful happening would have benefited the film. Im actually shocked this got walkouts because its fairly tame, ESPECIALLY for Cronenberg.
Darn, the world is disappointed your wholly subjective wants were not serviced. A shame.
@@MJanovicable Good to know you can handle other peoples opinions.
@@joshgregory7439 Yours had no real informational value.
She gets it.