Crimes of the Future

Eine künstlerisch ausgefeilte Bizarrerie mit einer interessanten dystopischen Vision der Gesellschaft, einer fesselnden Musik von Howard Shore, dem charismatischen Mortensen in einer schwarzen Märtyrer-Kapuze und der sexuell unwiderstehlich verrückten Kristen Stewart. Jede Sekunde mit ihr war für mich eine Trance. Schade, dass der Höhepunkt des Films nicht ihr lustvoller, lauter Orgasmus auf dem OP-Tisch bei der chirurgischen Verbindung der offenen Wunden mit dem von Tumoren befallenen Mortensen war. Als ich ein kleiner Junge war, hat mir die Message aus Hellraiser - Das Tor zur Hölle "Schmerz ist Lust" erfolgreich dabei geholfen, Dinge wie das Nähen meines aufgeschlagenen Kopfes und andere Verletzungen, die meine Jungenstreiche verursacht haben, auszuhalten. Crimes of the Future hat mich auf die Idee gebracht, dass etwas Unwillkommenes, das bösartig im Körper wächst, nicht nur ein natürlicher genetischer Prozess des Lebens, sondern auch ein einzigartiges Kunstwerk ist, das unser Organismus schuf. Ein seltsamer und faszinierender Film, den man schwer erfassen kann und den ich mir sicherlich noch einmal anschauen werde. [KVIFF] (06.07.2022)

Cronenberg, as I like and dislike him. Visually I found it as poor as his minimalist Spider, David doesn't even deliver atmosphere anymore, and the few bizarre sarcophagi are not enough. On the other hand, the microworld presented by the five main characters is so creepy that it's kind of fun to watch if you're in the right mood. You just feel like some creepy voyeur watching a couple of weirdos licking each other's bodily deformities through a keyhole. Here, for "licking" add groping abdomens, pulling out tumors, cutting into the skin and making a zipper on the abdominal incision (anyone heard of Videodrome?). Ultimately, the most entertaining part of the whole film is the pissed-off frustration of uninformed male and female viewers who leave during the screening because they were expecting "something nice" with Mortensen, and instead they see people pulling tattooed entrails out of their stomachs. David, that's why I still like you :o) (04.07.2022)

A fascinatingly twisted world that I enjoyed watching, although the plot is far from "entertaining". It's a shame, because even in the world the story takes place, and in the themes it addresses, I can see the potential for a heightened viewer experience. Unfortunately, Cronenberg didn’t handle them in an attractive way. Stylish nastiness with potential drowned in boring dialogue. Overall, it could have been worse, but also much better. (21.06.2022)

Surgery is the new sex! Horror maestro David Cronenberg returns to the genre that made him famous (body horror) after a few years and creates an interestingly twisted world with a strong philosophical overlay, thoughtful dialogue, decent casting, a novel point and idea, and there are a few enjoyable disgusting bit. Again, people ran out of theaters in America, but this is again overhyped and definitely had more potential given the premise, but I liked it relatively. It's very strange though, with a touch of arthouse, a slower pace, and not many outright horror scenes, but the world itself managed to keep me glued to my seat and wondering what would come of it. Viggo Mortensen is very good, Léa Seydoux shows up naked so all is well, and Kristen Stewart has a smaller and very weird role. You can see Cronenberg's signature, some of the futuristic ideas deserve a chapter to themselves, and the whole organ swapping idea is impressive (the dissection of a small child is the most interesting, but the drill in the head and the hybrid with the ears are also cool). The guts and dissection are quite enjoyable, but there can't be much talk of atmosphere or proper gore. A strange film, hard to rate, there are things I enjoyed a lot, but the pacing could have been better and the horror side could have been given more space. For a fringe audience only. We are making art out of anarchy. Story 4/5. Action 2/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10. (23.06.2022)

If someone asked me to sum up Cronenberg's latest film in one sentence, it would probably be unattainable mission. On the one hand, it’s mysterious, unyielding and strongly allegorical, as it’s not psychologically interested in the characters, leaving them to wander around the austerely rendered dystopian setting and utter a series of existential or technical rather than mundane and plot-forming lines, but it’s also straightforward and dense. The introduction already uses simple means of communication to ask the questions we desperately want answers to. We are immersed in another distinctive Cronenberg world, where people hardly feel pain; it has become more of an aphrodisiac. Nobody is interested in "old sex" anymore, and instead people get aroused in public by cutting each other. Some transfer this ecstasy into art, which in Crimes of the Future defies all self-control. The show here is driven to extremes that may yet captivate an increasingly disfigured and mutated society. The boundary between artist and creation is disappearing, just as the role of the environment is changing, from a benevolent guiding force to a definitively beleaguered human instrument and, in a way, a feeding. Unfortunately, Cronenberg renders all these absorbing and big ideas too austerely and mainly descriptively, so it stands out painfully at times that the famous filmmaker triumphs mainly in the brooding arrangement of his original world, in which the "alien" coldness clashes with the organic warmth of the sprawling stump beds and chairs. It's time to listen, says the presenter during the performance of an individual studded with auditory organs, exhorting especially the audience, who must be able, as is traditional with Cronenberg, to interpret things in their own way. A film in which the protagonist participates in an inner beauty contest while growing a set of mutant organs may sound like cheap symbolism, but in the hands of a skilled filmmaker it offers many thought-provoking ideas. Often too descriptive and visually unattractive, but still poignant and worthy of reflection. 70 % (02.07.2022)

Während die vorherigen genreübergreifenden Filme von David Cronenberg den Eindruck erweckten, in einer komplexen und lebendigen Welt zu existieren, scheinen Crimes of the Future nur in drei Hütten, umgeben von Luftleere, zu existieren. Es hat Ideen und Konzepte, aber sie sind so schwerfällig miteinander verbunden, dass nur wenige von der Geschichte hier zufrieden oder überrascht sein werden. Und ich verstehe, dass das Budget niedrig war und die pandemische Situation der Produktion nicht zuträglich war, dennoch kann ich nicht über die Tatsache hinwegsehen, dass der Film eher an eine Amateurtheateraufführung erinnert als an ein fesselndes Filmwerk, wie wir es vom Regisseur erwarten würden. (06.07.2022)

For the fact that it's actually quite "Cronenbergian", except for the beautiful soundtrack and a very respectable Léa Seydoux, this late Cronenberg actually fails to impress with anything. Kristen Stewart is almost a parody and Viggo Mortensen gives a completely routine and uninteresting performance. The premise is very good, but as a whole it fails miserably. [50%] [KVIFF 2022] (02.07.2022)