Maps to the Stars (2014)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writer:    Bruce Wagner
Cast:       Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Evan Bird

A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family- chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their past. Benji (Evan Bird) and Havana (Julianne Moore) share the same agent and the former is a child actor in a studio franchise while the latter is an aging struggling actor. They are both thoroughly unlikable characters who have much in common. Their fate become more intertwined  as the film progresses the connections between all the characters become more and more apparent.

After targeting the wealthy 0.1% in 'Cosmopolis', Cronenberg is now aiming his gun at Hollywood, which he says is both seductive and repulsive at the same time. This is his first film to be shot in US in a career that has spanned almost fifty years so far. It can be described best a pitch dark comedy similar in lines to Todd Solondz' work. Instead of ordinary unlikable characters in his films like 'Happiness', here you have their counterparts from Hollywood. The performances from all concerned are excellent and it wouldn't be surprising if Julianne Moore gets her Oscar for this role. Evan Bird would intentionally remind you of Justin Bieber, Cronerberg's fellow Canadian. The title 'Maps to the Stars' refer to the ones that you get in LA with details of where the stars are living.

Cronenberg has never hid his disdain for Hollywood but that doesn't get in the way of the film because it is largely plot driven. That makes it a more accessible film when compared to 'Cosmopolis' but it won't be up everyone's alley. It is a very difficult film to describe but is certainly a must watch for Cronenberg fans as he continuously evolve even after hitting the 70s.

Rating: 4/5

Cosmopolis (2012)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers:  David Cronenberg, Don DeLillo
Cast:       Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton

Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.

It is among the few films that I watched twice in two days and it kind of demands that if you don't pay close attention. First time I was kind of sleepy and on second watch I understood what he was really going for. So this was my third time watch of this Cronenberg film which is an adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel with the same name that came out in 2003. The resentment towards the 1% with the slogan 'We are the 99%' of Occupy Wall Street was realized after the 2008 global financial crisis and so the novel was kind of prophetic. To be fair it is not really the 1% but the 0.1% that Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) represents. He is kind of from the hedge fund creed who takes huge bets on all sort of things based on what they claim to be the information that they process to spot things that others can't. He is married to a girl, from a billionaire family, who is pretending to be a poet and they haven't had sex yet. He lives in an apartment on the top floor of a skyscraper for which he has two elevators catering to his different moods (slower one with Satie's music to calm him down and another faster one set to some shitty sufi-rap music).  His limo contains cool screens giving him data from all the financial markets and he also gets daily medical checkups. Doctor that day informs him that he has got an asymmetrical prostate. He had made huge bet by shorting Yuan and things go tits up as it appreciates and thereby ruining his wealth. Over the course of the day he meets various people related to his business, his sex life and his wife who ultimately dumps him when she hears of his financial troubles. He then takes a self-destructive path and meets two people who wants to assault him to varying degrees of viciousness. 

The first hour of the film shows the staleness of the billionaire's life and he is shown to be worrying about pointless things like buying a chapel all to himself and denying it to wider public. The second half of the film gives a little bit time for those who are protesting against the system. They vandalizes his limo and are seen to be throwing dead cats as their protest, shouting-'There is a specter that is haunting the World-Capitalism'.  The thing is that, the film is not very one-sided. The creators are also criticizing the pointlessness of the protests and their motivations for doing it. The questions that film raises could easily be put by showing a Silicon Valley billionaire in stead of a Wall Street one. The problem with the 0.1% of the society is that they are almost invisible to the wider public and they live a life that is cut off from the reality of the rest of the population. This will help in fostering the discontent and help in making changes to the system in what might be violent means. This is exactly what prompted Andrew Carnegie to advocate philanthropy during the gilded age to get people on side of capitalism. It seems we are in a gilded age again with all the silicon valley billionaires pledging their wealth for philanthropic purposes partly for their egos and partly to be on the right side of the people. They are at least visible which cannot be said about the wall street assholes who screw up things but still get to keep their wealth.

Overall the film is great but it might not be to everyone's liking with its intended coldness. 2012 had two limo mindfucks with the other being 'Holy Motors' and both of them are great.

Rating: 4/5

Eastern Promises (2007)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writer:    Steven Knight
Cast:       Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl

A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife (Naomi Watts) in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

I had seen this film once before when it came on TV years ago. I don't remember whether it was before I came across Cronenberg's other works or after. Anyway 'Eastern Promises' and 'A History of Violence', both starring Viggo Mortensen, are an odd couple of films in Cronenberg's filmography in the sense that they are very non-Cronenbergian. The man who is most famous for the body-horror genre doing a couple of mob films albeit with a twist on the mob genre was really indeed odd. He followed it up with 'A Dangerous Method', a Carl Jung period film which also featured Mortensen in the role of Sigmund Freud. Looks like Cronenberg has now moved on to Robert Pattinson who starred in 'Cosmopolis' and his most recent film 'Maps to the Stars'. It seems he is again going back to Cronenberg mode with a Lynchian twist based on Cosmopolis and from what I heard about 'Maps to the Stars' which I haven't seen yet. He has been a vocal critic of Hollywood system and his latest film is the only one shot or set in US and it is supposed to be an outsider's look on the farcical side of Hollywood. Can't wait to watch that.

Coming back to Eastern Promises, my view on it has not changed on repeat watch. It is more than good but not great. Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel are excellent but I just didn't think much of Armin Mueller-Sathl who is supposed to be the mob king. The story of a king who is disappointed by his prince is not a novel idea and some of the rituals done by the Russian mob looked a bit unconvincing in its portrayal, not that I am familiar with it. When you watch for the first time the twist works well. I don't think there is enough in the Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) story for it to be the central one in the film. There is no real conflict in his motivations which is what many other undercover films depicts (Donnie Brasco, The Departed, New World etc). Probably that is exactly what Cronenberg is going for, just bending the genre rules. Film was written by Steven Knight who directed Tom Hardy starring excellent little film 'Locke'. A sequel for Eastern Promises was discussed but didn't take off and now the project is dead.

All the three Cronenberg-Mortensen films are solid without being great. A supreme director dabbling with themes that he didn't handle in his career thus far. But its is great to see that he is back  again doing what he does best-mindfucks. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Naked Lunch (1991)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers:  William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg
Cast:      Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm

An exterminator gets addicted to the substance he uses to kill bugs and accidentally murders his wife. He gets involved in a secret government program orchestrated by giant bugs in Africa.

The film is kind of an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name but depicts the drug induced process of the author writing the novel. The film is weird but it is a bit dry and too clean and is not as good a watch as other Cronenberg films. Still an interesting film with some black humor thrown in.

Rating: 2.5/5

Cosmopolis (2012)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers:  David Cronenberg, Don DeLillo
Cast:      Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Durand
Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28 year old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.

I saw it twice in the space of two days. First time i got a general idea about its theme but didn't have a clue about the last thirty minutes due to combination of being sleepy and the film being too demanding. It is not a film that one should watch in cinemas as you need to rewind some of the dialogues to truly understand what the fuck is going  on. The film is really very contemporary as the current feeling towards capitalism and the antagonism towards the top one percentile is depicted in the film. The first 70 minutes of the film is showing the stale nature of existence of the super rich and the next 40 minutes balances it out by showing the worthlessness, thoughtlessness and helplessness of the people who protest against the so called capitalists. In effect it mocks everyone.

It is not a film that people would like and it is not meant to be. It is a must watch though. Two great limo films in 2012-Cosmopolis and Holy Motors. Both of them difficult watches but great nevertheless.

Rating: 4/5

A Dangerous Method (2011)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writer:   Christopher Hampton
Cast:      Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen
A look at how intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.

Its a good film and fascinating for those who are interested in psychoanalysis.

Rating: 3.5/5

Dead Ringers (1988)

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers:  Bari Wood, Jack Geasland, David Cronenberg, Norman Snider
Cast:      Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold, Heidi von Palleske
Identical twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to complicate over a woman.

The performance from Jeremy Irons is stunning and the film grows on you as it progresses. In the end I think this is the best film I have seen from David Cronenberg. Jeremy Iron in his role reminded me of Christian Bale in American Psycho.

Rating: 4.5/5