1986 SF/horror, dir. David Cronenberg, Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis:
IMDb. Seth Brundle has an
invention that will change the world, but…
It's good to see Goldblum and Davis when they were still
struggling actors rather than Big Names. This was the middle of a trio
of films in which they both appeared: filming Transylvania 6-5000
(1985) was where they met, they were a couple while this was being
made, and they went on to the lead roles in Earth Girls Are Easy
(1988).
But what really impresses me here is that, while they both appear
clean-cut at first, neither of them is quite the uncomplicated hero
that a simpler film would make them. Seth can't believe his luck that
Ronnie is interested in him, and thinking that she may have gone back
to an old lover is the precipitating incident; Ronnie has genuine
reservations about the whole business. And for that matter Stathis,
played by a John Getz unrecognisable to me from his turn in Blood
Simple, is never quite the villain; he's certainly an unpleasant and
entitled person, but he ends up saving the day.
Of course there's a lot of Cronenberg's style of moist body horror,
but unlike something like Videodrome he can't go completely wild
with it; there's still a story to tell, with an actual ending. So we
get the id over ego of Brundle's personality change, a certain amount
of AIDS allegory, and a swing into abortion politics that feels
heavy-handed but at least fits the situation. Yeah, so the whole "get
the computer to understand the flesh" idea is fantasy, but at least
it's a fantasy that makes sense on its own terms, where the original
film didn't quite manage it.
I talk about this film further on
Ribbon of Memes.