海角社区官网

3.5 stars

CANNES, France 鈥� For this year鈥檚 75th anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival has updated its floating red staircase intro at screenings. The names of favourite directors have been added, one per stair, with David Cronenberg getting his own red step just a few below Martin Scorsese, the director at the top.

鈥淎h, that鈥檚 so sweet!鈥� Cronenberg says with a smile, when I show him a photo of his spot among the stairs.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e saying that (Scorsese) is on a higher level than I am and I鈥檓 fine with that. But they like me anyway!鈥�

The 海角社区官网writer/director is genuinely touched to be recognized by a festival where, at 79, he鈥檚 once again competing for the Palme d鈥橭r, the top prize. He鈥檚 Canada鈥檚 sole challenger among the 21-film international competition.

His body horror thriller 鈥淐rimes of the Future,鈥� starring Viggo Mortensen, L茅a Seydoux and Kristen Stewart, had its world premiere here Monday night at the Palais des Festivals, receiving strong audience applause and generally high marks from critics. It鈥檚 the sixth time Cronenberg has competed for the Palme, which will be awarded Saturday night at the fest鈥檚 closing ceremony.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the Palme d鈥橭r that excites me,鈥� Cronenberg tells the Star, in an interview on a hotel balcony overlooking a lush garden, not much more than a stone鈥檚 throw away from the busy waterfront Croisette promenade. Dressed all in black for the interview, he seems relaxed after taking the train here from Paris the day before.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just screening here that鈥檚 exciting. Once I hear that theme song (鈥楾he Carnival of the Animals,鈥� by Camille Saint-Sa毛ns), my heart will start pounding then. That鈥檚 partly because the movie is going to be shown and partly because of the history I have with Cannes. That goes back, really, to the early 鈥�70s. It鈥檚 a good history, very good. Actually, it鈥檚 very, very good.鈥�

Cronenberg has never won the Palme, but he did receive a special jury prize for 鈥渁udacity鈥� at the 1996 festival, for his dystopian drama 鈥淐rash,鈥� a story of people sexually aroused by auto accidents.

His new film, 鈥淐rimes of the Future,鈥� takes a creepy step deeper into sexual pathology. It鈥檚 about people of the near future who get off on altering their insides and/or outsides, either through biological methods (growing bizarre new organs) or sculpting by scalpel (鈥淪urgery is the new sex,鈥� is their motto). Still others have figured out how to consume plastics and other synthetic substances in place of organic food, a narrative thread that builds intrigue. The government wants to take control, fearing 鈥渋nsurrectional鈥� human evolution.

The movie shares little in common with a 1970 Cronenberg film of the same name (he really digs the title) but it has a lot in common with 鈥淧ainkillers,鈥� a film about a future world without pain. The project was announced at the 2005 Cannes fest, from a script Cronenberg wrote between 1998 and 2000, but which he never got around to making for various reasons.

Producer Robert Lantos told Cronenberg he should revisit the 鈥淧ainkillers鈥� script. The filmmaker initially balked at the idea, arguing that technology has changed so much in the past quarter century that the sci-fi concepts were 鈥減robably totally irrelevant鈥� now.

鈥淎nd he said, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 more relevant than ever.鈥� That was his quote 鈥� and I thought, he鈥檚 actually right. It鈥檚 bizarre. It is more relevant than it was then. Then it was kind of sci-fi and now it鈥檚 like reality. So I thought, well, then that鈥檚 an interesting thing to do. And I did like the writing, I liked the dialogue and the characters. To me, it鈥檚 like a script that somebody else wrote. That鈥檚 often the case.鈥�

鈥淐rimes of the Future鈥� is almost completely based on the original 鈥淧ainkillers鈥� script, Cronenberg says, including the part about people consuming plastic 鈥� which a lot of us are doing inadvertently, according to recent news reports from health authorities warning of microplastics getting into the food chain.

Says Cronenberg: 鈥淚 did see the (health alert) a couple of weeks or more ago that showed that many people now have plastic in the bloodstream and quite a bit before that it was 80 per cent of people have plastic in their flesh. Microplastics, of course, was not a word in 2000. So is (the film) prophecy? Is (it) visionary? It鈥檚 accidental, but to me it was obvious in 2000 that were just totally f鈥�-ing up the planet. And a lot of that has to do with plastic since 2000.鈥�

Cronenberg has been telling U.S. trade publications that he expects to see some people walk out of his film in the first five minutes and more during the final 20 minutes. It is indeed a harrowing watch, but no more extreme than many other Cronenberg nightmares, like the exploding heads of 鈥淪canners鈥� and the gruesome man-to-insect morphing of 鈥淭he Fly.鈥�

Does he enjoy scaring people? As usual, he gives a qualified answer.

鈥淚 have these interesting thoughts, these visuals, these images, and these strange connections, and they troubled me, they fascinated me, or they just delighted me. I鈥檓 inviting (moviegoers) to come along with me and see what you think of these things. That鈥檚 basically my approach.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind if I scare people. But I don鈥檛 need to scare people.鈥�

鈥淐rimes of the Future鈥� is Cronenberg鈥檚 first feature film in eight years. His Hollywood satire 鈥淢aps to the Stars鈥� also premiered at Cannes in competition. He keeps busy 鈥� TV guest spots and a planned second novel 鈥� but he doesn鈥檛 feel the need to be constantly making movies, even though he recently announced another sci-fi film he plans to make: 鈥淭he Shrouds,鈥� starring Vincent Cassel, about a man鈥檚 attempt to communicate with his dead wife.

Cronenberg fans should probably not be in too much of a hurry to see 鈥淭he Shrouds.鈥� As the father of three children and grandfather of four, he鈥檚 happy now to enjoy life and just take things at his own pace.

鈥淚鈥檓 a very, very happy person. I can chill very easily. I can be passionate about a project that I鈥檓 doing, but I鈥檓 not desperate to do anything, you know. I鈥檓 happy to just float.鈥�

He adds: 鈥淚f I鈥檓 alive, I鈥檓 going to make another movie. But if I鈥檓 dead, I probably won鈥檛!鈥�

Follow Peter Howell鈥檚 Cannes tweets: @peterhowellfilm

REVIEW OF CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

Welcome to the nightmare ahead, where people grow new organs as art, modify body parts for fashion and consume plastic for food.

鈥淐rimes of the Future鈥� presents a world to come that鈥檚 made all the more terrifying by David Cronenberg, master filmmaker and seer of dark visions.

His return to the body horror genre that made his name is in some ways a greatest hits collection of his macabre fascinations, with callbacks 鈥� all subconscious, he insists 鈥� to the Cronenbergian realms of 鈥淰ideodrome,鈥� 鈥淭he Fly,鈥� 鈥渆XistenZ,鈥� 鈥淒ead Ringers鈥� and others.

鈥淐rimes of the Future鈥� shares mostly just a title with an earlier Cronenberg film. Its essential DNA comes from the shelved 鈥淧ainkillers鈥� script of more than 20 years ago. Considering what he鈥檚 conjured here out of a leftover idea, you have to wonder what other great stuff he鈥檚 been sitting on.

鈥淐rimes鈥� was filmed in and around Athens, where grungy interiors and bleak exteriors (a ruined and abandoned ship speaks of social disarray) create a noir atmosphere, courtesy of Carol Spier鈥檚 production design. Howard Shore鈥檚 score of gloom and wonder imparts a mood of impending revolution.

And revolution is indeed underway, in the person of hooded and hermitic performance artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen). He has learned how to grow new organs within his body, hatching them while he sleeps inside a plugged-in sarcophagus that resembles a giant walnut shell.

These 鈥渘eo-organs鈥� are removed by Saul鈥檚 partner Caprice (L茅a Seydoux), a former surgeon, in public displays that resemble the art salons of old. (They鈥檙e not alone: other people engage in such knife blade antics, since pain and infection have been all but eliminated and 鈥渟urgery is the new sex鈥� for thrill seekers.)

The government of the day isn鈥檛 quite sure what to do about neo-organs and the 鈥渄esktop surgery鈥� fad, other than to control them. A National Organ Registry has been created, run by bureaucratic voyeurs Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart) who seek to avoid 鈥渋nsurrectional鈥� evolution that might destroy whatever remains of civilization. Saul and Caprice are happy to assist them, tattooing Saul鈥檚 new organs so they can be easily logged and traced.

The cops are on the case, too, with a 鈥淣ew Vice Unit鈥� represented by a detective played by Welket Bungu茅. He understandably wonders why Saul鈥檚 neo-organs are considered an art form akin to Picasso鈥檚 creations while the tumour on his own body is just a potentially dangerous nuisance.

Another group, led by Scott Speedman鈥檚 Lang Dotrice, hovers in the shadows but seeks broader public attention. They are people who have learned how to consume plastics and other synthetic materials as food and who want more to join them. Lang is planning a public autopsy 鈥� on the body of his murdered eight-year-old son 鈥� to dramatize the cause.

As horrifying as this sounds, and it is, there鈥檚 also much wit in 鈥淐rimes.鈥� Such as when Timlin, besotted with Saul, tells him 鈥測ou can be open with me.鈥� This to a man who had a zipper installed in his abdomen for easier surgical access.

There鈥檚 much happening here as Cronenberg sardonically comments on cosmetic surgery, environmental destruction and the feeling of all artists, himself included, that putting your work before the public is akin to being operated on in the city square.

If there鈥檚 any downside to 鈥淐rimes,鈥� it鈥檚 that it introduces characters and story arcs that are somewhat unresolved, although that鈥檚 likely a deliberate move by Cronenberg. Like all great entertainers, he leaves us wanting more, even if in this case satisfaction comes at the end of a scalpel.