eXistenZ (1999)

Note des utilisateurs:

6.8/10   

Réalisateur:

David Cronenberg

Scénariste:

David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

23 avril 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Accroche:

Play it. Live it. Kill for it.

Plot:

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

Plot Keywords:

Reality | Virtual Reality | Bizarre | Gun | Simulator

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

A Shaggy Dog Story...but a good one

Ensemble

Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Allegra Geller
Jude Law	...	Ted Pikul
Ian Holm	...	Kiri Vinokur
Willem Dafoe	...	Gas
Don McKellar	...	Yevgeny Nourish
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Hugo Carlaw
Christopher Eccleston	...	Seminar Leader
Sarah Polley	...	Merle
Robert A. Silverman	...	D'Arcy Nader
Oscar Hsu	...	Chinese Waiter
Kris Lemche	...	Noel Dichter
Vik Sahay	...	Male Assistant
Kirsten Johnson	...	Female Assistant
James Kirchner	...	Landry
Balázs Koós	...	Male Volunteer

Autre(s) titre(s):

Crimes of the Future (Canada: English title) (working title)
eXistenZ (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and gore, and for language.

Durée:

97 min

Pays:

Canada | UK

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Son:

Dolby Digital

Classification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KNT | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Rockwood Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Anecdotes:

Two Producers of the film are Hungarians, so it is not by chance that the X and the Z of the word "eXistenZ" are capitalized, since the letters between them make the Hungarian word "isten," which means "god."

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time we see Ted Pikul at the trout farm, he labels an envelope with the letters LA. The L is clearly connected to the A. However in the next shot with the envelope on the conveyor belt the L and A are no longer connected.

Guillemet:

[first lines]
Seminar Leader: eXistenZ. Written like this. One word. Small 'E', capital 'X', capital 'Z'. 'eXistenZ'. It's new, it's from Antenna Research, and it's here... right now.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Directors: The Films of David Cronenberg (#1.10)" (1999)

A Shaggy Dog Story...but a good one

"We're both stumbling around together in this unformed world, whose rules and objectives are largely unknown, seemingly indecipherable or even possibly nonexistent, always on the verge of being killed by forces that we don't understand." So says Ted Pikul in the film. Which for some people sums up life and 'eXistenZ' probably is a film about existence. What is real and what is unreal and how you tell the difference. Or not. The last line of the film is superbly ambiguous.

The film seems like a shaggy dog story (indeed it has a real shaggy dog in it) but it takes you along on an interesting ride, full of provocative Cronenberg touches that will make you look at amphibians, game pods, fish, spines and bones in a new light. Some bits are quite icky. It takes place in a rural setting where the gas station is called 'GAS STATION' and a Chinese restaurant is called 'CHINESE RESTAURANT.'The film has an engrossing texture that is leagues away from your usual big budget science fiction movie.You can read many things into the film and it repays watching more than once.

The main actors are Jude Law who is OK and Jennifer Jason Leigh who is great. Some roles don't suit this very talented actor but when she has a good role like this she is unmatchable. Her unconventional beauty and fascinating voice suits the part of Allegra. (Looks great in a short black skirt too.) There are other familiar actors but they are not given much to do. It looks good, sounds good and a Howard Shore score complements the film very well. Cronenberg is possibly the Alfred Hitchcock of the sci-fi/horror genre. No matter what film he makes he is always worth watching.