Having seen many of David Cronenberg's films, such as Scanners and The Fly, I was expecting Spider to be filled with fantastical, gory images. It is not. Instead, the film consists of things commonly seen. The twist is that everything in the film is seen through the eyes of Ralph Fiennes, a schizophrenic who has been released to a half way house after spending decades in an institution. Rather than being a gross out horror film, Spider is a devastating look at what it really means to be schizophrenic.
I admire this film. It is a slow moving film which will put some people off. But considering the subject matter - Fiennes has been released into a world that is a total mystery to him - the film follows his pace as he slowly makes his way around.
I can't tell too much of the plot without ruining the movie. Suffice to say that the film unveils Fiennes' childhood and his relationship with his parents and at the end we understand what he has been through. The way in which the story is told, in which the film is edited, is so clever and so dead on that it is perfect. Fiennes' past and present are interwoven to reveal what has happened to him and to mirror what the life of a schizophrenic would be like. Fiennes mumbles through much of the film and looks down at the ground. Still, he is one of the world's greatest actors and his performance is tremendous.
All the actors are top notch. Miranda Richardson and Gabriel Byrne play his parents. Lynn Redgrave runs the halfway house and John Neville is on of the patients.
This film is serious look at the life of a schizophrenic, without Hollywood clichés. It might leave you sad but with a better understanding of this devastating illness.
RECOMMENDATION: Yes, but it is serious, slow and sad film.
ACTING: Top notch from everyone
SCRIPT: Excellent
I admire this film. It is a slow moving film which will put some people off. But considering the subject matter - Fiennes has been released into a world that is a total mystery to him - the film follows his pace as he slowly makes his way around.
I can't tell too much of the plot without ruining the movie. Suffice to say that the film unveils Fiennes' childhood and his relationship with his parents and at the end we understand what he has been through. The way in which the story is told, in which the film is edited, is so clever and so dead on that it is perfect. Fiennes' past and present are interwoven to reveal what has happened to him and to mirror what the life of a schizophrenic would be like. Fiennes mumbles through much of the film and looks down at the ground. Still, he is one of the world's greatest actors and his performance is tremendous.
All the actors are top notch. Miranda Richardson and Gabriel Byrne play his parents. Lynn Redgrave runs the halfway house and John Neville is on of the patients.
This film is serious look at the life of a schizophrenic, without Hollywood clichés. It might leave you sad but with a better understanding of this devastating illness.
RECOMMENDATION: Yes, but it is serious, slow and sad film.
ACTING: Top notch from everyone
SCRIPT: Excellent