David Cronenberg's "eXistenZ": 25 years ahead of its time
eXistenZ" is about loss of reality, gaming addiction and religious wars. David Cronenberg was once again ahead of his time, the masses preferred "The Matrix".
"eXistenZ was released in 1999 at the worst possible time - four weeks after "The Matrix". Critics were quick to point out the parallels between the two films: Both play with the boundaries of reality, have messiah motifs and reflect the paranoia flaring up around the turn of the millennium.
The comparisons tend to overlook the fact that David Cronenberg was up to something fundamentally different than the Wachowskis with "eXistenZ". "The Matrix" is about a virtual world in which mankind has been imprisoned by machines. In "eXistenZ", the protagonists voluntarily immerse themselves in virtual worlds. The hero of "The Matrix" is a hacker who frees himself from the barriers of an illusory world. The heroine of "eXistenZ" is a game designer on the run from forces that are after both her life and her life's work.
The central themes of "eXistenZ" are fanaticism and loss of reality. "The Matrix" clearly separates its worlds according to color spaces: green for virtual, blue for real. In "eXistenZ", the levels of existence flow subtly into one another until both the audience and the film characters wonder how real their surroundings still are.
Organic game consoles
The plot of "eXistenZ" begins with a preview of the brand new VR game that gives the film its title. We are in the year 2030, and video games now run on organically grown computers. The "Game Pod" consoles look as if someone has melted an Xbox controller in the microwave and sprayed it with flesh colors.
As soon as the presentation begins, a man in the audience stands up, shouts "Death to the demon Allegra Geller!" and shoots the star designer of the eXistenZ game in front of the shocked audience. The young PR assistant Ted Pikul helps the injured Allegra to escape from the assassin. Her console, on which the only copy of the game is stored, was also damaged in the attack.
It soon becomes clear that two groups are targeting Allegra and her console: The first are fanatical VR opponents called "Realists". The second is the rival company of Allegra's games company, which wants to do everything in its power to prevent the new game from sweeping them off the market.
Die Cast von "eXistenZ" (6 Bilder)
In a remote ski resort, Ted and Allegra try to find out whether their game still works at all. They quickly end up in a game within a game, whose environment becomes increasingly strange and threatening - until the boundaries between game and reality seem to merge completely.
The initial spark for the screenplay came when David Cronenberg interviewed the British writer Salman Rushdie in 1995. At the time, Rushdie had been on the run from religious fanatics for six years after the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini had put a price on his head because of his book "The Satanic Verses".
In the 1999 film, the word "fatwa" is used in direct connection with the hunt for the game designer -- while she is hiding in a hotel, like Rushdie during the interview with Cronenberg. In August 2022, Salman Rushdie was attacked with a knife and seriously injured during a lecture in the USA.
Both the topic of the loss of reality through VR worlds and fanaticism have lost none of their topicality since 1999. The topic of the progressive merging of digital components with the analog world has not grown old in the last 25 years either. Yet "eXistenZ" was not the first time that Cronenberg coldly predicted distant future conflicts
Long live the New Flesh
In 1983, the Canadian director caused a sensation with the still stirring sci-fi shocker "Videodrome". Even back then, the theme was how extreme media lead to an increasingly distorted perception of reality. This is not the only reason why "eXistenZ" seems timeless. If you ignore the fact that the main characters in more recent films have far more wrinkles on their faces, it's easy to forget that Cronenberg's VR vision is a quarter of a century old.
That's no coincidence. To ensure that his year 2030 still looks futuristic 25 years later, Cronenberg left out as much as possible that usually betrays the age of science fiction films. For example, there are no televisions or conventional electronics; "fashionable" striped clothing, wristwatches and jewelry were also avoided.
There was also no money for ambitious visions of the future: the makers had to make do with a frugal budget of 15 million US dollars. For comparison: "The Matrix" had a budget of 63 million, and even that was tight. Most of the effects are of a purely practical nature, and usually somewhat disgusting to look at - it's not for nothing that Cronenberg is considered a pioneer of the "body horror" sub-genre.
eXistenZ: Eine befremdliche Welt (7 Bilder)
The organically pulsating consoles are connected via an umbilical cord directly to the bioport on the player's back, which is reminiscent of an anus. The "Gristle Gun", the assassin's firearm composed of organic parts, which fires teeth, is also never out of mind.
The use of digital effects is largely reduced to digital blood splatters and other inconspicuous features. This wasn't just due to necessity either: Cronenberg was aware that digital effects age quickly - morphing for transitions from game to reality would have been financially feasible, but would have looked dated even then.
As a result, the virtual world of the game largely looks like reality, with creative cuts providing the transition. If you pay attention, you will notice how the actors' hairstyles and clothing change with every change of reality level. Oddities such as a remote gas station labeled "COUNTRY GAS STATION" and run by a man named "Gas" add to the disorientation.
There's a method to the madness
When films reach a certain age, the question arises: Does this one also work for a younger audience or only through nostalgia glasses? The answer is not easy.
The fact that "eXistenZ" looks a little strange was already the case 25 years ago. Again and again, shots look somewhat artificial, like the sets of a TV series without a budget. People are illuminated with a lot of contrast, making deep pores and skin blemishes stand out. This is not a technical clumsiness, but intentional: there is a method to the madness.
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The more the plot develops, the more the parallels to "The Matrix" fade. Comparisons with the Björk music video"Bachelorette" are just as easy to draw. Cronenberg poses completely different questions than the Wachowskis, comparisons remain on the surface.
The solution here is never "guns, lots of guns"; violence is shocking instead of cool. Cronenberg also avoids the cliché"if you die in VR, you die in real life". On the contrary: if a person is in real danger, "eXistenZ" automatically interrupts the simulation.
Experienced gamers will find nice details: for example, the reaction of the players when the gameplay forces them along certain dialog trees. While a man generated by the console waits for a reaction from the players, he runs through a stiff movement loop like an NPC from a GTA game.
With "eXistenZ", Cronenberg was way ahead of his time, and we can only hope that it stays that way. One last tip for those who are not yet familiar with the movie: Maybe don't eat any slippery seafood beforehand.
(vbr)
