Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by djprobed (R) on September 26, 2003 at 09:55:10

Just watched it last night on DVD. This may well be the best Freudian pyschological drama since PSYCHO, though it doesn't offer the same kind of heart-pounding excitement as that Hitchcock film (I would say it is closer in spirit to VERTIGO or MARNIE).

SPIDER tells the story of a mental patient/inmate (Ralph Fiennes) who has just arrived at a halfway house to presumably begin his reintegration process. Over the course of the movie, we discover what led to his incarceration as he recalls the events through a series of flashbacks. We the audience, however, see both the flashbacks and the present (most of the time) as Spider experiences them. It quickly becomes obvious that Spider himself is still sorting out who's who and what happened when... Is he ready to become a part of society? I won't give away the ending here of course!

The most obvious comparison amongst contemporary films, to me, would be with David Lynch's MULHOLLAND DRIVE, though I dare say Cronenberg's film is not as open-ended in terms of "what really happened" (the narrative of Lynch's film, I believe, can be satisfactorily reconstructed more than one way.)

If you like dark, psychological dramas and/or are a fan of Hitchcock and THE TWILIGHT ZONE, don't miss this.


djprobed