SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

IncaWelCar In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Woodyanders Coldly pragmatic clinic doctor Adam Tripod (a perfectly haughty pantomime portrayal by Ronald Mlodzik) goes searching for his unhinged dermatologist mentor Antoine Rouge, who has vanished in the wake of a catastrophic plague created by cosmetic products that has killed off the entire population of sexually mature women.Writer/director David Cronenberg does an expert job of crafting a cold'n'clammy feeling of total amorality and emotional detachment which in turn gives this oddball experimental short a distinctly chilly identity. Moreover, Cronenberg makes nice use of the sprawling locations and the vibrant color photography frequently looks gorgeous. The early exploration of body horror themes -- one man has "creative cancer" and folks bleed what looks like chocolate milk -- serves as a precursor to such later Cronenberg outings as "Rabid," "The Brood," and "The Fly" while the abundant deviant sexuality on bold display throughout provides a dry run for the even more alarmingly warped carnal fetishism and perversity of "Crash." However, the glacial pacing as well as total dearth of any music and dialogue make this one a bit of a rough slog to sit through. That criticism aside, it's still worth a watch for Cronenberg fans as an interesting initial example of his unique talent and highly unusual imagination.

p-stepien In a future imperfect all females have perished due to a deadly chemical outbreak, leaving the male population to fend for themselves. Among them Aaron Tripod (Ronald Mlodzik), a researcher coping in the new world now devoid of a moral compass. During his studies he encounters a patient, which emits mysterious excretions tasting of chocolate. Once the subject inexplicably disappears Aaron employs himself in another clinic, which serves as a compound for individuals with similar bodily substances. There he encounters the changing functions of the new man and its new flesh. All with true Cronenberg-esque style...Similar in execution as "Stereo", with an upgrade from black and white into full colour, but still experimentally coping without sound, instead inputing odd disjointed sounds and a voice-over to convey the slightly misogynistic story. Rife with motifs featuring in Cronenberg's earlier works, like "Shivers", "The Brood" or "Scanners", this artsy feature remains an intriguing expansion of Cronenberg's cinematographic world-view. Despite a larger budget than "Stereo" and undeniably better technical resolution with some excellent framing of shots, "Crimes of the Future" is comparatively a step further into detrimental watching, making novelties like fast forward necessary to survive the viewing.Nonetheless the overall experience remains an excruciating watch as a product of a student filmmaker, overawed by his own brilliance, but unaware that his supposedly nouvelle experiment in filmmaking is mostly unwatchable drivel. As such the style is almost unbearably self-defeating, making the story drown under the pretentious exposition and ultimate lack of direction. The script may sound cerebral (however truthfully strongly undercut by an intellectual overreach), but that does not excuse a total detachment from the viewing audience. Ultimately Cronenberg's venture feels overly childish in his introvert drive for novelty. Several scenes do manage to build a vague anxiety with it cold and distant atmosphere, especially the layered denouement involving a bout of paedophilia.Best viewed for Cronenberg fanatics with a strong inclination towards understanding his perspective on film and exploring his growth as a filmmaker. Remaining subjects best resolve to focusing on his later works.

The_Movie_Cat Back in 2000 I posted three unnecessarily flippant reviews of David Cronenberg films, including the two that followed this. But while the Cronenberg of 2000 wasn't a stranger to critical appraisal, or even mainstream commercial appeal (particularly in the 1980s), it was easy to be flippant about a director who was so well known for body horror, verging on schlock.Fast forward to 2012 and Cronenberg has managed to completely reinvent himself, a late career renaissance as he prepares to enter his 70s. That the director could build a career for thirty years as the master of visceral horror and then completely reinvent himself is an extraordinary feat. That's not to say that his works of the new millennium haven't been sexually aware, or even in possession of an asymmetrical prostate, but suddenly he's a man of serious critical attention.Which makes it an ideal time to reinvestigate his early back catalogue, in particular his first four films. 1966's student film "Transfer" is a study of mental illness, an extremely rare, 7 minute student film that, to date, only 55 people have seen on the IMDb... myself not included. Following this was arguably the most accessible of his first four efforts, 1967's 13m student piece, "From The Drain". So esoteric that there are wholly different plot summaries of it on the net, this story of two men in a bathtub is open to interpretation.The first film proper was 1969's "Stereo", a silent black and white piece with narration, lasting a little over an hour. Crimes of the Future follows this trend, though adds colour and ambient sound to the mix, the minimalism possibly there as a budgetary requirement as much as a need for the avant garde. As films to study, they're more than worth anyone's time, particularly fans of the director and his work. As entertainments, they're largely null and void, a future auteur trying out his craft rather than narratives to engage. Five long years passed before Cronenberg got to do another film, then averaging a picture every two years or so from 1975's "Shivers" until the present date. Seeing "Shivers" again as part of this study, I realise I was perhaps too hard on it, and it's interesting to see Cronenberg emerge from avant garde director to man behind a serious (albeit black humoured) narrative. The jump to full audio and speaking parts does make his direction look a little clumsy in places, but this was a man honing his craft via experience. The issues with "Shivers" – the debatable misogyny, the crass titillation and suspect subject matter – are actually all present in Crimes of the Future, right down a sequence that involves paedophilia... in this case it forms Crimes' denouement. Such story elements are in highly questionable taste, even for satirical science fiction, and do paint the young Cronenberg out as a man who wanted to shock. However, without these early ventures he may never have established a platform for himself as one of the most notable directors of the modern age.

lost-in-limbo Aaron Tripod is studying a patient at a clinic that can emit a chocolate like substance from his body, which people become compelled to eat. This occurred after nearly all the woman on earth died from a poisonous cosmetic. After the patient disappears Aaron moves onto another clinic where there are more people of that type being used by doctor for his own purposes and there's a secret lurking in the facility that can change the fate of this outcome.Just like the film before this: "Stereo", Cronenberg comes up with another experimental, art-film that combines his interest in literature and science. Especially that of the human body and sexual chemistry, where science tries to manipulate the genetic makeup somehow. On this particular film the style and story's context are very similar to "Stereo" with most of the cast and crew returning for this project. I actually found this one to be slightly better and one incredibly bizarre trip compared to his previous film. But for this experience you have to be in the right frame of mind that's for sure, as this one too goes for an hour, but there are many padded scenes with many slow stretches. But for me it didn't seem to drag that much. Again there's no dialogues, but there are some odd sound effects worked into the picture that sound like something out of nature (bird cries, ocean waves and even a sound like someone is blowing bubbles). This gave the film such a real anxiety, but at times it did get a bit overbearing. Also you got a fitting narration that's gives out an mildly stimulating outlook and provides at times a coherent plot device. This could be because a plethora of characters spring out and then suddenly disappear which makes the story rather uneven, as it changes course quite a bit. The static voice over is not as frequent here, but it's the actions and faces that mostly tell the story. Now the look of the film is where Cronenberg was at his best here and the budget was a tad higher for this outing, since now this one was shot in colour and production was of high quality with what he had to work with. Great use of composition and lighting, while the strong shapes in the background features added a huge imprint. Plus there was always little things going in the foreground that you catch a glimpse of. The film sustains a bare atmosphere, which has a emotionless, post-apocalyptic feel where everything is beyond redemption. The offbeat environment is filled with many surprises and the hypnotic images just flood the screen. The haunting conclusion stages one that's hard to forget. The camera-work here gives the film a third perspective and builds on the groundwork very well. Ronald Mlodzik's performance as Aaron Tripod is rather good and his expresses his actions in a clear and concise way. Cronenberg has come up with an far more accomplished effort on this occasion.This excursion I found strangely fascinating as you can easily see this as a stepping stool for Cronenberg to iron out those creases for future projects. He's obsession on the evolutionary process where sex and disease is controlled by science makes his work so unique. Again just like what I said on "Stereo", if you're looking for some entertainment, look elsewhere. But if you want to see the where the clinical influence and cold style for his most assessable work came from, there's no better place to start than here.