Cosmopolis

Cronenberg's Cosmopolis is an adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel. The Novel is accepted as unfilmable an as one of the few novels which composes a precise image of our zeitgeist. The movie is not just based on Cronenberg's clever written script that could be a marvellous play for theatres but also a well directed movie with a talented cast and gets the audience into the atmosphere of a Japanese surreal anime. Nonetheless the movie is a marketing mistake of its kind. The negative reviews that emphasis the main actor Robert Pattinson's ex-sanguine performance are not to understand, since he is exactly as vampire as his character Eric Packer, a 28 years old egoist with a lot of money. However the reason of the box-office flop can be understood. First reason is the difference of target groups: It is possible that neither real Cronenberg fans (because of the poster of Pattinson on the foreground) nor Pattinson fans (since it's not a teenage movie) had the intention to see the movie. Second reason is he wrong advertisement: The audience watches an action trailer but finds out it is a Japanese surreal anime. This masterpiece of art proves us that even sci-fi legend David Cronenberg can flop on box-office.

If you are going to watch this movie, you need to give yourself adequate space to do so. This is a philosophical movie and not exactly easy to watch. It comes across more as visual poetry than anything else and therefore won't appeal to a mass audience. Which is partially the reason for a rather low score on this site. In my opinion it deserves more; the reason for this is that I firmly believe a movie has to be critiqued on the basis of it's type - you shouldn't judge this movie on the basis of all movies, but other movies of this sort, which are close adaptations of novels packed with dense dialogue and philosophical themed subject matter. The question you're looking for the answer to is "should I watch this movie?" And yes, you should, but curb your expectations to what type of movie it is. In it's genre, I find it thoughtprovoking and streamlined; It's a limo slowly being covered by graffiti; Something cold, perfect and seamless being torn apart from within. You will find no typical storyline and no lovable characters; at several times I thought to myself that these characters are in fact portraying computers assessing and processing information and various symptoms of the human condition. People do not talk like they do in this movie. The movie is very well executed and absolutely worth your time. If you are interested in this type of movie that is - and if that's the case it will likely leave you inspired in some way because you are constantly thinking throughout.

I had a drink and slouched down on the leather seat in the corner, and after a while I never wanted to leave. So private, so peaceful, so safe. I need a limo in my life.

Cosmopolis is a meeting of geniuses. It is a masterpiece. A combination of a genius writer, a genius director and script writer and a genius actor. Shake and stir and we get Cosmopolis; the kind of high quality movie we rarely get to see made, a movie in a genre of its own. A deep, intellectual, intense story with heart. A movie that hits you deeply and stays.

Don DeLillo's fantastic story; with such philosophical depth, such insight into the human mind and the world we live in. A metaphorical limo ride, a life condensed into a day. The life of Eric Packer.

David Cronenberg and his team; creating the world Eric lives in and bringing the story to life in the best of ways. David's sensitive and precise way of filmmaking, providing the needed creative space for the actors and delicately capturing their performances on camera.

Robert Pattinson, immersing himself into the complex character of Eric Packer and giving a mind-blowing performance. The brilliant mind, the intensity, the never ending curiosity, the impulsiveness, the constant hunger in every way, the inner fears, the burdens, the restlessness, the excessive need for control, the combination of growing old too quickly and still being so young. His impatient voice, trying to restrain himself and wait for others to catch up. The people coming and going in his life, as mirrors to who Eric is and where he is heading. The journey to get to know himself, to realize what life is all about and what makes it worth living.

An amazing movie. A movie that will go down in history as an example of filmmaking at its best. A masterpiece.

***

What is life? What is a life?

days, nights, coming, going

people you know, or don't

things happening, or not

stuff you do, stuff you know, or not

you bring all you can

play by all the rules

success, accomplishments, possessions, then what?

is that it?

there has to be more

otherwise, what's the point?

***

Reviews thus far have not mentioned Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst, or how Cosmopolis can be interpreted as a dream using Jungian symbology. Cronenberg's previous movie was about Freud and Jung, so it is no artificial stretch to assume that he would apply Jung to a story, or that De Lillo had also done the same.

In Jungian dream analysis, the limousine can be taken as a metaphor of one's self, one's course in life. Each visitor to the limousine ought to be considered an aspect of the occupant's personality, each separate and distinct. There is the intellectual who has been hired to "do theory,"the young one who has been hired to find patterns, the nervous security expert who has tested for system vulnerabilities, the visiting prostitute (profane) who is asked to help obtain "the chapel" (sacred). Each character represents an aspect of a single self. Throughout the journey to get a "haircut," (which is a Wall Street term for taking a loss), the outside security chief relays messages from "The Complex," which might be interpreted as the unified self.

I think this is clearly what Cronenberg intended. The fuller meaning of the movie resides in how the dream reflects the actual world, how it fits with the shared reality in which we all participate. How does this simple journey to get across the city reflect the pleasures and perils of existence? Can we really know the world, or can we only know ourselves? How is the main character a representation of the whole world, which has a kind of self, too? Does the ending of the movie reflect an outcome that is metaphorically plausible as an integration of macroeconomic, political, human forces shaping history?

Cosmopolis is an intellectual work, carefully crafted, and not at all pretentious, as some have said.

My main reason for watching 'Cosmopolis' was David Cronenberg, a very interesting and unique director, who may have originated the body horror genre but his films are much more than that. They do disturb and makes one feel uncomfortable, but his daring explorations of challenging themes intrigues me and there are films of his that do move me (especially 'The Fly' and 'Dead Ringers'). His films are always extremely well made and he always did get good or more performances out of talented casts/actors (i.e. Jeff Goldblum, Jeremy Irons, James Woods etc.)

'Cosmopolis' also had a good cast going for it. May not be a fan of Robert Pattinson, but have seen and liked/loved a lot of Paul Giamatti's and Juliette Binoche's work. Howard Shore is Cronenberg's most frequently used composer and have seldom been less than impressed with his work for Cronenberg, 'The Fly' being his greatest achievement, his work unsettles but also really stirs the emotions. The source material is an interesting one, a challenging and fascinating subject depicted accurately and almost frighteningly so, but extremely difficult to adapt. Almost unfilmable.

Really do appreciate Cronenberg's effort here, and he certainly did do his best, but 'Cosmopolis' struck me as an interesting semi-failure with a number of fine things but an equal amount of glaring problems. Do agree with those that have said that the book should have been left alone, the subject is one worth exploring and addressing but there should at some point be a more accessible way of doing it.

As said, 'Cosmopolis' does have good things. As always with Cronenberg, it does look great. The photography is stylish and a good job is done trying to make a mostly single and confined location interesting, and at least the location itself doesn't look cheap. While nowhere near a top-tier effort from him, Shore's score is suitably darkly metallic and emotional, one of his more accessible experimental score endeavours, and the same goes for the healthy dose contribution from the collaborating Metric.

The cast, or at least most of them, do a good job with what is given to them. The best performance coming from Paul Giamatti, who is a powerhouse in the last twenty minutes. Those last twenty minutes are the highlight of the film and the most involving it gets. Cronenberg does laudably in the adapting stakes and it is a faithful adaptation, one can see influences of his previous work too, such as 'ExistenZ' and 'Videodrome'.

In my mind, and for others too, it is somewhat too faithful and the whole thing felt too verbose, too cold, too bloated and lifeless. This is particularly apparent in the script, which was in serious need of a re-write and trim, it is far too rambling and wordy that one loses track of what is being said and feels the need to rewind and loses interest too early. It didn't always flow very well either and did not always find it easy to follow with its use of over-complicated language that is going to, and has gone, over the heads of some. The story plods badly (with the first 10 minutes alone wanting one to bail), only coming properly to life in the last twenty minutes, and feels emotionally empty and at times coherence is an issue. Did not find any of the characters interesting really either, one never really gets to know them.

With this emotional emptiness, 'Cosmopolis' is one of the few Cronenberg films that has left me completely cold or found it hardest to engage with. The drama felt very stagy and the interaction between the characters was rather static, no matter how much gratuitous elements are thrown in to try and spice things up. One cannot accuse 'Cosmopolis' of not trying, or so in my mind that is, if anything it tries too hard. It did feel to me like it tried to include too many ideas and themes and didn't do enough or anything with them, any of them really. Like it was trying to say a lot in its ideas but doesn't really say anything on an emotional level. Cronenberg's direction is technically sound and precise but it felt like his heart wasn't in it or that he was out of his depth with the material. Could tell here that Robert Pattinson had come on as an actor, but still found him bland and in parts expressionless.

On the whole, a bit of a strange one. Interesting conceptually but the way it was handled was underwhelming, for me this was lesser Cronenberg. 5/10