Ralph Fiennes, an actor I have always admired, gives one of his finer performances. He doesn't show the traits of Hollywood's regular take on schizophrenia (basically a LOT of twitching and breakdowns). His performance has him lost in his own world, trying to piece together his past with what little of his sanity remains.
David Cronenberg blurs the fine line between hallucination and reality. He also blurs how serious of a condition Fiennes is afflicted with so we can understand him better. Pretty freaky stuff if you ask me.
Spider is well-acted, but the pace bothered me a bit. I found it too slow more than once. That slightly annoying factor aside, I thought that Spider was a good movie.
My Rating: ****
An absolutely gripping journey into the mind of person deemed insane by doctors & the society alike, brought forth by Ralph Fiennes' superb performance. Dark, disturbing, paranoia-laden, yet curiously, life-affirming too. Yet another jewel in Cronenberg's illustrious resume. Great writeup.
ReplyDeleteSomething about this movie never did it for me and I don't feel the need to go back to it again. Nice write up regardless.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was one of Cronenberg's more curious works, but I liked it. He paid money out of his own pocket to get it made when he ran out of funding, so he was obviously very passionate about it.
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