ANTIVIRAL
Director : Brandon Cronenberg
Year : 2013
Genre : Horror
Rating : ***1/2
For many horror fans, the name Cronenberg will instantly conjure up imagery of grotesque beauty, terrifyingly up to date metaphors and bittersweet social commentary. For nearly 3 decades, the movies of David Cronenberg were often considered to be the crowning achievements of the genre and many of his films have gone down in motion picture history as some of the scariest, goriest and thought provoking chillers ever made. Of course, he has since gone on to abandon his horror past and pursue a career in the gangster and thriller genres and while his more recent films such as 'A History Of Violence', 'Eastern Promises' and 'Cosmopolis' are great works of cinema, they cannot profess to have the bite or vigour of 'The Fly', 'Shivers' or 'Crash'. Now his son Brandon has picked up where his father left off and 'Antiviral' is clearly a throwback to the movies that made his Dad a massive cult hit in the early 1970's. Starring Caleb Landry Jones, 'Antiviral' is a bizarre and rather unorganized affair but is saved by it's evocative imagery and fiercely current social commentary. In a world where celebrity is everything in our culture and millions strive to be like their heroes of TV and film, 'Antiviral' is a powerfully close and strangely prophetic tale about the dangers of obsession, the trappings of fame and the compulsive need that many feel to improve themselves; even if this means a potential health and safety risk.
'Antiviral' is set in a hyper-reality in which the obsession with celebrity culture is so strong that stars are allowing diseases that have infected them to be taken from their bodies so that it can be grown in a laboratory and distributed among the paying general public. This perverse practise allows fans to have something in common with their idols and the viruses are manipulated in the labs in such a way that are not at all contagious. Syd (Landry Jones) is a special member of Lucas Clinic, a producer of these diseases and to make a bit of extra money, he injects the various illnesses into his body so that he can sell them on the growing black market. But when he contracts the same disease that eventually kills a world famous actress, Syd quickly loses his health and sanity to the strange and unusual sickness.
Brandon Cronenberg certainly has big shoes to fill. His father is one of the most successful Canadian directors of all time and many of his films have gone on to become true cult classics. But where David was always more interested in the subtext rather than the overall cinematography or characterisations of his movies, Brandon clearly shows the signs of an upcoming auteur. With brilliant white backgrounds and an up close and personal camera style, he shows that he is much more interested in the sights on screen rather than the overall subtext or message of his film and many of the scenes in 'Antiviral' are hypnotically fascinating. However, this is both the biggest success and weakness of the film. His interest in the visuals and cinematography means that the plot is somewhat side-tracked and as a result, the film doesn't completely work as social commentary. Whereas the subtext of David Cronenberg's work was always clouded by the plot and narrative of his films, the messages of 'Antiviral' are plainly in view for all to see. This means that everything that happens on screen has to be explained and this makes for a very wordy and somewhat clumsy narrative. I wish that the screenplay and plot had been as thought provoking as the imagery and subtext shown on screen and that Cronenberg (Jr,) had endeavoured to explore his characters and the situations in which they could find themselves rather than focus on the admittedly beautiful camera work.
Caleb Landry Jones is very good as the quiet and reserved Syd whose body language and voice houses the pain and downward spiral of a man trapped in the endless chasm of addiction. Throughout the film, we see the effect that the dozens of illnesses has on his body and we see many shots of him injecting himself and pushing a hideous plastic tube down his nose and into his throat that are suitably repellent and nauseating. 'Antiviral' may not be as gross or as bloody as a large majority of David Cronenberg's work, but Brandon does a good job of contrasting the clinical whiteness of the hospital - like settings to the blood, mucus and various bodily fluids erupting from the bodies of many people. Caleb Landry Jones hasn't had a very illustrious career, but due to the underground success of 'Antiviral', he may become a staple of the independent horror circuit. I certainly hope so because he has an amazing ability to hold the camera's attention with his twitchy persona and quiet but completely controlled voice.
With 'Antiviral', Brandon Cronenberg has certainly created a palpable and perversely entertaining hyper reality which certainly echoes the current culture in which we live. I have never understood the appeal of celebrities and to me, the urge to look like, sound like and become our heroes is very disturbing. Cronenberg has pushed this ideology to the nth degree and gives us a vision of what our world could eventually become. Bringing up ethical, religious and legal issues, 'Antiviral' is a strange and eye opening look at the uncontrolled thirst for changing ourselves and how this may affect us in later life. Yes it is not perfect and I do wish that the script and characterisations had been as evocative and as thought provoking as the surreal imagery shown on screen. But for a feature debut, 'Antiviral' is a pretty remarkable piece of work and clearly shows that the apple doesn't fall far away from the tree.
Long live the new flesh.
Caleb Landry Jones is very good as the quiet and reserved Syd whose body language and voice houses the pain and downward spiral of a man trapped in the endless chasm of addiction. Throughout the film, we see the effect that the dozens of illnesses has on his body and we see many shots of him injecting himself and pushing a hideous plastic tube down his nose and into his throat that are suitably repellent and nauseating. 'Antiviral' may not be as gross or as bloody as a large majority of David Cronenberg's work, but Brandon does a good job of contrasting the clinical whiteness of the hospital - like settings to the blood, mucus and various bodily fluids erupting from the bodies of many people. Caleb Landry Jones hasn't had a very illustrious career, but due to the underground success of 'Antiviral', he may become a staple of the independent horror circuit. I certainly hope so because he has an amazing ability to hold the camera's attention with his twitchy persona and quiet but completely controlled voice.
With 'Antiviral', Brandon Cronenberg has certainly created a palpable and perversely entertaining hyper reality which certainly echoes the current culture in which we live. I have never understood the appeal of celebrities and to me, the urge to look like, sound like and become our heroes is very disturbing. Cronenberg has pushed this ideology to the nth degree and gives us a vision of what our world could eventually become. Bringing up ethical, religious and legal issues, 'Antiviral' is a strange and eye opening look at the uncontrolled thirst for changing ourselves and how this may affect us in later life. Yes it is not perfect and I do wish that the script and characterisations had been as evocative and as thought provoking as the surreal imagery shown on screen. But for a feature debut, 'Antiviral' is a pretty remarkable piece of work and clearly shows that the apple doesn't fall far away from the tree.
Long live the new flesh.
FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE
PUNK/ALTERNATIVE MUSIC SCENE, THE UPCOMING BIRMINGHAM BAND 'DRAG' IS IN NEED OF SUPPORT TO
HELP FUND THE RELEASE OF THEIR BRILLIANT DEBUT ALBUM 'NEUROTICA : A COMPENDIUM
OF TALES REGARDING BODY AND SOUL'. GO ON, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO :
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