eXistenZ (1999)

It’s odd to think that there was a time in which an abstract take on video game culture which features people entering a virtual reality by plugging an umbilical cord into a portal at the base of their spine might be considered a fairly safe, mainstream-friendly work of cinema. This, however, was pretty much the case for David Cronenberg in 1999. Of all the major directors to have emerged from the horror scene of the 1970s, Cronenberg had fared better in the 90s than most, mainly as he had moved beyond the splattery body horror films on which he made his name into a more high brow, critically approved arena – but crucially, without significantly altering his established directorial identity – via the likes of Dead Ringers and The Naked Lunch. Then in 1996, Cronenberg produced what proved to be one of the most controversial (i.e. tabloid-baiting) films of the decade in Crash, and all at once the Canadian filmmaker was hotter in his 50s than he’d even been.

So when Cronenberg opted to follow up Crash with eXistenZ, it was an intriguing proposition. For one, it would see the writer-director return to the distinctive body horror arena in which he made his name; for another, it would update his ideas about humanity’s increasingly close relationship with technology by exploring computer and video game culture, and notions about virtual reality which were all the rage at the time. The resulting film really wears its decade on its sleeve, but there’s absolutely no mistaking that it’s a David Cronenberg film – even if, at times, it feels more like it’s drawing on the director’s old motifs more because that’s what’s expected, as opposed to what’s entirely relevant.

eXistenZ (the spelling of the title alone screams 1990s) is an all-new video game from world-renowned designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh). After spending several years and tens of millions developing the game, Allegra is now ready to test it out, and to this end is hosting a small seminar for fans of her work to be among the first to plug in and play. However, just as the game begins, a member of the audience rises to his feet with a gun somehow constructed from bone and organic human tissue and fires on Allegra. It’s only a flesh wound, but it’s enough for game company representative Ted Pikul (Jude Law) to grab Allegra and high-tail it out of there. It soon comes to light that there is a price on Allegra’s head, as fanatical members of the Realist movement call for the so-called ‘game pod goddess’ to be put to death for crimes against reality. Pikul – a PR trainee who’s never gamed before – is naturally unnerved by this turn of events, yet Allegra seems relatively at ease, and just wants to be sure that her game pod containing the master copy of eXistenZ has not been damaged. To verify this, Allegra insists on getting Pikul fitted for a ‘bio-port,’ then as soon as they’re in a secure location, plugging into eXistenZ and exploring the game world within.

The one image eXistenZ has always been synonymous with is the poster/cover art shot of Jude Law holding up a weird bio-organic handgun, thereby immediately relating the film to Cronenberg’s earlier fan favourite Videodrome. The film cements this link further, with would-be assassins declaring “death to the demoness Allegra Geller,” practically inviting the audience to reply, “long live the new flesh.” This seems to be Cronenberg’s way of making clear that he’s applying the same big picture analysis to 90s cyber culture as he did to 80s video/cable TV culture. The mechanics behind this are explored more heavily in eXistenZ, as we are shown that the game pods which players plug into their central nervous systems are literally living creatures, built from mutated amphibian parts.

All this is fascinating enough, and extremely Cronenbergian – yet in a way, that could be a problem. The whole enterprise feels more to do with Cronenberg’s own perceptions about what gaming could become, as opposed to in any way reflecting what gamer culture really is, or at least was in 1999. This feels particularly pointed watching the film in 2018, as in the opening scene Christopher Eccleston introduces Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Allegra as the greatest game designer in the world, and a largely male audience applauds in agreement: not a scene anyone would expect in the “actually it’s about ethics wah wah why don’t girls like me” game culture of today. Another slight issue, perhaps, is that the game world which eXistenZ offers up doesn’t really seem especially inviting, by contrast with, say, the OASIS of the recent Ready Player One. To a degree this makes sense, as the whole point is that we reach a stage by which the players are unable to distinguish the real world from the game, but it might raise questions as to just what makes the gameplay so pleasurable.

That having been said, this being Cronenberg, the film rests heavily on a sexual overtone to the gamer-game pod relationship; while it’s milder than the sexual elements of his early body horror films (and certainly much less provocative than Crash), there’s a thick streak of eroticism running through the film, with its many lingering close-ups of cords being inserted into welcoming orifices. The sex appeal of the two lead actors is clearly a big factor there: Jude Law is at the peak of his Cool Britannia pin-up boy good looks, and while Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn’t seem too widely celebrated as a sex symbol, she is extremely sexy here, though that may at least in part be my weakness for 90s indie girl hair and dress sense speaking.

It’s liable to leave you scratching your head for most of its running time, and then the twisty-turny final act might leave you feeling ever so slightly cheated, but eXistenZ remains an entertaining and intriguing film. It doesn’t really hold a candle to Cronenberg’s original body horror films, but as more or less his last venture in that direction it’s definitely one fans of the director should be aware of; and regardless of how true it is to video game culture, it’s definitely one of the better films to explore that subject. Even if the physical details are all very much of the director’s own imagination, it’s fair to say he’s got a pretty firm grasp on the philosophical and psychological overtones of it all. He’s a pretty smart guy, don’t you know.

This edition from 101 Films’ newly launched Black Label imprint is the first Blu-ray edition of eXistenZ released in the UK, and features a good range of both existing DVD extra material and new extras including an interview with Christopher Eccleston and a commentary track from British critics Kim Newman and Ryan Lambie. The first 3,000 copies also come with an exclusive limited edition booklet.

eXistenZ is out now on Blu-ray from 101 Films.