(SPECIAL NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)
Time can be very unkind to films. People might go to cinema, watch something that they haven't seen before, be completely blown away and utterly convinced that they have just witnessed undisputed masterpiece. But only after few years and second viewing some of the flaws become incredibly obvious and the people start wondering how could they have thought so highly about a film that obviously didn't deserve such praise. The author of this review experienced that phenomenon with Strange Days, 1995 science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
Strange Days has a lot of science fiction masterpiece credential because it was produced and written by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron, author of such classics like The Terminator and Aliens. The plot is set in Los Angeles during the last two days of 1999. Few years earlier computer technology has advanced enough for electronic industry to produce SuperConductor Quantum Interference Device a.k.a. "squid" - little gadget that can record human brainwaves, store them on CD-ROM and thus allow people to experience other one's senses, thoughts and memories. The device was banned to the public, but that didn't stopped thriving black market to supply ever-growing demand for such virtual reality experience. Lenny Nero (played by Ralph Fiennes) is former policeman who peddles such merchandise and happens to be addict himself, still not getting over the break-up with his girlfriend, aspiring punk rock singer Faith (played by Juliette Lewis). While the murder of charismatic rap artist Jeriko One (played by Glenn Plummer) brings city at the edge of race riots, Nero gets embroiled in a murder mystery of his own. The trail leads to Jeriko One's manager and Faith's current boyfriend Philo Gant (played by Michael Wincott). In order to survive Nero would have to seek help from his friends - former colleague Max Peltier (played by Tom Sizemore) and armoured limo driver/bodyguard Lornette "Mace" Mason (played by Angela Bassett).
Strange Days was often called "Blade Runner of 1990s". All those who were comparing Bigelow's film to Scott's cult masterpiece were at partially right. Those two films indeed have plenty of things in common - protagonist in the form of world-wary former policeman; dystopian setting of futuristic Los Angeles; stunning visuals in sharp contrast with dark atmosphere. Sadly, both films also tanked at the box-office after premiere. Yet, Blade Runner continued to enjoy reputation of undisputable masterpiece for almost two decades, while Strange Days is almost totally forgotten these days.
The theme of the film - recording people's feelings and memories and later (ab)using them for commercial/recreational purposes has already been explored in science fiction literature for decades. Hollywood films used it since early 1980s, following Brainstorm. In mid 1990s this idea wasn't even looking so ground-breaking – many Hollywood films at the time used the concept of "virtual reality". However, the script by Cameron and Jay Cocks was one of the rare that actually tried to speculate about psychological, economical and cultural impacts of that phenomenon, rather than use it as an excuse for some poor CGI. Scriptwriters' conclusions are anything but rosy – apart from some obvious side effects like addiction and organised crime, this technology would also result in more alienation, less human interaction, total collapse of moral values and all the foundations of modern civilisation. Needless to say, this conclusion is just in line with Hollywood's views on modern computer technology - concept of "virtual reality" must be evil, because its widespread implementation would result in the disappearance of motion picture industry, allowing the users to become protagonists of their very own adventures instead of watching somebody else at the big screen.
Because this film had to show both the positive and negative sides of new technology, Kathryn Bigelow was probably the most suited director for this task. She shows that in the beginning of the film. The opening scene, which features armed robbery gone bad and subsequent escape from police, is presented as a continuous POV shot. That shot represented incredible challenge and Bigelow had to employ all sorts of clever tricks and innovative film making. She passed that test and almost every shot in Strange Days looks like a labour of love, whether the scenes involve action (which was always Bigelow's forte) or character interaction. Bigelow's talent is there even when she has to show some very disturbing scenes - the audience might feel their stomachs turning, but it will nevertheless have its eyes glued to the screen.
However, while the choice of Bigelow for director was right, some other choices were wrong, especially in the casting. Ralph Fiennes was very good in playing the lead anti hero; unfortunately, in an attempt to make him different from the character in Schindler's List he went a little bit too far, making him pathetic. He is even more dislikeable when paired with Angela Bassett, whose charisma of strong, no-nonsense woman perfectly fits the Cameron's ideals of woman heroine, but also, in the same time, makes Fiennes' Nero even less likeable. Juliette Lewis, on the other hand, is quite good in her role, while the other supporting actors - Sizemore, Wincott Vincent d'Onofrio, William Fichtner and Brigitte Bako (who plays prostitute Iris).
However, the biggest problem for Bigelow's film is not the casting, but in the script. For a movie that aspired for timelessness, Strange Days showed too much attachment for the time and place of its creation. Only five years after premiere the plot of Strange Days became yesterday's news simply because it had been unnecessarily burdened with the Y2K pseudo-apocalyptic motives. That was the rather lame attempt to cash on the "pre-millenial" zeitgeist and in the end it only hurt the film. First, since plot had to take place in the last days of 1999, the audience in 1995 had to swallow the idea of something like "squid" being available in a month or to. The other problem was the nature of the Y2K apocalypse. For the film maker with visionary reputation Cameron showed incredible short-sightenedness and self-centredness. In his vision, the end of the world would come in the form of race riot in the downtown Los Angeles. Since planet Earth rotates the way it does and since the date boundary is set in middle of Pacific, Los Angeles is actually one of the last major metropolitan areas in the world where you could greet New Year. So, midnight passes in almost every other nation and city on planet Earth, some in much worse shape than L.A. In the film nothing apocalyptic happens in those places; actually those places doesn't seem to exist. In film mmakers' mind, entire world is reduced to La La Land, and this leaves bad impression; instead of powerful tale that asks some unpleasant questions about future of humanity, Strange Days suddenly starts looking like just another piece of Hollywood fantasy. It is a real shame, since Strange Days could have been a true masterpiece. Yet, even with such flaws and even after so many years, this film still has some universal qualities and it could be recommended as a very good piece of filmmaking.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 4th 2002)
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