MovieChat Forums > eXistenZ (1999) Discussion > This quirky indie sci-fi movie is superb...

This quirky indie sci-fi movie is superb on several levels

posted 13 years ago by jeffyoung1
12 replies | jump to latest

Before I forget, I must state the following:

1) This movie foretold the advent of the ipads. The characters are liberally using the hand-held ipads at the end of the movie. At first I thought this was derivative of the Star Trek ipads from, 'The Next Generation' tv series. But the characters amazingly foresaw the widespread application and use of ipads some 12 years ago.

2) I now believe the characters were still in the game at the very end. Notice how everyone reacts to the shooting of game designer, Yvgeny Nourish and his personal assistant, the skinny redhead, Merle? Everyone just sat there and stared blankly at the shootings. This was similar to the Chinese restaurant scene when Ted Pikul shot the creepy Chinese waiter in the face and all the diners and cooks sat there staring. In real life everyone would have either cringed on the floor for cover or ran out of the building screaming and yelling.

3) It is difficult for science fiction movies to garner critical review. There has to be some very strong metaphysical, existential, psychological, dramatic or underlying theme. It is very rare for a science fiction movie which has none of these to achieve critical four-star review. The only one I can think of is, STAR WARS THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Other than that, the few science fiction movies that achieved critical fame include, Blade Runner, the Matrix, and Soylent Green, to name a few. I believe director David Cronenberg was trying to achieve this with eXistenZ and in my opinion he succeeded. Cronenberg has always been noted for his unusual, particular style of atmospheric science fiction movies, for example, the cult classic, Scanners.
If you accept eXistenZ for what it is, an atmospheric, almost neo-gothic science fiction film on a metaphysical level then you'll understand and appreciate the movie.

[–] NeitherHearNorTheir 13 years ago

This quirky indie sci-fi movie is superb on several levels

I agree.

I'm a major sci-fi fan, and I have no idea why I never noticed this one. I'm also a major Jennifer Jason Leigh fan, and she was amazing in this. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

2) I now believe the characters were still in the game at the very end. Notice how everyone reacts to the shooting of game designer, Yvgeny Nourish and his personal assistant, the skinny redhead, Merle? Everyone just sat there and stared blankly at the shootings.

I'm still leaning toward the end being reality. My reason is the exact same reason you have: the way everyone just sat there and stared blankly at the shooting. These people are (I believe) hard-core gamers, chosen to participate in the trial because of their hard-coreness. Which means they spend a lot of their life in the games. The only reason to have a violent, organized resistance movement against gaming is if there are a lot of people spending most of their time in games, neglecting their real lives to an extreme and dangerous extent.

These people at the end don't react because they can't tell the difference anymore.

Great fun sci-fi.

[–] HowYaLikeDemApplesWill 9 years ago

Although it is clearly left ambiguous as to whether they were still in the game at the end, I tend to agree with you and particularly your interpretation of the gamers being desensitized to 'real' life.

And in particular if you believe the pattern as spelled out in the trivia section:

Allegra's hair changes curliness depending on which reality she is in. In the "real" world, it is straight, in transCendenZ it is partially curly, and in eXistenZ it is completely curly.

In the final scene, her hair is perfectly straight...

Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

[–] jeffyoung1 12 years ago

eXistenZ is a movie that holds its age well. It still points to a future somewhere in the world of video games, the day that will come when video games blur the line between reality and alternate reality, when the game takes place in your head and not on a screen in front of your eyes. That might still be very far ahead in the future but it's something to grasp. I foresee the future of video games more as, 'alternate reality', where you still have to watch a screen, but now you feel as if you're inside that scenario. This is akin to flight simulators that are becoming more sophisticated. Some simulators place a visual headset around your eyes so everything you see is in 3-D. This near future advance in video games will be achievable and extremely expensive at first.

eXistenZ is a thinking man's sci-fi movie. It wasn't intended to entertain with special effects a la Star Wars nor gratuitious sex, violence, and gore. It is a quality sci-fi movie.

[–] MrJohn 12 years ago

1) This movie foretold the advent of the ipads. The characters are liberally using the hand-held ipads at the end of the movie. At first I thought this was derivative of the Star Trek ipads from, 'The Next Generation' tv series. But the characters amazingly foresaw the widespread application and use of ipads some 12 years ago.

Can't tell if trolling?

Microsoft had tablet PC's in production and retail sale back then, just no one wanted them, (I worked for a PC world at the time, they were pretty good for what they were, which was a fully operating PC in tablet profile).

2) I now believe the characters were still in the game at the very end. Notice how everyone reacts to the shooting of game designer, Yvgeny Nourish and his personal assistant, the skinny redhead, Merle? Everyone just sat there and stared blankly at the shootings. This was similar to the Chinese restaurant scene when Ted Pikul shot the creepy Chinese waiter in the face and all the diners and cooks sat there staring. In real life everyone would have either cringed on the floor for cover or ran out of the building screaming and yelling.

One could argue that the violence of the game world desensitized them to the violence of the real world, perhaps they've reached the Videodrome moment where they no longer know if they are playing or in real life, (the question the film raises) - I'm not saying you're wrong, I just love the ambiguity.

3) It is difficult for science fiction movies to garner critical review. There has to be some very strong metaphysical, existential, psychological, dramatic or underlying theme. It is very rare for a science fiction movie which has none of these to achieve critical four-star review. The only one I can think of is, STAR WARS THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Other than that, the few science fiction movies that achieved critical fame include, Blade Runner, the Matrix, and Soylent Green, to name a few. I believe director David Cronenberg was trying to achieve this with eXistenZ and in my opinion he succeeded. Cronenberg has always been noted for his unusual, particular style of atmospheric science fiction movies, for example, the cult classic, Scanners.
If you accept eXistenZ for what it is, an atmospheric, almost neo-gothic science fiction film on a metaphysical level then you'll understand and appreciate the movie.

I see it as a nice companion piece to Videodrome, it covers some similar ideas and expands upon the idea of what modern technology can be used to achieve when the participant isn't aware.

[–] patrick-413 11 years ago

Why would the OP be trolling? Almost nobody used or cared about any tablets before the iPad. It doesn't matter if you liked them, the truth is that outside of a very small user base, most of the world didn't even know they existed. (And actually, I had developed a museum-based application specifically for Windows tablets way back then, so I knew about them and they were awful pieces of hardware, IMO).

[–] MrJohn 11 years ago

Almost nobody used or cared about any tablets before the iPad.

Simply an idiotic statement of monumental stupidity. Of course people cared, "fashion" non-tech people didn't, because that aspect of society hadn't caught up with computing, but to assert things such as the palm pilot or iPaq weren't being sold in high numbers is simply just mind-numbingly stupid.

It's great you did that app that time, but development has been my job for decades, and if you've really not seen iPad type machines in popular science fiction for at least fifty years then I really question your sanity.

[–] patrick-413 11 years ago

Gosh John, do you speak to people like that in real life? I think you don't, and you are a blowhard on the internet because it's the only place you can get away with that sort of thing without getting shunned by normal people.

And yes, those same normal people had no idea what a computer tablet was ten years ago. Disagreeing with you is not "monumental stupidity". But coming unglued at someone who disagrees with you IS. Calm down.

[–] NotASpeckOfCereal 11 years ago

Calm down.

It's okay. I'm guessing most people didn't past that first sentence. I now that I certainly didn't. And he is now on my Ignore list.

Be sure to proof your posts to see if you any words out

[–] denise1234 10 years ago

It's a marvelous film :)

Besides toying with the notion of what we may now term 'reality' once you can enter a gaming world at this level of complexity (basically, an 'alternate' reality) accompanied by total sensory awareness immersion, the film also plays around a bit with free will vs determinism themes.

Also: The end I believe is still a game ~

And, I love the props :)

"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury

[–] Mamabadger56 8 years ago

Re #2 - I'm not sure, but I thought they were no longer in the game. I thought the point might have been that they had spent enough time in the game to begin to approach reality as if it were game action. In the final line, a characters asks, "Tell me the truth - are we still in the game?" He can no longer tell. Just the fact that it's uncertain is the point, I think.

[–] sebaser 8 years ago

Yeah great movie, underrated.
I never watched it before, im shocked nobody talks about it, crazy how prophetic it wa sin many aspects. Also did the reality inside reality thing better than inception.

As for the ending?
There is no reason to not think its the real life.
Everybody dont react since they them self cant tell if its real or not, they are all glued to their ipads and phones staring at the real world as a movie, even the asian guy at the end cant decide if he is still in a game.
Both the main players wanted to punish the designer, reward him, for creating something they saw as downfall of human race. A game so realistic, that nobody can tell it from reality, something that will ruin the perception of it for everybody who ill come with contact with it. With the speed up time and absolute realism to both the feel and look of the world there is absolutely no way of telling if you are in a game or not.

In the end i have to wonder if they were right, such a game system could result in a social collapse of the developed nations, killing its designer might be for the best.
Man, so many great concepts in this.

[–] sage2112 8 years ago

Wait - you're classifying that star wars movie as sci fi? It's a pretty good movie, but science fiction it is not.