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★ 9 / 10
For all his cool detachment, methodical craftsmanship and
Nick_Milligan
For all his cool detachment, methodical craftsmanship and pitch-black irony, _The Shrouds_ finds the great David Cronenberg at his most heartfelt and, despite…
For all his cool detachment, methodical craftsmanship and pitch-black irony, _The Shrouds_ finds the great David Cronenberg at his most heartfelt and, despite having publicly played down the autobiographical nature of this script, at his most personal.
Cronenberg's wife passed away in 2017 after a prolonged illness and in Vincent Cassel's Karsh we could perhaps see a Cronenberg cypher, through which the great filmmaker shares his experiences of loss, grief and sexual desire, as well as one's wrestle with impermanence and mortality.
Karsh is a businessman in the death business, haunted by his dead wife during sleep and by her twin sister (both played by the beautiful Diane Kruger) in waking life. And through the unfolding conspiracy against Karsh's burgeoning voyeuristic graveyard empire, Cronenberg is able to explore many of his long-held concerns - the intersection of tech and our bodies, the fate of human connection, the environment and, viscerally, the degradation, fetishisation, corruption and fallibility of our corporeal form.
Cronenberg, who openly admits he's more influenced by novels than films, takes a very measured, complex and literary approach to the narrative in _The Shrouds_, ending on an emotionally weighted final note, rather than one driven by narrative urgency or interest.
We're not afforded the answers to the conspiracy plot in a neatly wrapped package, instead we're offered the haunting realisation that our protagonist will never be unmarked by his wife's death, that every new object of desire will bear his burden and share her scars.
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★ 4 / 10
It’s disappointing to see a talented filmmaker lose
Brent Marchant
It’s disappointing to see a talented filmmaker lose his way in one of his works. Unfortunately, that’s precisely the problem with the latest effort from…
It’s disappointing to see a talented filmmaker lose his way in one of his works. Unfortunately, that’s precisely the problem with the latest effort from acclaimed writer-director David Cronenberg in a film that seemingly had potential but fails to pull it together in the final product. Karsh Relikh (Vincent Cassel) is a successful Canadian businessman consumed with grief over the death of his wife, Becca (Diane Kruger), who attempts to cope with his loss by inventing a questionable and arguably macabre technology that allows survivors to peer into the graves of their departed loved ones to, for lack of a better explanation, monitor the deterioration of the deceaseds’ corpses. From this premise (and the misleading trailer), one might get the impression that this would be a story with dark, spooky, supernatural overtones. However, as it plays out, the film goes from tangent to tangent to tangent without direction or satisfactory closure, leading viewers on a wild goose chase that, in the end, feels unresolved and incomplete. This alleged horror offering (which is admittedly not particularly scary or engaging) is actually more of a mystery/psychological thriller that ends up weaving a jumbled web of story arcs involving ever-evolving incidents of international business espionage and technological intrigue, the paranoid (and head-scratchingly erotically driven) ravings of Becca’s conspiracy theory-obsessed sister, Terry (Kruger in a dual role), the love-starved pining of Terry’s unbalanced ex-husband and expert computer hacker, Maury (Guy Pearce), and Karsh’s tawdry affair with Soo-Min (Sandrine Holt), the blind wife of a dying Hungarian corporate magnate (Vieslav Krystyan) who wants to invest in the expansion Karsh’s graveyard technology venture, among other puzzling and seemingly unrelated narrative threads. Add to this the picture’s glacial pacing and a series of overlong and not especially revelatory dream sequences, and viewers are left with a genuinely bizarre offering. To its credit, the production features some inventive cinematography, a capable collection of performances, and a surprising wealth of inspired and perfectly timed comic relief (truly one of the film’s best attributes), but these assets aren’t enough to save a sinking ship that plunges deeper and deeper the longer this release goes on, all the way up to its abrupt and unfulfilling conclusion. This clearly is one of those productions that’s likely to prompt many audience members to ask, “What was the director thinking?”, a justifiable inquiry, to be sure. Cronenberg has produced a fine body of work over the course of his career, but it’s nearly impossible to fathom what he was going for here.
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★ 6 / 10
online graves for loved ones
ferguson-6
Greetings again from the darkness. Director David Cronenberg is renowned for his brand of 'body horror', although his canon has certainly not been limited to…
Greetings again from the darkness. Director David Cronenberg is renowned for his brand of 'body horror', although his canon has certainly not been limited to the genre. Some of his films across the past fifty years include CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (2022), COSMOPOLIS (2012), A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005), CRASH (1996), DEAD RINGERS (1988), THE FLY (1986), VIDEODROME (1983), THE DEAD ZONE (a personal favorite,1983), and SCANNERS (1981). With his latest, Cronenberg offers a taste of what he's known for, but mostly focuses on the extreme repercussions of grief.Grief is an emotion that hits us all hard at some point. Karsh (the always great Vincent Cassel) lost his wife four years ago, and his vision since has been to create a specialized, internet-based cemetery named GraveTech where grieving folks can observe the decay of lost loved ones ... all from the convenience of their iPhone app. Cronenberg regulars should prepare themselves for a film and story that has the feel of a stage production - meaning it's the dialogue and conversation that is crucial here, more so than the visual presentation (although there are a few stellar moments in that area as well).Diane Kruger plays two roles here. One is Karsh's deceased ex-wife Becca, who we (and Karsh) see in hallucinations or visions. Her other role is as Becca's surviving sister Terry, a dog groomer who is dealing with her own grief. Lastly, a significant role is played by Guy Pearce as Terry's ex-husband, Maury ... a frumpy, paranoid, techno geek. Maury's skills have created Hunny, an AI avatar meant to provide companionship and advice to Karsh. Oh, and Diane Kruger also voices Hunny.The thrust of the story revolves around the fallout of the targeted vandalism of a few of the gravesites, creating suspicion as to whether it's an international conspiracy or something less provocative. Of course, this is Cronenberg, so a traditional arc is not in the cards. Instead, he provides some stunning visuals (not violence, but definitely a shocking shift from what movies traditionally show) meant to convey the drastic changes that occur with the bodies we too often take for granted, especially when cancer is involved. Politics are touched on, and it's probably the first time you've ever heard a dentist speak the line, "Grief is rotting your teeth." Eroticism and obsession are key motivators here, so if you are willing, the psychological aspects of Cronenberg's film could fill many post-viewing debates. Whether this film strikes a chord with you or not, I remain thrilled and humbled that this octogenarian continues to do things his way.Opens in theaters on April 25, 2025.
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U šoku sam Neverovatno ali neverovatno bespoentan film. Ra?va se u nekoliko teorija zavere od kojih ni jedna ne opravdava samu ideju zapleta filma. Ne završava se,jednostavno je prese?en na pola(hvala Bogu) Ideja tehno-grobovi sa 3D pra?enjem raspadanja pokojnika... mozda originalno ali apsolutno loše iskoriš?eno. Nema nikakvu umetni?ku vrednost. Imam strpljenja za filmove sa sporijim razvojem pri?e ali ovo vredja inteligenciju jer pri?e uopšte i nema.