Starring Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, John Neville,
Lynn Redgrave, Bradley Hall.
Written and directed by David Cronenberg.
Spider is a story about a man in a halfway house run by the stern Mrs. Wilkenson
(Redgrave), after being released from the mental institution. He is very nervous,
possessive of his meagre belongings, and working hard to piece together events in his
life with the use of his cherished diary. The film literally is a journey through his
mind, where Spider (Fiennes) is looking in on his boyhood self (Hall) interacting with
his pub-crawling and a bit distant father (Byrne) and his mother (Richardson). The
modern Spider traces back to his old home and to other places of his youth to jog his
fragile memory. As time progresses, we see young Spider begins to live in a reality
all his own, and his hold on sanity slowly diminishes.
The movie takes its time revealing past details of Spider's life, bit by bit - in my mind,
Cronenberg could have picked up the pace a bit - and expertly conveys the disoriented,
confused version of events that must go on in a schizophrenic's mind. A Beautiful Mind,
in many ways a very good film, relied on charming imaginary friends and old-fashioned
Hollywood romance and melodrama to maintain interest. Spider uses none of that,
and makes no attempt to juice up the proceedings. In many ways,
this is a film to admire, more than enjoy. The performances lead the parade of things
to admire, starting with the often amazing Ralph Fiennes. The unusual feature of his work
is that Fiennes' Spider mumbles and says almost nothing throughout the entire film, but
is able to hold our interest through his presence and body actions. Richardson plays three
different characters of the same person, if that makes any sense, and each is distinct
and real. John Neville skillfully plays Terrance, a long-time paranoid resident of
the halfway house, who tries to befriend and comfort Spider.
Spider is an excellently crafted journey into the confused mind of a man trying
to piece together the details of his life. It is a low-action, glacially paced journey,
but the outstanding performances and well-conceived ending make it worthwhile.
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