Flesh

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2008)

In my comment for Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) I wrote that even I don't like the idea of re-making the classics there are some that I really love. Certainly Cronenberg's Fly is one of them. This 1986 version of the 1958 classic has some similar things of that film but in the end it feels like a complete different story that has no things of the original. Of course the basic plot is the same but this film focuses more and just to the process and consequences of the masterpiece of a brilliant scientist. The 1958 version is pure narrative which is great but basically we don't see a true following to the scientist after his masterpiece change his life and here that following is amazing, bizarre, funny and with some nasty images, especially if you're eating something. One of the things that may be similar is the fact that there are few characters but here it feels the fact that in any time this story with be known by all the world. To make that the woman, who is going to be near the scientist (Jeff Goldblum), work as a journalist is the main reason of that feel. The scientist name is Seth Brundle and he is like a young Einstein (he also bought many identical sets of clothes) whose only interest is to keep on going with his experiments. He is a shy person who never leaves his home so when the journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) appears his life will never be the same but not particularly because of her. Here we have the great and interesting following to a science experiment with Veronica being witness and recording every little detail of Brundle's process in order to improve his own masterpiece, the thing that will change the world forever. Eventually the Telepods will only change Brundle's life and we are going to see a great character study in a situation that has never happened in the world. I think everybody who may be reading this knows how and for what the Telepods work and what happened to Brundle when a fly went inside one of the Telepods, so I think is unnecessary to write it. So when finally the new creature is evolving, is when Cronenberg's style appears and when finally you can say, yeah that's pure Cronenberg. Great visuals, unforgettable images, the interesting relationship between Brundle and Veronica and some humor (remember the "coffee for your sugar" and the "I live with my mother too"?) makes this last part of the film a really magnificent one. David's fascination for the flesh is here and is because of the flesh that Brundle finally could improve the Telepods and also the two main characters had a fascination for the flesh, of course in different ways with Veronica before the fly went inside one Telepod and Brundle after his experiences with the Telepods. Long live the new flesh? I don't think so.
Conclusion: Cronenberg claims, in the interview featured on the Region 4 DVD of The Fly, that he has made pure action films (Scanners), character films (The Dead Zone) and films with a visual part as no other released before (Videodrome) so for David "The Fly" has the three things combined. I think he is absolute correct so for my money "The Fly" is one of Cronenberg's best films and definitely one of his most accessible works and one of my personal favourites. If you ask which version of the fly you should see, I would say that you need to see both the 1958 and the 1986 version because both are truly fantastic.
Region 4 DVD: is a single-disc edition but is pretty good. Extras are the theatrical trailer, a behind the scenes and five short interviews with Stuart Cornfeld, Cronenberg, Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and Chris Walas.