part one of " the strangest movies ever made " series at www .
mediajunkies .
com by scott watson [ light spoilers , nothing you should n't read ]
existenz has been called " a gooey matrix " , and while this is a correct description in some ways , in others it is completely off .
the only thing the two films have in common is the idea of a virtual reality that is indistinguishable from normal , " real " reality .
a major difference is that " the matrix " has a base reality that is obviously the true reality , while existenz does the impossible and makes us accept the most bizarre reality ever as true .
and oh what a reality it is .
david cronenberg has shown us before that he knows how to create strange movies ( naked lunch , crash ) , but this one is one of the strangest .
maybe it 's because of how the mundane is mixed with the bizarre .
technology is organic , but only some of it .
cars are normal .
gas stations are the same .
cell phones are glowing bug like appendages .
you jack into a virtual reality game using a quivering pink gooey animal like apparatus ( referred to simply as a " pod " ) .
high technology has been replaced with organic creatures , and it provides a truly surreal setting for the characters .
a famous game designer , allegra geller ( a fine looking jennifer jason leigh ) , flees a demonstration of her latest game , existenz , after an assassination attempt .
she is on the run ( from who , i 'm still not sure ) , and has to save her pod by playing her game with " someone friendly " .
that someone friendly is her dubious companion and security guard , ted pikul ( jude law ) .
unfortunately he is lacking a fundamental requirement for playing , a bioport .
sort of a hole in your spine
( ok , exactly like a hole in your spine ) , a bioport allows you to plug the vaguely entrail - looking wires from the pod into you , allowing you to play the game .
luckily a bioport can be installed easily ( they install them in malls ) , so off they go to get one .
after a crazy series of events at the local country gas station , they are able to plug in and play existenz .
the plot itself is a surreal melding of conspiracies , reality distortion , chinese restaurants , and multi appendaged amphibian things ( " it 's a sign of the times " ) .
but the plot , while cohesive in it 's own creepy way is secondary to just trying to figure out what the hell is going on in this universe .
cronenberg just slaps this weird organic - tech world into the viewers lap , and it 's up to you to figure out how all these things work .
and that 's the true joy of this film , entering the vaguely nightmarish world in which existenz takes place .
you learn a little bit piece by piece ( oh , they make pods out of those ) , and it 's just enough to get you to accept the world that is presented to you .
there are all kinds of twists and turns as the characters wander around , including a fantastic scene in a chinese restaurant that will leave you trying to assemble something out of your moo goo gai pan for months afterwards .
also the bioports are occasionally used for things other than porting into existenz , the specifics of which i will leave for you to discover .
there 's lots of little things that set off the weird - o - meter , like the little tiny pods that you can buy in the video game store , the two headed amphibian creature , and why that guy at the gas station 's name appears to be " gas " .
it all adds up to a supremely far out trip , and given the choice i think i would rather live in the matrix 's virtual world .
. .
oh wait
, i already do .
that 's the true joy a fantastic scene a supremely far out trip will leave you trying to assemble something out of your moo goo gai pan for months afterwards