Splice (2009)
06-07-2010, 01:57 PM
[SIZE="5"]Splice (2009)[/SIZE]
Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Written by: Vincenzo Natali, Doug Taylor, Antoinette Terry Bryant
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac
Running time: 104 minutes
Rating: R
In the small hours of December 5, 2003, my life changed forever.
In the dim light, I sat behind my then wife on our bed as our son decided that 1:43 in the morning was the perfect hour to make his debut. I wasnât sure what I was feeling at that moment. Most likely, I had no idea what to feel. The moment was too big for me to comprehend at that moment. Sometimes, I think it still is, but the art of creation is like that. Often we donât realize the enormity of what it is we create â whether it is art or science or children.
Contrary to what you might see in the trailers â and lately it seems that trailers have been specializing in the art of misdirection â âSpliceâ is not a horror movie. What it is, though, is good old-fashioned sci-fi allegory, using the speculative setting of genetic engineering to tell a story that is much more than what it appears to be on the surface. In it, we follow the work of two brilliant scientists Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) who are working on a project to create a wholly new life form that will produce medical elements for a large pharmaceutical company. Their efforts are moderately successful considering they are working under the limitation of not using human genetic material, but when their corporate bosses tell them that the experimental phase of the project is shutting down; they decide they have to kick things up a notch to provide even more spectacular results. They way the look to do this is by expanding their creations to include human DNA. Things seem to go well until one night when their latest experiment has its own surprise debut and opens the door to far more ethical and quite simply, more human questions .
The third film by director Vincenzo Natali, âSpliceâ is a straightforward tale of creation and its consequences. Undoubtedly, the most special effect in this movie is French actress, Delphine Chanéac as Dren, the product of Clive and Elsaâs work. While her character was a composite of digital and practical effects, the film doesnât fall into the common trap of making the effects the star of the movie instead of the characters and this film is chocked full of wonderfully flawed and conflicted characters. Starting at the top of the bill both Brody and Polley are great as the mildly dysfunctional couple and ethically challenged scientists. Individually, Brody balances Cliveâs professional desires with his uncertainty in his personal life. Polley, likewise, infuses Elsa with maternal warmth and a hard edge. Chanéac does a marvelous job as Dren, communicating so much with just her expression since her vocabulary is nothing more than an amalgam of human noises. But what really impressed me, even more than the acting, was the story. Now, there have been more than a few stories about forbidden genetically engineered hybrids or aliens or whatever, but often they follow a well-beaten path. Natali, however, fearlessly, admirably treads ground with his script that not many people would go â certainly not in a major studio production. He also does it tastefully⦠or at least as tastefully as the subjects can be made. Typically, these subjects would be played up for their more prurient aspects, but here they are introduced but not glorified; they are disturbing, not titillating.
In a season of blockbusters and summer tentpoles movies, âSpliceâ is a refreshing piece of filmmaking reminding us in these most dogged days that sci-fi can be more than just special effects and explosion.
Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Written by: Vincenzo Natali, Doug Taylor, Antoinette Terry Bryant
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac
Running time: 104 minutes
Rating: R
In the small hours of December 5, 2003, my life changed forever.
In the dim light, I sat behind my then wife on our bed as our son decided that 1:43 in the morning was the perfect hour to make his debut. I wasnât sure what I was feeling at that moment. Most likely, I had no idea what to feel. The moment was too big for me to comprehend at that moment. Sometimes, I think it still is, but the art of creation is like that. Often we donât realize the enormity of what it is we create â whether it is art or science or children.
Contrary to what you might see in the trailers â and lately it seems that trailers have been specializing in the art of misdirection â âSpliceâ is not a horror movie. What it is, though, is good old-fashioned sci-fi allegory, using the speculative setting of genetic engineering to tell a story that is much more than what it appears to be on the surface. In it, we follow the work of two brilliant scientists Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) who are working on a project to create a wholly new life form that will produce medical elements for a large pharmaceutical company. Their efforts are moderately successful considering they are working under the limitation of not using human genetic material, but when their corporate bosses tell them that the experimental phase of the project is shutting down; they decide they have to kick things up a notch to provide even more spectacular results. They way the look to do this is by expanding their creations to include human DNA. Things seem to go well until one night when their latest experiment has its own surprise debut and opens the door to far more ethical and quite simply, more human questions .
The third film by director Vincenzo Natali, âSpliceâ is a straightforward tale of creation and its consequences. Undoubtedly, the most special effect in this movie is French actress, Delphine Chanéac as Dren, the product of Clive and Elsaâs work. While her character was a composite of digital and practical effects, the film doesnât fall into the common trap of making the effects the star of the movie instead of the characters and this film is chocked full of wonderfully flawed and conflicted characters. Starting at the top of the bill both Brody and Polley are great as the mildly dysfunctional couple and ethically challenged scientists. Individually, Brody balances Cliveâs professional desires with his uncertainty in his personal life. Polley, likewise, infuses Elsa with maternal warmth and a hard edge. Chanéac does a marvelous job as Dren, communicating so much with just her expression since her vocabulary is nothing more than an amalgam of human noises. But what really impressed me, even more than the acting, was the story. Now, there have been more than a few stories about forbidden genetically engineered hybrids or aliens or whatever, but often they follow a well-beaten path. Natali, however, fearlessly, admirably treads ground with his script that not many people would go â certainly not in a major studio production. He also does it tastefully⦠or at least as tastefully as the subjects can be made. Typically, these subjects would be played up for their more prurient aspects, but here they are introduced but not glorified; they are disturbing, not titillating.
In a season of blockbusters and summer tentpoles movies, âSpliceâ is a refreshing piece of filmmaking reminding us in these most dogged days that sci-fi can be more than just special effects and explosion.
The Jaundiced Eye
![[-]](http://talkhorror.com/boards/themes/dim/collapse.png)
