"Cosmopolis" in "Empire" Russian Magazine - July 2012

"Cosmopolis" in "Empire" Russian Magazine - July 2012

Translation

Cosmopolis – Empire Russia Review

A mesmerizing drama about the journey to the edge of the night.

Plot summary

A 28-year old billionaire Eric Packer get’s into his limousine in the morning. His goal-to cross Manhattan where the president is expected that day and there is a funeral of a famous rapper. His destination-a barber shop. Stops-on the road-encounters with his wife, lovers, madmen, business partners and financial analysts. Aggravating circumstances-likely bankruptcy and a life threat from an unknown maniac.

Something different was expected from the main specialist on pathologies-David Croneneberg. The novel of the same name by modern classic Don DeLillo-a dynamic attraction with a killer ending, is “Ulises” of the twenty-first century. It seemed that the Canadian master, with “trash-icon” Pattinson as a lead, would turn this kind of material into a first-rate thriller, something like “American Psycho II”

However, Cronenberg did something else. Snow-white limousine furrows through the jammed streets of New York smoothly like a cruise liner. The face of the rich playboy is imperturbable and immobile, yeys are hidden behind dark glasses. This is not a film but trip : while the main character slowly (and not without masochistic pleasure ) immerses into the abyss of self-destruction, doubts and pain, the audience is entrances observing Cronenbergian trepanations of the capitalist myth.

Terrorists, antiglobalists, politicians, economists, guards, whores, poets-are all participants of this mesmerizing dance macabre. It can be said that “Cosmopolis “ is the first openly social film in the career of the multi-faceted director. But it also easy to see the trademark features of his style and philosophy in the film which is the most mature and calm, and the least commercial. The world of capital for Cronenberg is a pseudo-reality, just like the computer game in “eXistenZ” or virtual television in “Videodrome” As for stately vampire Pattinson, he is a worthy heir of numerous mutants, madmen and subhumans the portraits of which Cronenberg is so famous for. After all, beauty, success and wealth-is also a deviation from the norm. By the way, not everybody would be able to play although static but mostly a talky part. “Cosmopolis”-is the point after which Pattinson can be called not just a performer but a real actor.

Verdict: A huge surprise for Cronenberg admirers as well as Pattinson fans.

The film got 4 stars out of five.

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