Crimes of the Future
David Cronenberg, Canada, France, Greece, UK, 2022o
As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the human body is subject to new transformations and mutations. With the help of his partner Caprice, Saul Tenser, a famous performer, stages the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin, an young investigator from the National Organ Registry, is following their practices closely and develops an erotic obsession about Tenser. Then a mysterious group emerges: they want to take advantage of Saul's fame to reveal the next stage of human evolution to the world.
Canadian director David Cronenberg has devoted almost his entire oeuvre to the fusion of man and machine in the age of digitalisation and biotechnology, as described by historian and futurist Noah Yuval Harari in his opus magnum "Homo Deus" in a way that is as frightening as it is fascinating. As always with Cronenberg, one has to look behind the façade of ultra-cool and at times disturbing science fiction in this late work to realise the true meaning of the bizarre setting and the strange creatures that populate it. Crimes of the Future tells of man's eternal fascination with his mutability and, in particular, the self-optimisation of the body. Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen are lascivious coolness as the stars of this futuristic scene, but Kristen Stewart as her obsessive groupie with her nervous tics is in a league of her own.
Andreas FurlerDavid Cronenberg revient aux fondamentaux de sa carrière et narre la naissance d’une nouvelle humanité par le prisme de l’art transhumaniste : celui du cinéma. L’on pourrait croire que Les Crimes du futur annonce la mort du maitre du body horror, c’est tout le contraire.
Julien RocherPourquoi la chirurgie du docteur Cronenberg opère-t-elle toujours ? Parce que sa science-fiction n’a jamais cédé aux rêveries futuristes ni joué au jeu des prophéties. Elle est restée arrimée à la seule chose qui l’intéresse vraiment, le corps humain et son devenir, le corps comme principal terrain de l’esprit et seul lieu possible d’une transcendance.
Marcos UzalDavid Cronenberg dissèque sa carrière, l'industrie dans laquelle il évolue depuis des décennies et la puissance de l'avant-garde artistique. L'exercice est forcément fascinant, encore plus pour les connaisseurs de son oeuvre.
Mathieu Jaborska