Post by Dracula on Feb 19, 2023 13:37:31 GMT -5
Infinity Pool(2/1/2023)
Despite nepotism in Hollywood being fairly common, it is relatively rare for a film director to be the son of another film director. Usually the nepotism travels in slightly less predictable patterns than that, and when it does go that way, well it’s usually in such a way as you’d barely notice. Sofia Coppola’s movies don’t really resemble Francis Ford Coppola’s movies all that much and you’d hardly know that Jason Reitman is related to Ivan Reitman from watching most of their respective movies. So that makes what Brandon Cronenberg is doing now kind of unique as he’s a young filmmaker who’s not running away from the legacy of his father David Cronenberg at all, quite the opposite he seems to be trying to kind of pick up right where his father has left off. This isn’t to say that the elder Cronenberg is the younger Cronenberg’s only influence or that there aren’t differences between what the two do, but the thematic and stylistic similarities that are there are unmistakable and it’s kind of hard not to think about what Brandon Cronenberg is doing today in terms of that family legacy. If there’s any David Cronenberg movie that Brandon Cronenberg’s newest film Infinity Pool most closely resembles it’s almost certainly Crash as both films are about people being driven by deranged and destructive hedonistic urges.
The film is set in a fictional country called Li Tolqa, which is known for its beachside resorts but is highly traditional and religious outside of those walled off resorts. Early in the film the protagonist (played by Alexander Skarsgård) finds himself on the wrong side of those traditions but comes to find that people of wealth like himself can insulate themselves from the negative effects of them and finds himself bonding with other wealthy ex-pats who are find these same traditions intoxicating. I’m being vague about that because the nature of these traditions are pretty wild as a concept and are worth discovering while watching the film. There’s something of a statement being made here about the way the wealthy exploit tourist economies of impoverished countries to get away with things and more or less exploit said countries culture and traditions, but it’s not necessarily just a simple “White Lotus” eat the rich type of thing as these people’s depravity seems to run a bit deeper than mere affluenza. Beyond the legacy of his father, there are also clear traces of Yorgos Lanthimos here, particularly in its starkness and dialogue choices and this also seems to have some affinity to the general trippiness of someone like fellow nepo-baby/likely drug user Panos Cosmatos.
Make no mistake, this movie is weird as hell and will likely be unpleasant and alienating to a lot of unsuspecting audiences. There’s a good chance I wouldn’t have liked it either if I hadn’t seen it on a day where I was in the right mood for it. The movie has violent and sexual imagery that will be off-putting to some, but there’s nothing here that’s exactly unprecedented in that regard, what’s really kind of disturbing here is just how wildly amoral the characters in it are. The Mia Goth character in particular is outrageously vile and vapid and her performance is rather over the top towards the end, but in ways that do fit the extremity of the overall movie. I’m not as sure that Alexander Skarsgård is as good in the lead; he kind of seems like he was cast more because he looks rich and is willing to be in crazy movies than because he’s quite right for this, but he doesn’t wreck the movie or anything. At the end of the day I’m not sure if this is a movie I can one hundred percent explain or defend, but for what it’s worth this is probably the most I’ve enjoyed a movie from any Cronenberg in at least ten years so that maybe bodes well for this experiment in directorial family legacy.
***1/2 out of Five
Despite nepotism in Hollywood being fairly common, it is relatively rare for a film director to be the son of another film director. Usually the nepotism travels in slightly less predictable patterns than that, and when it does go that way, well it’s usually in such a way as you’d barely notice. Sofia Coppola’s movies don’t really resemble Francis Ford Coppola’s movies all that much and you’d hardly know that Jason Reitman is related to Ivan Reitman from watching most of their respective movies. So that makes what Brandon Cronenberg is doing now kind of unique as he’s a young filmmaker who’s not running away from the legacy of his father David Cronenberg at all, quite the opposite he seems to be trying to kind of pick up right where his father has left off. This isn’t to say that the elder Cronenberg is the younger Cronenberg’s only influence or that there aren’t differences between what the two do, but the thematic and stylistic similarities that are there are unmistakable and it’s kind of hard not to think about what Brandon Cronenberg is doing today in terms of that family legacy. If there’s any David Cronenberg movie that Brandon Cronenberg’s newest film Infinity Pool most closely resembles it’s almost certainly Crash as both films are about people being driven by deranged and destructive hedonistic urges.
The film is set in a fictional country called Li Tolqa, which is known for its beachside resorts but is highly traditional and religious outside of those walled off resorts. Early in the film the protagonist (played by Alexander Skarsgård) finds himself on the wrong side of those traditions but comes to find that people of wealth like himself can insulate themselves from the negative effects of them and finds himself bonding with other wealthy ex-pats who are find these same traditions intoxicating. I’m being vague about that because the nature of these traditions are pretty wild as a concept and are worth discovering while watching the film. There’s something of a statement being made here about the way the wealthy exploit tourist economies of impoverished countries to get away with things and more or less exploit said countries culture and traditions, but it’s not necessarily just a simple “White Lotus” eat the rich type of thing as these people’s depravity seems to run a bit deeper than mere affluenza. Beyond the legacy of his father, there are also clear traces of Yorgos Lanthimos here, particularly in its starkness and dialogue choices and this also seems to have some affinity to the general trippiness of someone like fellow nepo-baby/likely drug user Panos Cosmatos.
Make no mistake, this movie is weird as hell and will likely be unpleasant and alienating to a lot of unsuspecting audiences. There’s a good chance I wouldn’t have liked it either if I hadn’t seen it on a day where I was in the right mood for it. The movie has violent and sexual imagery that will be off-putting to some, but there’s nothing here that’s exactly unprecedented in that regard, what’s really kind of disturbing here is just how wildly amoral the characters in it are. The Mia Goth character in particular is outrageously vile and vapid and her performance is rather over the top towards the end, but in ways that do fit the extremity of the overall movie. I’m not as sure that Alexander Skarsgård is as good in the lead; he kind of seems like he was cast more because he looks rich and is willing to be in crazy movies than because he’s quite right for this, but he doesn’t wreck the movie or anything. At the end of the day I’m not sure if this is a movie I can one hundred percent explain or defend, but for what it’s worth this is probably the most I’ve enjoyed a movie from any Cronenberg in at least ten years so that maybe bodes well for this experiment in directorial family legacy.
***1/2 out of Five
