David Cronenberg's strength is bringing out the humanity of the oddest characters in the oddest situations. Perhaps the well-known story of M Butterfly was too narrow for him to experiment? Perhaps he decided it was best to stick to the play as faithfully as possible? I don't know what happened, but the imaginative,
irreverent, twisted, the king of psychosexual dramas that David Cronenberg has always been and that I have always loved, is repressed. Little inventiveness. All in all, a very conventional film.
The upside: beautiful cinematography, excellent performance from John Lone and Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons can do no wrong. He always plays very similar, tortured characters, but does a great job in every occasion. Rene Gallimard is a blind, vague character, but Irons pulls out the best of him. I would watch the film only to see that.
Bottomline: this could have been fantastic! It's just good.
January 16, 2009
