Country: CAN/GB/JAP/FR
Technical: col 98m
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, John Neville, Lynn Redgrave
Synopsis:
A schizophrenic is granted leave from the asylum to stay in a halfway house in London, as a stepping stone towards re-entering society. The house happens not to be far from the scene of his childhood trauma.
Review:
Painfully slow, and convincingly grimy evocation of a postwar East End and its present day aftermath, both presided over by the menacing hum and hiss of a gas works. Gradually we learn the significance of this and the film's title, all the while expecting a twist which, when it comes, does not disappoint. As a portrait of mental illness it is both compassionate and shocking, but there is little redemption offered our hapless patient, for all his therapeutic fumblings over his past.
Country: CAN/GB/JAP/FR
Technical: col 98m
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, John Neville, Lynn Redgrave
Synopsis:
A schizophrenic is granted leave from the asylum to stay in a halfway house in London, as a stepping stone towards re-entering society. The house happens not to be far from the scene of his childhood trauma.
Review:
Painfully slow, and convincingly grimy evocation of a postwar East End and its present day aftermath, both presided over by the menacing hum and hiss of a gas works. Gradually we learn the significance of this and the film's title, all the while expecting a twist which, when it comes, does not disappoint. As a portrait of mental illness it is both compassionate and shocking, but there is little redemption offered our hapless patient, for all his therapeutic fumblings over his past.
