CosmopolisThe shape of our world is not dictated by our actions, but by the actions of the power elite...the few, the "one percent", the kings of Earth and men. These are the people who helm the mighty galleon upon which we sail...on the seas of our industry, our society, even our morality; heaven help us all should they falter or err, because we all sink in the deluge. Does this mean that we have no agency? No independence? I suppose that depends on your definition of "free will" when juxtaposed with "free trade". In this, Cosmopolis is a horror film, but one of social identity, reduced to an infinitesimal iota because a billionaire wanted a haircut.
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Describing Cosmopolis in terms of plot sounds absurd on paper; a young financial savant named Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) chooses to go get his hair cut against the recommendations of his bodyguard, Torval (Kevin Durand), because of perceived threats on his life. His commute across New York City in his mobile command center--his technologically-outfitted limousine--takes all of the day, due to overwhelming street congestion due to a visit by the president, the funeral of a rap artist, and protests against capitalism, not to mention the frequent diversions made by Eric to discuss his collapsing financial empire, get a prostate exam, counsel from his advisers, and to have sex with various women in lieu of his newlywed bride, Elise (Sarah Gadon), who will not sleep with him. If you haven't asked yourself, "why should I care" by this point, perhaps I failed in defending my assertion that the plot sounds ridiculous. But of course, this would overlook the sly deception filmmaker David Cronenberg plays on us in his adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel of the same name: it is unquestionably a satire of a world obsessed with news feeds, trending, and constant ticker updates that have no bearing on the lives of mortal men. It is a parody of a world like ours, where we think that NASDAQ should mean something to us, or more so, means too much to someone else. The world of Cosmopolis flows to the beat of Eric Packer, as though every wish of his were to come true. But Eric has been weened on perfection...and perfection is boring; his true desire is for chaos. He claims that the plummeting of his enterprise is due to his inability to accurately predict the trends, a talent he has build his reputation upon. But in truth, I seen Eric as a man who has discovered that while he has been led to believe that he is a "power elite" in this world, the reality is that he is merely another cog in the machine; no one is in charge save for the collective that is society. Or even if Eric is in charge, that does not make him any less of a prisoner.
Cosmopolis marked a return to script writing for Cronenberg after a long hiatus, and is one of the auteur's more philosophical works while also being clever and cagey. Cronenberg built up his filmmaking reputation on films about humans as a technological creature, about the merging of man and machine. Cosmopolis is more concerned with humanity as a creature without authentic identity, left with merely the image or replica where the shadow of originality once dwelt. Protesters immolate themselves in the street, because they saw it on TV at some point. Eric's inevitable confrontation with Benno Levin (Paul Giamatti) is a discourse about the purpose of violence and the relativity of currency, but one where Eric all but calls Benno crazy for his anxiety syndromes which were fundamentally contracted, and are not even his own. Eric's skill is to "read" currency to predict trends, and he often seeks to learn how to read people, asking them questions and trying to provoke reactions, because he cannot help but view people as the currency of society. It is less that Eric is disenfranchised from humanity, but that his role in society deprives him of this capacity for empathy. Robert Pattinson plays Eric as a young prince of affluence and virtuoso of his trade, who carries both determination and paranoia. His performance is evocative of a young Christopher Walken, both a bit aloof and cynical, yet with a charismatic presence simultaneously compelling and abrasive. His grand mission is to get a haircut; it seems arbitrary, like the spiteful stubbornness of a petulant child, but it is more. It is a statement, a rebellion against the confines of his own existence, one in which no matter how much money he has, it doesn't change his life in any substantial way. Don DeLillo's work has been described as postmodern, a quality of which includes a sense of impermanence or an absence of resolution. For example, although Eric has acquired a beautiful and rich new wife, she will not sleep with him, perhaps largely due to his rather crude advances on her at every turn, rather than frigidity on her part. But if Eric is in control of his actions, then this is an effort (if subconscious) for Eric to avoid the staid resolutions of the mundane and expected results; he craves a sense of deprivation, of the void--he wants to give failure a shot.
The world of Cosmopolis is a scary place, and not just because of violent street protests; this is a place where the ruling class is so intrinsically removed from the common people, that the concept of doing something normal--like getting a haircut--to a man like Eric results in an explosion of anarchy and violence. One of Eric's advisers comments that the state of the Chinese yuan is in flux because a financial leader "paused" mid-sentence while describing the currency's stability, which prompted the community to react with fear and terror that the statement contained a hidden meaning...all because the man needed to take a breath. There is a moment when an attack is made on a man on television by a terrorist, the conversation once again concerning the stability of the yuan. As Eric observes, the natural extension of business is murder, and is emblematic of how precariously balanced our society and economy are, a house of cards quick to slip into disarray with but a nudge. Ennui grips Eric as he struggles to come to terms with the banality of his existence. They say it's lonely at the top, because at the top, there is only room for one. But it is also a place where paranoia is paramount, because you have the best view of the world below; the flip side is what you miss from that vantage point, what experiences money can not simply buy. And one of the most bizarre aspects of Cosmopolis is how the film is filled with strange conversations and observations, disconnected--even distracted--from reality. The plot is established by the events as opposed to being reinforced by the dialogue; the words don't matter in the sense that they promote the plot, but serve as the underlying vibration to the story. It is as though characters are unshackled from the restraint of the "ego", and speak from a place more aligned with the "id", save that the discourse is often of a far more contemplative--if still occasionally violent--nature. Cosmopolis satirizes a society which accuses the elite few for their woes--right or wrong--while simultaneously elevating them to celebrity status, and of the concept that there is a man behind the curtain, when it might just as easily be that it is everyone else who is behind the curtain for someone like Eric.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever adaptation of a postmodern satire of economy and society, one with a philosophical bent, simultaneously recognizable and nightmarish in its perspective of capitalism.
Cosmopolis marked a return to script writing for Cronenberg after a long hiatus, and is one of the auteur's more philosophical works while also being clever and cagey. Cronenberg built up his filmmaking reputation on films about humans as a technological creature, about the merging of man and machine. Cosmopolis is more concerned with humanity as a creature without authentic identity, left with merely the image or replica where the shadow of originality once dwelt. Protesters immolate themselves in the street, because they saw it on TV at some point. Eric's inevitable confrontation with Benno Levin (Paul Giamatti) is a discourse about the purpose of violence and the relativity of currency, but one where Eric all but calls Benno crazy for his anxiety syndromes which were fundamentally contracted, and are not even his own. Eric's skill is to "read" currency to predict trends, and he often seeks to learn how to read people, asking them questions and trying to provoke reactions, because he cannot help but view people as the currency of society. It is less that Eric is disenfranchised from humanity, but that his role in society deprives him of this capacity for empathy. Robert Pattinson plays Eric as a young prince of affluence and virtuoso of his trade, who carries both determination and paranoia. His performance is evocative of a young Christopher Walken, both a bit aloof and cynical, yet with a charismatic presence simultaneously compelling and abrasive. His grand mission is to get a haircut; it seems arbitrary, like the spiteful stubbornness of a petulant child, but it is more. It is a statement, a rebellion against the confines of his own existence, one in which no matter how much money he has, it doesn't change his life in any substantial way. Don DeLillo's work has been described as postmodern, a quality of which includes a sense of impermanence or an absence of resolution. For example, although Eric has acquired a beautiful and rich new wife, she will not sleep with him, perhaps largely due to his rather crude advances on her at every turn, rather than frigidity on her part. But if Eric is in control of his actions, then this is an effort (if subconscious) for Eric to avoid the staid resolutions of the mundane and expected results; he craves a sense of deprivation, of the void--he wants to give failure a shot.
The world of Cosmopolis is a scary place, and not just because of violent street protests; this is a place where the ruling class is so intrinsically removed from the common people, that the concept of doing something normal--like getting a haircut--to a man like Eric results in an explosion of anarchy and violence. One of Eric's advisers comments that the state of the Chinese yuan is in flux because a financial leader "paused" mid-sentence while describing the currency's stability, which prompted the community to react with fear and terror that the statement contained a hidden meaning...all because the man needed to take a breath. There is a moment when an attack is made on a man on television by a terrorist, the conversation once again concerning the stability of the yuan. As Eric observes, the natural extension of business is murder, and is emblematic of how precariously balanced our society and economy are, a house of cards quick to slip into disarray with but a nudge. Ennui grips Eric as he struggles to come to terms with the banality of his existence. They say it's lonely at the top, because at the top, there is only room for one. But it is also a place where paranoia is paramount, because you have the best view of the world below; the flip side is what you miss from that vantage point, what experiences money can not simply buy. And one of the most bizarre aspects of Cosmopolis is how the film is filled with strange conversations and observations, disconnected--even distracted--from reality. The plot is established by the events as opposed to being reinforced by the dialogue; the words don't matter in the sense that they promote the plot, but serve as the underlying vibration to the story. It is as though characters are unshackled from the restraint of the "ego", and speak from a place more aligned with the "id", save that the discourse is often of a far more contemplative--if still occasionally violent--nature. Cosmopolis satirizes a society which accuses the elite few for their woes--right or wrong--while simultaneously elevating them to celebrity status, and of the concept that there is a man behind the curtain, when it might just as easily be that it is everyone else who is behind the curtain for someone like Eric.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever adaptation of a postmodern satire of economy and society, one with a philosophical bent, simultaneously recognizable and nightmarish in its perspective of capitalism.