Seeing the almost universal praise for this out of Cannes, I feel I have to preface my thoughts on it with the statement that I am a *very* big fan of Cronenberg, and even though there are a few films I'm not entirely crazy about, never have I outright disliked one of his films, or felt anger towards, as I did this one.
I'd also like to add that, had this NOT premiered at Cannes, I'm convinced critics would not…
I don't mind at all the film is dark -- both aesthetically and narratively -- but my god -- couldn't the screenwriter offer ANYTHING other than purely expository dialog? It was insufferable. People just explaining (and over-explaining) everybody's backstory, history, and present-day situations. Every bit of text is read out loud, followed by the same set of questions.
This is an assault on screenwriting.
Though this is just the 40 minute work-print of selected scenes that Welles edited, there's no doubt that this is some sort of masterpiece, and I do hope the crowd funding campaign is a success. If the film-within-a-film is meant to be a dig at "art cinema" of the day, Orson has nailed it.
