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Strange Days
1995
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
20th Century Fox
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

"Strange Days" is a wonderfully done example of film as technology, taking the sort of cold, sensory overload and flash that goes along with our ideals and concepts of technology and transplanting them into the tone of a thriller that may not always succeed in terms of the screenplay, but the performances and the visual style that Kathryn Bigelow presents is a stunning look at a "Blade Runner"-ish future, populated with fully written characters and interesting styles. It may not be original here and there, but even the way it presents old ideas is thrillingly fresh and fascinating to watch.

The story centers around a former police officer, Lenny Nero(Ralph Fiennes), now selling a new technology called "playback" on the streets. "Playback" is the "drug of the future", a sensory device that can be attached to the viewer's head so that he or she can experience the life experiences of someone else, right down to the feelings and emotions. It's the end of 1999 in the film,and the parties for the year 2000 are about to get underway, but this is no ordinary time: the streets have turned into a war zone with security checks, people carrying guns and random fires breaking out at night as crime runs free through the streets. The film builds in intensity though, when rapper Jeriko One is killed and many are ready to riot as a result.

The film starts off with an intense opening that puts us in the middle of a robbery and keeps pushing off from there, becoming more and more intense and unwavering throughout, rarely stopping to take a break. The film has a few soft moments during the middle as we learn more about the background of the characters, such as Faith(Juliette Lewis), Lenny's former girlfriend who hasleft him for a rock promoter Philo Gant(Michael Wincott), who was involved with managing Jeriko One when he was killed. Lenny is the character who ties all of the characters together, going after Faith while falling into the secret behind the killing of Jeriko One. Also thrown into the mix are Lenny's friend(Angela Bassett is a fierce, emotional performance) and a police officer who may not be the friend he seems(Tom Sizemore).

The amazing thing is how director Bigelow is able to create controlled chaos throughout, keeping us at the brink of sensory overload as the film races forward at an intense pace , but never quite steping over the line into going off the tracks. The film creates a vision of the future that also doesn't step over the line, it goes to the point where we're amazed, but we still believe that this all could be possible.

As Lenny and Mace(Bassett) try to break out the truth about Jeriko One's murder, the film turns into anarchy as we're lead through the streets of LA, with confetti of many colors spinning out of control towards the streets below, creating a series of stunning images that frame the final sequence.

The performances are generally good, although some are phenomenal. Ralph Fiennes is perfection as Lenny, a fast-talking, smart, witty guy who always finds a way to talk himself out of trouble. He's a "nice guy" who's found himself in troubled times. Angela Bassett gives a wonderful performance as Mace, a strong, intensely emotional character that is engaging throughout. Juliette Lewis is a little over-the-top as Faith and her performance isn't quite as structured as the other characters.

Set designers, special effects artists and especially cinematographer Matthew Leonetti's work are all first-rate. Bigelow has made a smart, visually stunning look at a vision of the future in "Strange Days", a well-done sci-fi picture that was overlooked by most audiences, but I still consider it a favorite film.

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