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 (052925)
At the Oak Lawn Community Library there was once a
book that featured photos of human bodies in various stages of decomposition. I
was told that it was one of the most frequently checked out books in the
library, but eventually it was stolen. David Cronenberg’s new instant classic,
The Shrouds, about death and grieving inspires that same kind of compulsive
morbid fascination.
Dave Cronenberg’s film is about a rich, powerful, and creative man who cannot
get over his wife’s death who he lost to cancer. The main character in this
highly personal film is almost certainly at least partially based on the
director. David Cronenberg himself who lost his wife own from cancer in 2017.
The film might be his way of working out his deep feelings of grief.
It has more good ideas in it than many whole TV show seasons. Perhaps this is
because the movie was supposed to be a streaming series, but then when Netflix
passed on it, it was reedited and reformed into a theatrical movie. A similar
thing happened with Mulholland Drive. In both cases, TV’s loss was the big
screen’s gain.
Like many of Cronenberg’s films, The Shrouds breaks many taboos and violates
several traditional genre categories. This Shrouds combines elements of drama,
body horror, science fiction, suspense, film noir, dark comedy, and even
romance. The film also has large amounts of nudity and gore but all of it serves
the story and none of it seems gratuitous. Although it was rated R it probably
could have gotten an NC 17 rating.
The audience of Cronenberg’s early films like Rabid (1977), Scanners (1981),
Videodrome (1983), and The Brood (1979), were heavily influenced by the works of
George (Night of the Living Dead) Romero were mostly cult or midnight movie fans.
As his films got more expensive, artistically ambitious, and more thematically
complex, he started to gain more critical respect with later films like The Dead
Zone (1983), The Fly (1986),
A History of Violece
(2005), and Eastern Promises (2007) which all came to seem as avant-garde
classics.
Cronenberg has been dubbed the father of body horror and he clearly influenced
both the critically acclaimed
Titane
(2021) which won the Palme D’Or and
The Substance
(2024) which got several Oscar nominations. The Shrouds was a runner up for the
same award. Recently Cronenberg has been
overshadowed by his female disciples who provided excellent feminist cinematic
updates of his work. This film proves he can still produce films greater than
any of his followers. The Shrouds is one of his finest works, and it is his
greatest film since at least Spider (2001), which I thought was the best film of
that year.
The distinguished French actor, Vincent Cassell plays the lead in the film. He
previously starred in many significant art films such as Le Haine (1995) and
Read My Lips (2001) Irresistible (2002). Eastern Promises (2007), and
Black Swan
(2010).
Here he plays Karsh, the wealthy, successful and very eccentric entrepreneur.
Not only does he own a restaurant called "The Shrouds" which is decorated with
death shrouds but also doubles as a cemetery. In addition to the restaurant with
a cemetery view, he had also made millions designing a system and
streaming channel that allows people to look in on the corpses of their dead
relatives. But he's not only the president of the company but a client too.
Karsh has a camera on an insect-shaped drone flying around in his own wife’s
crypt so he can continually look in on her to observe her decomposition. At one
point he explains his view on death which is related to his religion. He
explains that Jews are against cremation because they believe that as a body
decomposes this gives soul has enough time to gradually leave the body.
Karsh is also involved with several women and to say he has a complicated love
life would be an understatement. His is strongly drawn to his sister-in-law who
almost looks identical to his deceased wife, but he cannot pursue her because
his wife voiced her disapproval before she died. He also has a female AI
personal assistant on his phone that always flirts with him (he is not attracted
then she takes on the form of a koala. In addition, the image of his dead wife
often appears before him nude and missing body parts even when he is in bed with
another woman.
Karsh’s dentist explains that teeth are affected by emotion, and he tells him
that grief is rotting his teeth. Later on, the dentist sets him up with a date
because he thinks they have compatible teeth.
The date is a half Korean woman, Soo Min Azabo (Sandrine Holt) who is also
grieving because her husband is dying of cancer. In addition, she is slowly
going blind. She is probably looking for a substitute for her husband who can no
longer take care of her, and he probably likes her because they have gone
through similar experiences. Believe it or not this is his healthiest
relationship, and she is the best of his potential partners.
The German actor, Diane Kruger is probably best known for her role in
Tarantino’s
Inglorious Basterds (2009). Here she is a
triple threat playing not just Becca his dead wife, but also his late wife’s similar
looking sister, Terry, as well as Honey the avatar who assists him who also might be a
femme fatale who is seeking to harm him. Kruger does a good job of making all
three characters well defined and individually distinct.
There is also a mystery element in the story. Someone goes into graves in
Karsh’s Cemetery and is desecrating the corpses. These crimes might have been
done by an international eco-terrorist group that thinks all bodies should be
recycled or cremated and given back to the earth. Then there is his friend and
Terry’s ex (played by Memento’s Guy Pierce) who gives him tech help, however he does
not seem totally sane. Or it could be someone who has something against Karsh
and gets revenge for some reason. The film takes several twists and turns, and
the story manages to stay surprising, as it pulls the rug out from the audience
several times.
The Shrouds is the most transgressive, daring, and original film I have seen in
a long time, and it breaks as many rules as a David Lynch or Lars Von Trier
movie. It is not playing widely but it is worth the effort of seeking it out.
Lovers of intelligent art films will find it rewarding and this is a late career
high point for a major director that some have unwisely counted out.
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