Crimes of the Future
| Crimes of the Future | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for Stereo and Crimes of the Future | |
| Directed by | David Cronenberg |
| Produced by | David Cronenberg |
| Written by | David Cronenberg |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Ronald Mlodzik |
| Cinematography | David Cronenberg |
| Edited by | David Cronenberg |
| Distributed by | New Cinema Enterprises |
Release dates |
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Running time | 63 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Crimes of the Future is a 1970 Canadian science fiction film written, shot, edited, and directed by David Cronenberg.[1]
Like Cronenberg's previous feature, Stereo, Crimes was shot silent with a commentary added afterwards. The commentary is spoken by the character Adrian Tripod (Ronald Mlodzik). The film is set in 1997.
Summary
Crimes of the Future details the wanderings of Tripod (Mlodzik), sometime director of a dermatological clinic called the House of Skin, who is searching for his mentor, the mad dermatologist Antoine Rouge. Rouge has disappeared following a catastrophic plague resulting from cosmetic products, which has killed the entire population of sexually mature women.
Tripod joins a succession of organisations including Metaphysical Import-Export and the Oceanic Podiatry Group, and meets various individuals and groups of men who are trying to adjust themselves to a defeminized world. One man parodies childbirth by continually growing new organs which are removed from his body. Eventually Tripod comes upon a group of paedophiles that is holding a 5-year-old girl, and they urge him to mate with her. He senses the presence of Antoine Rouge.
Reception
Kim Newman, in his 1988 book Nightmare Movies, has described Crimes of the Future as being "more fun to read about in synopsis than to watch", and as proving, along with Stereo, that "it's possible to be boring and interesting at the same time."
The film has received a 'fresh' rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Crimes of the Future was released as a disc feature of The Criterion Collection's DVD and Blu-ray release of The Brood.[2]