Chad’s Grade: B+
Kathryn Bigelow has always been one of my favorite directors. She’s helmed an eclectic mix of films, starting with the cult vampire flick “Near Dark” and the Jaimie Lee Curtis starring “Blue Steel.” Later, Bigelow had her first sleeper hit in 1991 with “Point Break,” featuring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
Of course, she’s most known for 2008’s “The Hurt Locker,” becoming the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar. She would direct another Oscar-nominated hit in 2012 with “Zero Dark Thirty.” But I find Bigelow’s early, more genre-based films much more interesting, especially her 1995 cyberpunk thriller “Strange Days,” a movie brimming with ambition and fantastic filmmaking.
“Strange Days” was developed in the early 90s by the one and only James Cameron, crafting the story with screenwriter Jay Cocks. The pair were reportedly heavily influenced by the Rodney King beating and subsequent L.A. Riots, infusing their sci-fi actioner with a social commentary on racial politics. Since Cameron was busy with his 1994 action-comedy “True Lies,” he handed off directing duties to his second ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow. With a sizeable promotional push from Fox Studios and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, this was Bigelow’s first big-budget, high-profile release of her career.
“Strange Days” is set three days before New Year’s Eve 1999 and focuses on Lenny Nero, a former cop and now a black-market dealer of SQUID playback clips. The illegal virtual reality technology allows users to record memories with sensations and feelings onto a disc where they sell it for a profit. Soon Nero finds himself stalked by a deranged killer, leaving him with vicious frightening clips and threatening his ex-girlfriend, punk singer Faith. Along with his close friend, limo driver Lornette “Mace” Mason, they uncover a fiendish plot involving racist LAPD cops and the murder of black rapper and community leader Jericho One.
Despite the dated 1999 setting, Bigelow creates a terrifying vision of a broken America, rotting from boiling race relations, corrupt police, and weak government institutions. The bleak mood with out-of-control inflation, political dysfunction, and a sense of hopelessness was meant to portray the fear of the Y2K millennium. Instead, this 1999 looks very similar to 2022, making for an unsettling watch.
The assembled cast is an exciting mix of actors. The standout is Ralph Fiennes, playing against type as a sleazy hustler with an American accent. Angela Basset plays the tough Mace with fierce physicality. Her fight scene, saving Nero from a punk gang, is one of the film’s highlights. And Juliette Lewis shines as the ambitious Faith, imbuing her with both regret and flirtatious energy, and shows off her singing abilities.
The film really shines when it embraces its cyberpunk elements. The SQUID VR technology is fascinating, allowing users to relive old memories or inhabit someone else’s experience. You can feel the rush of adrenaline robbing a convenience store and being chased by police. Or have sex with two or three women, and maybe even a man. This makes Nero’s sales pitch to prospective buyers, claiming he’s the “Santa Claus” of the soul and can provide any experience you desire, very alluring.
But the SQUID technology has the potential for abuse, most notably with Nero’s obsession with his ex-girlfriend Faith. Nero is unable to accept that Faith has moved on and that the relationship is over, constantly replaying clips of their early dates. It’s only late in the movie when Mace pins Nero to the wall and gives the film’s thesis statement: Memories were meant to fade; they’re designed that way for a reason.
Director Bigelow shows her chops here, especially in the thrilling “playback” sequences. Filmed using a newly designed Steadicam technology, viewers get immersive POV shots that effectively portray this unique VR experience. The scenes are enhanced by subtle digital effects work, like reflections of users in mirrors and swirling 360-degree camera angles. When Nero “playbacks” an early date with Faith, toweling off the naked body of his ex-girlfriend, you sense the lustful emotion he’s feeling.
“Strange Days” stumbles with the Jericho One subplot, exploring the systemic racism still alive and well in the coming millennium. The Malcolm X-style rapper Jericho One (played by a miscast Glen Plummer) is the stand-in for Rodney King, and the playback sequence showing his execution by the LAPD is one of the film’s most brutal moments. And the script does an excellent job threading this strand into the main storyline, focused on Angela Basset’s Mace.
But the twin climaxes, with Nero confronting his cyber stalker and Mace exposing the corrupt LAPD officers during the 1999 New Year’s Eve celebration, feel like completely different films. The movie also tacks on a romantic kiss between Nero and Mace, an unearned moment as they had been portrayed as platonic friends. And it comes off as on-the-nose symbolism meant to give hope that things could change in the new millennium.
In a massive blow to Bigelow’s career, “Strange Days” completely flopped at the box office, never recouping its substantial 42 million budget. Audiences in 1995 couldn’t buy into the advanced SQUID technology that was supposed to appear in four years, and wounds from the L.A. riots were still fresh. The movie is a violent rated R, including a brutal rape sequence that is still hard to watch.
It’s sad to see “Strange Days” now a forgotten footnote in Bigelow’s filmography. “Strange Days” is a unique picture, sharing its DNA with “The Matrix” and a stand-out in the cyberpunk genre. Don’t let the dated 1999 setting scare you off; the film is engrossing, much like the “playback” clips featured in the movie.