Thursday, September 02, 2004

eXistenZ

This movie is fantastic. I love it. It's mind boggling too. It encourages deep thought within you. The movie pauses a somewhat philosophical question of the difference between reality and imagination, whether there really is a difference between them and if contrary to common belief imagination could be superior to reality.

It is as if the maker of the movie is trying to fight back the enemies of art and imagination. The action in the movie revolves around a fight between the supporters of Realism and those in support of eXistenZ which symbolizes imagination.

The movie starts by showing the game designer, the heroine, displaying her new game eXistenZ and offering it for fans to try. The viewer is aware that in this first part of the movie they are not inside a game yet. Later on, and as the movie progresses, the characters start immersing into a game and from within this game into another game within it. It's like when you have a dream within a dream. When you wake up from the inner dream you might think you've finally woke up but you are actually still inside your first dream. The strange game-like things that appear all the time give the viewer a clue that the characters are locked inside a game. The characters have labels, the motel is labeled "Motel" and the gas station is labeled "Local Gas Station." The viewer then starts to realize that the characters were indeed inside a game from the beginning of the movie. At the end of the movie, the viewer realizes that one cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination any more. The movie ends with the phrase "Are we still inside the game?"

The movie can also be saying that real life is nothing but a game. Our characters have some urges and inclinations that the game 'designer' has built into them. We are not sure if our life is nothing but a game. We might be in a game but unaware of it just like in dreams.