Interzone Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine #223 (23 page)

So, cursed with a spew of clichés,
BSG
slouches homeward, forsaking inventive possibilities (genetic-hybrid dynasties?) for cliffhanger ‘hooks’ and cyclic histories with bootstrap saviours, all climaxing with one last battle (messily sacrificial amidst penultimate betrayals), and the hurriedly-devised ‘twist’ ending that merely exhumes a ‘space ark’ time-warp idea, already parodied in BBC's
Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
(1981). If there's a moral lesson to be found in this inescapably-redundant catalogue of tragedy and stupidity, it's that avoidance of genocidal warfare in the future may depend on choosing a side between the progressives who are ready to appreciate radical change, and those who prefer to believe that “everything will be all right."

On the road to romantic disillusionment and fatalistic tragedy, Gaiman's
Neverwhere
meets Gilliam's
Brazil
in new writer-director Gerald McMorrow's dreamscape oddity
Franklyn
(DVD/BD, 22 June), where a few quirky yet sympathetic characters inhabit only the fretful protagonist's theocratic-dystopia headspace, ‘Meanwhile City'. Jilted and heartbroken Milo (Sam Riley, who played Ian Curtis of Joy Division in the biopic
Control
) unexpectedly finds comfort with his ‘lost’ childhood sweetheart Sally. In the alternative London where cultish belief is the law, a masked vigilante-assassin named Preest (Ryan Phillippe,
Chaos, Antitrust, Cruel Intentions
) storms through a maze of oblique alleys under sepulchral gothic spires, evading a hardcore police force of clerics in stovepipe hats. Elsewhere, determinedly suicidal video-artist Emilia (Eva Green, achingly beautiful in
Casino Royale
remake, witchy in
Golden Compass
, steals the whole show here, even from seasoned pros Bernard Hill, Art Malik, and Susannah York) meticulously preps her morbid ‘art project', ready for death or second-chance melodrama. If the inexplicably-obsessed Preest would fit right into the teeming ‘Narrows’ of Batman's dark-fantastic Gotham, his concerns and fears are such a contrast to the sulky Milo's blandly sitcom circumstances that overdue disclosure of hidden links in
Franklyn
's storyline of weirdly schizoid realities means this risky film almost fails, as it stumbles closer to the obvious and seemingly unbridgeable gulf between its wholly realistic fictions and outré sideways fantasy. However, with clues like ‘Duplex Drive’ scattered throughout, it's not difficult for attentive viewers to postpone judgement in solving the initially mystifying riddles of McMorrow's evenly-paced conjuring, which sometimes misdirects us to what and who is depressingly real or joyously imaginary within playfully-complex narrative intrigues. Essential viewing, then, if only for the piquantly ironic delivery of an immortal line: “life's too much of an adventure as it is, without making anything else up."

We have 3 copies of Franklyn region 2 DVD to give away. To be entered into the draw send your name and address to [email protected], using FRANKLYN as your subject line, before the closing date of 7th August.

With triumphant eureka moments in many stories, Christina Jennings’
ReGenesis
season two (DVD, 4 May), tackles epidemics, bio-tech puzzles, environmental threats, and is probably the finest example of ‘mundane SF’ 0n television since the heydays of
Doomwatch
. What catches interest here as present-day science fiction is the splendid variety of ideas, but what makes it really work as superb TV drama is the cast of great principal characters: scientists with quite likeable personalities, even if they appear as defective malcontents or antisocial. International cooperation to address global-scale problem solving remains one of the most inspiring and optimistic narratives explored by near-future SF. While genre thrillers usually spotlight action performed by heroic loners, this more realistic blending of comedy and tragedy focuses on teamwork, with a laudable purpose (for the common good, though sometimes to benefit a specific few or just one sufferer), not the self-serving aggrandisement of individual efforts, even if the solo high-flyer is a genius.
ReGenesis
revives familiar traditions of hard-SF for TV that reflects its big-screen counterparts in rarities like
The Andromeda Strain
(1971). NorBAC is an elite facility run by biologist David Sandström (Peter Outerbridge, who also played scientists in a couple of 1990s’
Outer Limits
episodes), benefiting from PhD-rich cultural perspectives of multiracial staff, including a Mexican doctor and a Japanese analyst. Glamorous ex-CIA agent Caroline Morrison (Maxim Roy,
Infected
) is the labs’ admin chief, using connections in Washington D.C. to guard boffins from the rigours of realpolitik power-plays while also managing to steer mostly-academic studies toward profitable innovations. Medical investigations collide with moral or ethical concerns in questions about genes that could impose addiction or homosexuality. Other super-sized headaches for NorBAC teams include an acid-rain monsoon over Mexico City, a water parasite that causes suicide, and re-tasking as WMD inspectors in Cuba. Lucid-dream possibilities or cerebral monologues are ‘externalised’ to illustrate characters’ personal and professional worries, expanding the visual repertoire from standards of
C.S.I.
style CGI, and pipette/Petri dish montages. If communicating with a comatose patient wasn't marvellous achievement enough, the scientists boldly venture into sci-fi regions for projects attracting the unwelcome attention of Homeland Security, and this eventually leads to a bomb attack on the labs.

ROUND-UP: WHATEVER NEXT?

Reportedly inspired by a T. Rex song
and based on a popular manga,
20th Century Boys
(DVD, 4 May) is the first instalment of a live-action trilogy. Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi (
2LDK
), handles the sprawling 1960s to 2015 timeline and the build-up to millennial destruction with assurance, linking a childhood fantasy homemade-RPG ‘book of prophesies’ with class reunion frictions and former school friends’ eventual shouldering of responsibility in tackling the plans of a religious cult, dominated by a mysterious masked ‘Friend', who are guilty of international terrorism and seemingly intent on global conquest. The gang of kids who concocted a doomsday scenario find their worst fears realised when everything they imagined starts happening, and their city is menaced by a grisly ‘vampire’ virus and stomped by a giant robot. As ‘foretold', nine heroes assemble to combat a perceived threat—invisible to all but them, even as their leader, Kenji, is framed as the suicide bomber. With a pure comic-book tone, in quirky character development (a youthful Kenji wanted to rock the world with music but ends up managing a mini-market), timely deployment of explanatory flashbacks, and unsurprising—yet nonetheless meaningful—narrative twists, this is a beguiling legend about lost innocence, the vagaries of memory, fickle whimsy of nostalgia, and elusiveness of truth. From the secret clubhouse (made of grass!) where the boys hide from local bullies, to an underground lair in which adults’ vigilante action is planned, grand themes of destiny and determinism are explored in this rousing comedy-drama that rarely disappoints, despite its familiar depictions of ordinary citizens becoming reluctant champions.

Walerian Borowczyk's first live-action
film
Goto L'ile D'Amour
(DVD, 25 May) was made in 1968, and every minute of its bleak visual poetry reeks of European art house pretension and avant-garde dynamics. It's the late 19th century, on an isolated island, ruled by Goto III. A soldier plans to escape with dictator's wife Glossia (Ligia Branice, the director's wife), but from his lowly position as dog-handler, fly-catcher, and shoe-shiner (cue footwear fetishism), convicted thief Grozo also lusts after Glossia, plotting to abduct her after the cuckold Goto is dead. Obsession births surrealist fantasy while denizens eke out a living in this grubby realm under a despotic ‘governorship'. Filmed in B&W with fleeting colour inserts, ‘Island Of Love’ is a partly fascinating—although generally humourless—political allegory. Borowczyk was born in Poland, but settled in France. He started in films as an animator and, later, created far better works than this—most infamously, perhaps,
The Beast
(aka:
La Bête
, 1975) and
Immoral Tales
(aka:
Contes immoraux
, 1974), but also
Blood Of Dr Jekyll
(aka:
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes
, 1981). Despite lofty goals, he still directed
Emmanuelle 5
(1987). Borowczyk died in 2006.

The Cell 2 (DVD/BD, 29 June), feature
debut of director Tim Iacofano, is a sequel to Tarsem's
The Cell
(2000) in title only. FBI agent Skylar (Bart Johnson) recruits psychic Maya (Tessie Santiago) to help locate serial killer, the Cusp—revealed to viewers early in a clumsy hint as a deputy sheriff (Frank Whaley), defusing any whodunit intrigue—but the killer escapes. Years later, the psycho resurfaces and kidnaps the niece of Sheriff Harris (Chris Bruno), who's sceptical about Maya's ability, and shuns federal help to hunt the Cusp. Apart from its memory-library virtuality, this standard crime thriller lacks the original film's extravagantly artistic set and costume designs, and blatantly mimics the grungy visuals of
Hostel
for its murderer's flatline/resuscitation ‘torture’ scenes. At times, it plays like a road-trip episode of
Medium
, but without the quality performances or witty scripting. So ordinary, it even has an overlong car chase in the middle, and a fairly routine helicopter-stunt, just before a laughably clichéd finale in which the hero snogs the rescued heroine. Give this a miss; watch the superior
WAZ
and
Untraceable
instead.

John From Cincinnati season one (DVD, 20 July) is a modest yet entertaining Californian drama-soap about three generations of a surfing family—dysfunctional, of course—with odd clusters of paranormal events (levitation, resurrection, psychic happy-virus), that punctuate a highly intriguing story-arc assembling a community from Imperial Beach's resident social misfits and newcomers. The mysterious ‘John’ appears retarded, but offers gems of received wisdom at key junctures of a character-based plot. He affects everyone's thinking with outsider viewpoints, and plays ‘agent provocateur’ or peacemaker, depending on circumstances. Performances are stellar, especially from Rebecca De Mornay and Bruce Greenwood as the Yost grandparents, and even the usually bland Luke Perry rises to his challenges as corporate deal-fixer Stark. Full of quirky supporting players (prideful ex-cop, brain-frazzled ex-soldier, a pair of ex-convicts) and prickly dialogue, this segues from the mystical absurdities of seaside farce to a gently surreal payoff that favours—yet underplays—John's role as a vaguely messianic prophet. With a bare minimum of genre content, this modern fable about enlightenment is not another
Twin Peaks
, but it is watchable HBO-fare, from David Milch, the creator of notable western series
Deadwood
. [Note: HBO has cancelled JFT after season one.]