Spider (film)

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Spider

Spider film poster
Directed by David Cronenberg
Produced by David Cronenberg
Samuel Hadida
Catherine Bailey
Written by Novel & Screenplay:
Patrick McGrath
Starring Ralph Fiennes
Miranda Richardson
Gabriel Byrne
Music by Howard Shore
Editing by Ronald Sanders
Running time 98 min.
Country Canada
Language English
IMDb profile

Spider is a 2002 psychological thriller directed by Canadian David Cronenberg and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McGrath, who also wrote the screenplay.

The film premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and enjoyed some media buzz; however, it was released in only a few theaters at the year's end by distributor Sony Pictures Classics. Nonetheless, the film enjoyed much acclaim by critics and especially by Cronenberg enthusiasts. The film garnered a Best Director award at the Canadian Genie Awards. The stars of the film, Ralph Fiennes and particularly Miranda Richardson, received several awards for their work in the film.

During a Question and Answer session at the Kodak Lecture Series in May of 2005, Cronenberg revealed that neither he, Fiennes, Richardson, nor the producers received any sort of salary during the shooting of the film. All chose to waive their salaries so the money could be used to fund the under-funded production.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spider is an exploration of a schizophrenic mind told through the eyes of a son who watches his father murder his mother and replace her with his mistress. Years later, the son, now a grown man, is released from a mental institution and begins piecing together his memories to recreate the fateful childhood event.

Central themes of the film include memory and the unreliability thereof.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 126 reviews.[1] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 83 out of 100, based on 35 reviews.[2] It was voted for in the 2002 Sight and Sound Poll by Amy Taubin, who ranked it 10th. [3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Spider - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  2. ^ Spider (2002): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  3. ^ BFI | Sight & Sound | Top Ten Poll 2002 - How the directors and critics voted

[edit] External links


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Films by David Cronenberg