Ofyears his new film, David Cronenberg does not attack the vices of Hollywood, he rants and raves to the people ! Behind the movies posters, smiles, and photographs on glossy paper, the Capital of Cinema is full of stars, lives broken by the incest, the blood and the drug.
Shouting truth, this cocktail detonating on a music staccato rhythm opens in the middle of the scene. We don’t really know what’s going on, but regardless, we are already intrigued by the duo of Pattinson-Wasikowska. There then follows an accurate presentation of each of the characters, giving them an identity and a personality. Somewhat unhealthy, the plot is still going strong, quite the contrary. Only, some scenes are a bit empty or not successful in the middle of the film, thus entering in contrast with the key moments of the action. The final scene highlights the fatality of existence. Whatever we do, whoever we are, we always come back to our origins. Great originality of the film, the omnipresence of the poem Liberty by Paul Eluard. Although the interpretation is extremely subjective, we can see as the moral of the story : fame is not freedom.
Despite the many views, mouth-watering of Los Angeles, we would still have desired to see a little more. David Cronenberg is made to the form to allow characters that are deep and a synopsis fleshed out. More than a drama, this film illustrates a true philosophy. How far shall we go to protect our image ? How far are we willing to go to regain a few hours of glory ?
After Viggo Mortensen, the new darling of the director for COSMOPOLIS, Robert Pattinson (role : Jerome Fontana) is once again headlining, except that, unlike the previous film, his role is quite minor and his character has almost no impact in the plot. David Cronenberg is caught at his own game. Making a joke on Hollywood, it puts Pattinson in his three-headed poster so that it appears only thirty minutes on 1h51. For example, the character of Benjie Weiss (played by Evan Bird) is much more central, but its singer is almost unknown, especially next to Robert, so obviously, you must be strategic in order to attract the viewer. Another muse of David Cronenberg, Sarah Gadon returns to the delicious ghost in the role of Clarice Taggart, the mother of Havana Segrand.
“A satire full, without the complex, which does not leave place for the boredom.”
The freshly webbed Julianne Moore is a great actress tortured by his painful past in search of youth and recognition of the everlasting. At first sight, his character – Havana Segrand – is a cliché : a blonde fallen ,adept of various therapies little merit, obsessed by his age, addict of the drugs and the bottle, but it is in fact the illustration even of the evil hollywood. You’ll love to hate this endearing plague. Mia Wasikowska has traded in her long golden hair to slip into the skin of Agatha Weiss, skyzophrène and determined. Just like Julianne Moore, his interpretation is brilliant. Unpredictable, sympathetic but terrifying, she drives the plot with gusto and is in the heart ! We welcome also the good performance from Olivia Williams (role : Christina Weiss) and John Cusack (roles : Bruno Weiss) into a caricature of the couple “in” willing to do anything to protect his darkest secrets.
The presence of the ghosts can be interpreted in a variety of ways but it is primarily a matter of the fact that some of the stars missing are still haunting Hollywood with their success as timeless as for example Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn, etc… In addition, they are also the representation of the vices of success. The little girl reminds Benjie superficiality while the little boy the gnawing of guilt. As the mother of Havanna, she argues that whatever she does, she will not return to its past glory, the tormenting more in his neurosis around the celebrity.
MAPS TO THE STARS is a satire full without complexes that does not leave place for the boredom. Worn by a cast intergénérationel quality, it demystifies the glamour giving way to the curse of Hollywood without sinking into pathos. True to himself, David Cronenberg delivers a film sometimes thought, without taboo or embellishments. Burning the façade of the stars, it offers us on a plate to the underside of the myth hollywood for our greatest pleasure !