Stereo (1969).

Review #1239: Stereo.

Cast: 
Ronald Mlodzik, Jack Messinger, Paul Mulholland, Iain Ewing, Arlene Mlodzik, Clara Mayer, and Glenn McCauley. Written and Directed by David Cronenberg (#816 - Crimes of the Future, #1127 - eXistenZ, and #1220 - A History of Violence)

Review: 
One would wonder what would make a film like this, also known as Stereo (Tile 3B of a CAEE Educational Mosaic), stick out from the usual fare of entertainment. This ultimately proves to be a film that seems more ripe for dissection than a complete watch for entertainment's sake, complete with voice over (owing in part due to noise that Cronenberg's camera made during filming) and a few sound effects. If you are into movies of the experimental / art house genre that try to be something really different with a bunch of educational terms (and a few moments of silly jargon) that talk about telepaths, weird personal exploration, personality splits, and other various events. I can't really say that this was something I found to be worth endorsing, since it meanders and lingers a bit too long with itself, making for a weird 65 minute experience - the best thing that stands out really is when there is a voice over, only if because having no sound (or music) and watching things occur is a pretty strange experience. The actors seem to be having a fine time, walking around Scarborough College (University of Toronto, for which Cronenberg is a graduate of) and making a few faces.

At least I can give credit to Cronenberg, who was just 26 when this film came out, having served as director, writer, producer, editor and cinematographer, which he repeated for his next feature (which retained some of the cast from this one, notably in Mlodzik). It isn't so much a boring time as it is just one of those experiences that you'll feel a bit curious about what you saw more than finding it as just a waste. Giving it a bit of thought to what goes on may or may not help with said assessment. Watching either of his two experimental films (or even his short films with Transfer (1966) and From the Drain (1967)) might make for an odd night in terms of looking at quirky material through the eyes of someone developing their directorial senses with relish - they may not prove to be great, but at least it will play well with the crowd it wants to sit with. At least you won't have one of those little voices that will cry out and say "you just don't get it" when you finish assessing what you saw, at least. Take it for what it is worth.

Happy Canada Day folks. It is good to have done a Canada Day Feature after having done it for five previous years from 2013 to 2017. It happened that this is also the 50th anniversary of the directorial debut of noted Canadian director David Cronenberg, so this made perfect sense for today, since the first film I covered of him was the next film that he did after this one.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.