Genres: Drama | Mystery | Thriller Countries: Canada | France | UK Actors: Ralph Fiennes Dennis (\'Spider\') Cleg Miranda Richardson Yvonne/Mrs. Cleg Gabriel Byrne Bill Cleg Lynn Redgrave Mrs. Wilkinson John Neville Terrence Bradley Hall Dennis Cleg as a child Gary Reineke Freddy Philip Craig John Cliff Saunders Bob Tara Ellis Nora Sara Stockbridge Gladys Arthur Whybrow Ernie Nicola Duffett Barmaid Jake Nightingale Large Man Alison Egan Flashing Yvonne Directors: David Cronenberg IMDB Rating: 6 out of 10 (10818 votes)

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“Spider” is the heart wrenching story of a man who, because of his mental illness, must go through life unable to organize and understand jumbled images and memories, memories which may have a basis in reality or which may be creations of a mind gone haywire.

Ralph Fiennes does a tremendous job of portraying a man-child who suffers from schizophrenia. Fiennes captures the profound agony of the disease through the subtlest of movements. From his disheveled appearance complete with rust-colored fingers signifying the years of tobacco use and lack of vanity, to his psychotic mumbling conversations with himself and vaguely with others, Fiennes the chameleon wears the role of Spider like another layer of skin. Fiennes’ performance brings a strange dignity to this ragged man.

The film introduces us to Spider (a nickname given to him because of his infatuation with webs) as he exits a train after decades of being confined to a mental institute. While the other passengers hurry about their business, Spider’s movements are slow and plodding. His final destination is a halfway house where men who suffer similar illnesses are cared for by the stern taskmaster, Mrs. Wilkenson (Lynn Redgrave). His cautious exit from the train platform illustrates with heartbreaking clarity his confusion with life in the outside world.

Unfortunately for Spider’s fragile mental health, the halfway house to which he’s been assigned is in the same neighborhood as his childhood home, and a floodgate of memories is released as he visits his childhood haunts. His already tenuous hold on reality is further loosened by distorted memories stirred by walking through his old neighborhood.

With schizophrenia playing loose and easy with his memories, we see Spider watching from the sidelines as his mind replays clips from his childhood. He’s like an unseen specter observing himself as a youth as the child he was interacts with his father, his beloved mother and the drunken hussy his cheating father brought into their home. As these scenes play out, Spider’s confused recollections of his relationship with his parents, and their relationship with each other, make the audience into voyeurs alongside the adult Spider. When the memories begin to reveal a different story than Spider has hung on to for decades, he is powerless to halt the progress of his dementia as the memories lead him toward a further break with reality.

Gabriel Byrne is fantastic as Spider’s boozing, philandering father and Miranda Richardson absolutely blew me away as multiple characters, including the role of Spider’s loving mom. Credit deservedly goes to director David Cronenberg for artfully showing us the world from Spider’s schizophrenic point of view. Using muted colors and minimal dialogue, Cronenberg’s created a crystal clear picture of a man tormented by thoughts and actions beyond his control. We are able to see a man stretched to his limits, a sympathetic man who lives in a world that exists only in his own fractured mind. Cronenberg has succeeded in making that world believable to the audience.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

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