Spider (2002 94min.) [BBC2 12.45am sunday]
Bleak psychological drama starring Ralph Fiennes. A destitute man recently released from a mental hospital visits East End locations where he thinks he saw his father murder his mother.
David Cronenberg may have made his name and found cult fame with his early 'body horror' films in the 1980s but here he's more concerned with the internal struggle of a mind of a man attempting to come to terms with a traumatic experience in his early life.
Ralph Fiennes turns in a career best performance as Spider, recently released from a mental institution into community care. He spends his time wandering the streets of his youth and attempting to piece together the shocking events of his past that led directly to his present situation.
Cronenberg uses multiple timelines, shifting chronology and compound characters to show Spider's isolation, confusion, angst, sadness and pain. It's a highly effective film making the absolute best of it's East London setting and the dislocation the characters feel from their times.
Complex and rewarding.
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