STRANGE DAYS

(October 1995, U.S.)

New Year's Eve 1999, the end of the twentieth century. Hard to believe there was ever a time that this was considered the future, even by just a few years. What I don't find hard to believe was that even by the middle of the 1990s, the prospect of the new Millennium was greeted with skepticism and dread in our vision of humanity. Despite this film's conventions of film noir and science fiction, it's implications of voyeurism, violence, racism, rape and abuse of police power hit home on a powerful and emotional level. One reason may be that the Los Angeles riots of 1992 following the Rodney King verdict were still fresh in our minds only three years later, and I suppose the entire O.J. Simpson event didn't help matters, either.

STRANGE DAYS is set in the last two days of 1999. The city of Los Angeles, while gearing up for the party of the century, is also on the verge of social and racial implosion. Among the war zone mayhem is a black marketeer of SQUID discs (and former LAPD officer), Lenny Nero (played by Ralph Fiennes), who deals in illegal recordings from a person's cerebral cortex that allow the user to experience the recorder's memories, feelings and physical sensations onto a MiniDisc-like device for playback. Whatever your fancy or fantasy is, Lenny can get it for you for a price. Meanwhile, a young prostitute named Iris, and friend of Lenny's, is on the run from two LAPD officers determined to kill her. Temporarily escaping her predators, it's revealed that she's wearing a SQUID recorder headset, which in some creepy sort of way, actually does reveal a squid. Trusting only Lenny with its content, she drops her SQUID disc in his car for him to find later and inevitably reveal the "big secret" she'll be killed for later on in the film. While Lenny and his friend Mace (played by Angela Bassett) prowl the city trying to figure out why Iris was killed, the city is on violent edge over the recent slaying of famed rapper Jeriko One (played by Glenn Plummer), though the public believes his death to be the result of a gang war.

Although Lenny and Mace are in possession of the disc that the two rogue officers are now trying to kill them for, they still have no idea what's on it. By the time Lenny has seen the disc and is horrified by what he sees, we the audience still aren't let in on it until Mace watches it, her first time experiencing playback, something she disapproves of. We see what she sees, and that's the brazen execution of Jeriko One for his anti-police song lyrics and activism which incited protests against the LAPD, by the same two murdering police officers who chased down Iris after she was there to witness the execution and ran for her life. The fate of this disc is now in question; release it to the already unstable public and it will surely incite a citywide riot. On the other hand, this sort of fatal injustice by the LAPD should be seen by the public, despite whatever war it may ignite. As Lenny and Mace fight for their lives amidst the chaos of the night, secrets, plot twists and the betrayal of friends are revealed. And of course, because Hollywood demands that some form of good come out of any form of hell, justice is served when the honest police commissioner sees the secret disc and charges the two rogue officers in question with their crime, right in the middle of the crowded streets of New Year's Eve. Friends become lovers (practically) and the new century of 2000 is greeted with the cliché of a kiss.

STRANGE DAYS was conceived by James Cameron as far back as 1986, but motivated by sensationalized figures of the early '90s as Lorena Bobbitt and Rodney King. As fast-paced sci-fi and tech noir, it may still fall short of a later comparison as THE MATRIX, even with its sense of urgency and desperation. But one must consider the time period and the new era we were headed for. In the film, humanity is progressively being traded in for technology even as we in real life were being sucked into the new world created by men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. It's Mace's strong female character (let's remember that the film is directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow) who explicitly reminds Lenny (and us) that, "This is your life! Right here! Right now! It's real time, you hear me? Real time, time to get real, not playback!" The performances are top notch, particularly by Ralph Fiennes, in his second film role since SCHINDLER'S LIST. Why he never played a tough cop again after this film, I'll never know, because he seemed made for such a role, despite the overall sleaziness he successfully brings to a guy like Lenny Nero. In fact, except for the good nature and strong inner strength of Mace, it would seems that everyone in STRANGE DAYS is sleazy, from Max Peltier (played by Tom Sizemore), to Philo Gant (played by Michael Wincott), and right down to Lenny's love interest Faith (played by Juliette Lewis - what has she really done lately?). Her role and performance are nothing necessarily special that couldn't have been done by a far more gifted actress, but I suppose in the world of sleazy, she's just the right type. And I must say, I certainly don't mind seeing her naked while rubbing lotion all over her breasts (small that they are)...

Despite whatever feelings and implications of hope that STRANGE DAYS may attempt to convince us off by the end of the film and the beginning of a new dawn, the sleaze and downfall of our humanity is the feeling I continue to take away from it. Considering what we've managed to become in the last eighteen years since our own true Millennium, can you hardly blame me??

Favorite line or dialogue:

Max Peliter: "Hey, cheer up. World's gonna end in ten minutes anyway."