The
Fly
This American science fiction written and directed by David
Cronenberg, was a box office success upon its release and was critically
acclaimed in the press. A sequel, The
Fly II was released in 1989. As with many of Cronenberg's
films,The Fly deals with themes of bodily disfigurement or
metamorphosis and the darker aspects of human emotions and behavior. An
underlying aspect of the story is the doomed love affair between Seth
and Ronnie and the resulting rivalry between Seth and Stathis.
The plot of the film is about a scientist who accidentally swaps body
parts with a fly is both smart and terrifying: an allegory for the
awful processes of slow death and a monster movie with a tragic spin.
Jeff Goldblum gives a masterful performance as a sweet, nerdy scientist
whose romance with a writer (Geena Davis) makes him more fully alive.
Next thing you know, a tiny oversight in an experiment causes him to
transmogrify, gradually, into something more like an insect than a
human. This is Cronenberg (Scanners, Videodrome)
country, so expect The Fly to be a gross-out, but in the way
that disease corrupts the body and can make a loved one unrecognizable
on every level. This is one of Cronenberg's best films, and certainly
one of the important movies of the 1980.
The sequel is The Fly II (1989). Cronenberg has said that the
stories in his films have definitive beginnings and endings, and he has
never considered making a sequel to one of his own films, although
others have made sequels to Cronenberg films, including Scanners
(1981).Interestingly enough, an early treatment for a sequel, written
by Tim Lucas, involved Veronica Quaife dealing with the evils of the
Bartok company. Brundle's consciousness had somehow survived within the
Telepod computer, and the Bartok scientists had enslaved him and were
using him to develop the system for cloning purposes. Brundle becomes
able to communicate with Veronica through the computer, and he
eventually takes control of the Bartok complex's security systems to
gruesomely attack the villains. Eventually, Veronica frees Brundle by
conspiring with him to reintegrate a non-contaminated version of his
original body.
