Spider (2002) - Dir: David Cronenberg (eXistenZ, The Fly)

In an extraordinarily taut suspense drama, David Cronenberg paints a character portrait of a spider - with Ralph Fiennes as the traumatised, mumbling Mr. Clegg. Beautiful cinematography by Peter Suschitzky (of Empire Strikes Back fame) introduces us to the world of the story, based on the uniquely morbid novel by Patrick McGrath.

First we see Spider's home. The train reveals society's pace and eventually Spider's own stunted, gradual stagger. We find our unlikely hero, Spider as he rediscovers his prior English home and finds the halfway house where he is to stay. England has changed. Spider is an alien in this place, mumbling in a desert expanse of memory.

He finds a cheeky friend in Terrence (John Neville.) The dialogue pace is prose-like. Mrs Wilkinson (Lynn Redgrave), the landlady at the halfway house, is a clipped, dormant frustration - she has her reasons.

Spider must find somewhere to hide his secret notes. A paranoid patient, deep in the thick of his sickness. His world is claustrophobic, but we sense it is a home he made for himself. The scenery is bland, bleak and unchanging, but this is the life he chose.

He tries to piece together a past from the shadows and the scenery. The garden plot, a setting of importance - for the memories it reveals. Only tragic flashes of sorrow for now, but enough to reduce Mr Clegg to a pathetic, weeping mess.

The scene at the cafe might remind some of the process of separating the hours of the day with cigarettes and cheap tea.

There is a funny scene depicting a day trip out of the asylum - but its placement is out of sync. Feels disjointed, which might seem suitable considering the film's subject.

Puzzles are a motif as Spider is struggling to reconstruct his past, which is a puzzle to him. We finally get to see what Spider is beginning to remember, as his past is juxtaposed with the present walks among the silent city. The streets are empty to support the mood of the film, a bleak, empty silence.

Gabriel Byrne as Bill Clegg, plays a father through his son's eyes. The father is the victim of this tale - perfectly innocent, just trying to do his best.

Spider's mother, (Miranda Richardson) sheltered him. He loves his mother's image desperately, with something of an Oedipus complex. He is offended by the evolution of his mother, lashes out in an effort to protect his image of her.

5 stars