Literally Speaking: Spider
David Cronenberg’s films have often been referred to as “body horror” but in Spider it’s the mind that the Canadian director focuses on. This is no horror film though, this is social commentary - care in the community Cronenberg style.
Dennis Cleg arrives at a halfway house at the start of the film. Where he’s come from we don’t learn until later but it’s clear from the start that something isn’t quite right about Dennis. He’s schizophrenic and has been institutionalised for many years but has just been released into society. He sleeps at the halfway house but is free to wander the London streets, revisiting places he’s not seen since childhood.
We spend much of the film inside Dennis’ (nicknamed Spider by his mother) mind, as he relives moments from his childhood. Just how true these recollections are isn’t clear. In much the same way he did with Videodrome, Cronenberg keeps the viewer unsure of what is real and what’s a figment of Dennis’ disturbed mind.
There are two key performances in the film - Miranda Richardson’s and Ralph Fiennes’. Actually that’s not really true, Richardson alone gives three performances, playing Dennis’ Mother, his Father’s lover and as Dennis grip on reality becomes ever more unglued, Mrs Wilkinson the woman responsible for the halfway house and its residents. It’s an impressive display with the mother/lover characters at the centre of Dennis’ mental meltdown.
