SPLICE

Elsa and Clive are two biochemists, a couple in work and life. They work at a genetic research center and are working on creating a new animal race that can provide an enzyme capable of curing various human diseases. Just at the moment of greatest difficulty for the laboratory they work for, Elsa decides to add human DNA to the compound that gave life to their creature, thus creating a new creature that would synthesize a more effective enzyme. Despite the no of her superiors and Clive's initial skepticism, the couple gives life to a new race that materializes in a strange being with an accelerated metabolism and life cycle. The creature soon develops and becomes a sort of girl with animal anatomical components whom Elsa names Dren. The two scientists establish a very particular relationship with Dren that soon turns into parental attachment, but the unpredictability of the creature and its aggressiveness will make the two doubt the goodness of their creation. Vincenzo Natali in direction/script and Guillermo Del Toro in production of a fanta-horror are a promise of guaranteed quality. The man who directed that masterpiece of "The Cube" seems to be the right person to tell about out-of-control genetic engineering and creatures that rebel against their creators, and indeed Natali, away from the camera since 2003, the year he directed "Nothing" (still unreleased in our country), does not disappoint and puts his signature on another fanta-horror jewel that surely every fan of the genre was waiting for. "Splice", which literally means "connection" and in jargon indicates precisely that process of combination between several genes, in the end is a very classic film, not very innovative, and yet it has an intrinsic charge of originality not to be underestimated. Natali takes the story of Frankenstein and updates it to the era of genetic engineering and eugenics, seasons it with a touch of Greek tragedy and adds a considerable dose of morbidity and interspecies sex. The result is clearly a cinematic hybrid that reflects the hybrid represented by Dren, the magnificent chimera that is at the center of the narration of "Splice". Natali's screenplay reflects that sense of completeness that often lacks in modern horror movie scripts. The author takes his time to adequately develop the psychology of the three main characters and to insert elements that provide a dense narrative succession that ensures there are no dead times despite the inevitable slowness of the central part of the film. Clive, played by an Adrien Brody ("Predators") at ease in the role, does not find satisfaction in his relationship with Elsa, often too absorbed by her work and opposed to pregnancy despite her companion's desire for fatherhood. The woman, whose name refers to the historical "Bride of Frankenstein" and who carries the features of the always brilliant Sarah Polley ("Dawn of the Dead"), has a dark past made of abuse and maltreatment by her mother, thus retaining a negative idea of motherhood, frightened by the possibility of perpetuating parental inadequacy, as if it were a genetic disease. At the same time, Elsa is the strong element of the couple, she is the one who makes the decisions and it is her actions that set in motion the series of events that inevitably lead to tragedy. A sort of Eve who not only disobeys God but replaces him. Dren's entrance on the scene disrupts the natural order of things and brings satisfaction to the couple's desires and the disintegration of their lives. Clive, potential ideal father, proves inadequate for the role, even attempting to drown his "little girl"; however, he finds in Dren the passion and attraction that were waning in his relationship with Elsa. The relationship between Clive and Dren becomes incestuous, a morbid and unnatural affection from the creature that finds realization in a "bestial" "coupling" that will probably remain in the annals of the genre. Elsa, on the other hand, proves to be an excellent mother, the exact opposite of what she feared, and thus manages to give Dren the maternal love that she had lacked, naturally until the situation begins to deteriorate. The character of Dren, so funny and curious, lethal and fascinating, is magnificently embodied by the French Delphine Chaneac who seems almost an actress of silent cinema, capable of perfectly expressing with the mimicry of her face the feelings of the creature, her state of mind and the accelerated evolution of her personality, from a capricious child to a woman-predator at the mercy of her first sexual instincts. The special effects, born from a skillful mix of computer graphics and traditional effects, are fundamental in the story (Dren is on screen for 80% of the film!) and are never intrusive, thanks also to the excellent work done by the team of Berger and Nicotero, especially in the various looks that represent the evolutionary stages of the "monster". Between "Pandorum" and "Splice", the summer of 2010 can boast an excellent fanta-horror season, two titles of sure impact and well made. In the case of "Splice", we also have a work destined surely to be remembered over time, a fundamental film in the path that leads to the analysis of the female figure in fantastic cinema and the ambiguously self-destructive nature of the human being. A jewel of sci-fi horror that must absolutely be seen by genre enthusiasts.