A Commentary : Vanilla Sky

A Commentary : Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe's film 'Vanilla Sky' is an enthralling fantasy. Starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell it shifts, alarmingly sometimes, frrom reality to make-believe; on the outer edges of a dream turned to nightmare. At the start of the film David Aames is in bed, about to wake up, highly relevant really, for it all turns out to be about a dream. It is a lucid dream he has bought, which starts when he is in a cryonic state after his death. Poor David is dead and the beautiful affair with Penelope Cruz is pure imagination. The chemistry between the two is undeniable and the erotic scenes of them making love in the film is tasteful and believable.

Cameron Diaz, or Julie Gianni as she is called, is a bit of a psycho, running the car off the road and killing herself and leaving David permanently disfigured. He must now wear a mask and this is a source of much distress to him. An 'aesthetic prosthetic' has no magic for David, no matter what twaddle the doctors spout. So the nightmare aspect is a thread which is always there, but things deteriorate and eventually it seems he has killed a reincarnated Julie or even girlfriend Penelope Cruz because we are not quite sure, as David is not, who is who at times - the subconscious shifts and changes character's identities at will.

And it seems David is a psychological mess. He sees psychiatrist Kurt Russell and it seems we are talking murder here, but the doctor thinks they can go for derangement - things are not all black. It is not until we meet Rebecca Deerhorn, played by Tilda Swinton, that we are put into the picture about this special dream contracted into on a person's death and seen as 'cryotainment'. She explains everything but this sends poor David over the edge. Screaming 'it's a nightmare' and begging to wake up he runs amok to a background track of 'Good Vibrations' by the Beach Boys. He is certainly not getting the right 'excitations' here and the effect is very ironic.

The idea of a lucid dream after death has many moral implications, and although seemingly impossible, does raise the question of artificial extension of human life. Is it feasible in some sort of peculiar way? But if it is, is it just downright dangerous, even sinister? Certainly David has suffered a great deal in this nightmare. Hollywood is all about fantasy however, and this film is an intriguing example of 'science future' and the imaginative interplay of progress, fear, suffering and pleasure. What would become of us dreaming forever while suspended cryogenically? It is quite a frightening prospect really. But whatever the reality, the movie explores the realm of fantasy and imagination, pushing forward the barriers of human knowledge and experience to leave us asking just what will be possible in future time. Just what is man capable of?