Confession: I haven't seen this movie since I was a teenager, and the rape scene made me too uncomfortable to focus on anything else about the movie (though I think the sharing-senses technology would make a handy diagnostic tool for out-of-touch doctors if someone would go ahead and invent it already), but this essay from the Bitch Magazine website makes me want to give it another chance. What say you?
Synopsis from AllMovie:
Set in Los Angeles two days before the end of 1999, Strange Days introduces us to Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), an ex-cop turned sleazy hustler who hawks the newest underground thrill on the black market: a "squid," a headpiece that allows one to transmit digital recordings of other people's thoughts, feelings, and memories into their brain; as Lenny describes it, "this is real life, pure and uncut, straight from the cerebral cortex." Lenny deals "clips" (the software) as well as "squids" (the hardware) for this new and illegal entertainment system, and while sex and violence are the most popular themes, Lenny refuses to deal in "blackjack" — slang for snuff clips. Lenny is nursing a broken heart after his girlfriend, punk singer Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis), left him, and he spends a lot of time with clips he recorded when they were together. Faith is now involved with Philo Grant (Michael Wincott), a music business tycoon who once managed Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer), a hip-hop musician and political activist whose murder has sent L.A. into a state of chaos. When a clip emerges that shows that Jeriko was killed by L.A. police officers, Lenny finds his life in danger, and he tries to escape possible death on both sides of the law with the help of his friend Mace Mason (Angela Bassett).
Actually, I like this trailer better:
I watched this movie for the first time this year and absolutely loved it! The rape scene made me extremely uncomfortable as well, but I believe that's the point. Otherwise I found it to be a slick, entertaining, and intelligent sci-fi film.
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