When you go back over the history of films themed around cyber-punk dramas or thrillers, you'll find that the list is criminally short.
Nirvana is a bizarre little flick that is quintessentially 1990s-cyberpunk fanfare. It's low-budget but you really wouldn't think much of it given the way Gabriele Salvatores makes superb use of camera, lighting, and really fantastic set dressing and effects.
The action is limited but reasonable for the story being told. This isn't some world-ending, world-saving, earth-shattering, cataclysmic event unfolding here, the story is small, personal, and very contained, for the most part.
The adventure and thrills begin to ramp up as more information related to what's unfolding gets unfurled by the protagonists, a trio of unlikely heroes. However, what really makes Nirvana work is Lambert's dedication to the role; he's sincere and serious here, taking the material in stride as if he believes it, and that's about 50% of the believability right there, in conjunction with the set designs and scenarios.
The movie does a fine job of making it seem like a crummy, over-bearing, authoritarian, electronic dystopia. People are poor and yet overwhelmed with technology; slums are rampant yet there's a computer everywhere. Cash is a rarity and digital tracking allows everyone to keep track of everyone... especially corporations.
Like most dystopian cyberpunk films, the corporatocracy rules all, and you get a real sense of dread in terms of how little freedom there is in that world, which mirrors a parallel story unfolding (and overlapping) with Lambert's quest about a virus that injects corruptive awareness to the artificial intelligence in a popular online video game.
As the film progresses we see how both the main character in the game and Lambert's character are trying to escape from overbearing authority figures.
There's a lot more write about regarding this film, from the awesome weapon designs that look like they borrow from Blade Runner and Nemesis, to the hodge-podge of culture clashing in the various environments they visit, to the seedy depiction of a society on the brink of implosion.
Overall, though, this is a great little philosophically-themed existential adventure into a cyberpunk world one would probably expect from a French director rather than an Italian one. However, it's much easier to access than most French existentialists films, and doesn't worry itself with trying to be pretentious.
Instead it's authentic to its story and characters and follows through with events to a logical conclusion. It reminded me a lot of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ fused with Enki Bilal's Immortal, with a fine dose of Johnny Mnemonic, Strange Days, and The Matrix tossed in for good measure.
Well worth checking out for those who enjoy grungy-1990s cyberpunk fanfare with a bit of a philosophical twist tossed in.
Nirvana is a bizarre little flick that is quintessentially 1990s-cyberpunk fanfare. It's low-budget but you really wouldn't think much of it given the way Gabriele Salvatores makes superb use of camera, lighting, and really fantastic set dressing and effects.
The action is limited but reasonable for the story being told. This isn't some world-ending, world-saving, earth-shattering, cataclysmic event unfolding here, the story is small, personal, and very contained, for the most part.
The adventure and thrills begin to ramp up as more information related to what's unfolding gets unfurled by the protagonists, a trio of unlikely heroes. However, what really makes Nirvana work is Lambert's dedication to the role; he's sincere and serious here, taking the material in stride as if he believes it, and that's about 50% of the believability right there, in conjunction with the set designs and scenarios.
The movie does a fine job of making it seem like a crummy, over-bearing, authoritarian, electronic dystopia. People are poor and yet overwhelmed with technology; slums are rampant yet there's a computer everywhere. Cash is a rarity and digital tracking allows everyone to keep track of everyone... especially corporations.
Like most dystopian cyberpunk films, the corporatocracy rules all, and you get a real sense of dread in terms of how little freedom there is in that world, which mirrors a parallel story unfolding (and overlapping) with Lambert's quest about a virus that injects corruptive awareness to the artificial intelligence in a popular online video game.
As the film progresses we see how both the main character in the game and Lambert's character are trying to escape from overbearing authority figures.
There's a lot more write about regarding this film, from the awesome weapon designs that look like they borrow from Blade Runner and Nemesis, to the hodge-podge of culture clashing in the various environments they visit, to the seedy depiction of a society on the brink of implosion.
Overall, though, this is a great little philosophically-themed existential adventure into a cyberpunk world one would probably expect from a French director rather than an Italian one. However, it's much easier to access than most French existentialists films, and doesn't worry itself with trying to be pretentious.
Instead it's authentic to its story and characters and follows through with events to a logical conclusion. It reminded me a lot of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ fused with Enki Bilal's Immortal, with a fine dose of Johnny Mnemonic, Strange Days, and The Matrix tossed in for good measure.
Well worth checking out for those who enjoy grungy-1990s cyberpunk fanfare with a bit of a philosophical twist tossed in.