Movies - Strange Days

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	Movies - Strange Days

Strange Days is the title of a 1995 science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by her ex-husband James Cameron. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film is notable for its dystopian view of the future, and the moral ambivalence of many of its characters, leading some to describe it as a modern example of film noir.

Plot summary

The story takes place in a dystopic Los Angeles on the last few days of December 1999. The city has fallen into an unrelenting maelstrom of violence and vice — it's as if the Rodney King riots never ended.

We meet Lenny Nero (Fiennes), an ex-vice cop turned street hustler. He deals in "wire-trip clips," recordings of experiences, including all sensory inputs such as sight, hearing, smell and touch. These clips are recorded from the cerebral cortex through a device called a SQUID and can be played back by another individual through a MiniDisc-like device (a similar concept was featued in the 1983 movie Brainstorm
).

Lenny's friend, Lornette "Mace" Mason (Bassett), is a limo chauffeur who also provides security for her clients. She believes Lenny is becoming strung out on playback clips and is disgusted that he continues to obsess over his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis).

Lenny receives a snuff "black jack" tape of the rape and killing of a street prostitute, Iris. The snuff tape deeply troubles him because he had been acquainted with Iris and knew that she had been trying to reach him in the moments leading up to her death. She also had once been a close friend of Faith's.

Convinced that the killer will strike again, Lenny follows the leads to music industry mogul Philo (Michael Wincott), Faith's new boyfriend. Lenny receives more snuff tapes and eventually discovers that the case is tied to a cover-up of the murder of rap artist Jeriko One (played by Glenn Plummer). Lenny and Mace are in a race to uncover the full truth before the murderer catches up with them.

Trivia

The film's title comes from the song (and album) of the same name by The Doors. Metal band Prong performs a cover version of the song on the movie soundtrack, accompanied by original Doors member Ray Manzarek.
Juliette Lewis' two songs in the film, both originally written and performed by PJ Harvey, are not lip-synced.
The extended POV (point of view) shots used in the "wire trip" sequences required Bigelow's team to create entirely new, lightweight 35mm cameras. These were shot by Steadicam operator (and Cameron regular) Jimmy Muro on the custom, lightweight rig first used for the foot chase in Bigelow's 1991 film Point Break
.
The movie helped propel the term Y2K into the public consciousness, albeit as a revolutionary street slang term instead of a computer glitch.
The band playing in the warehouse party scene is Kansas City based Season to Risk.

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