Reality in ExistenZ essays

Reality in ExistenZ essays ExistenZ is a film that primarily engages with our perception of reality. It plays on our perceptions of what reality is, cleverly cultivating a sense of the unknown through subtle distortions of our reality; playing with the medium of film which is, in essence, a suspension of disbelief. ExistenZ uses the knowledge that as a viewer we will accept 'the world of the film' to be a reality because, it is a different world, one artificially created which we can accept to be real. We are initially invited to accept the conditions of the film as we, the viewers, begin the film as spectators watching a scene set in the future, seeing the characters attempting to enter into a virtual reality world, one which we can recognise as unreal. We are then invited to question the reality of this world through subtle devices such as the saturation of colour, the background and a two-headed mutant which through Jude Laws eyes we are allowed to see is not unusual, though, at this stage we are still led to believe that this could be reality. The sense that this is the true reality of the film is then further promoted by taking us into the realm of virtual reality inviting us to believe the former world as a truth. ExistenZ plays with our perceptions by constantly changing what we believe to be reality by always leaving it open, but taking us further and further into the unknown. So, we are then forced to question, what is reality? By his multi layered approach which gradually becomes more and more unreal, David Cronenburg leads us to the conclusion that the worlds of the film that are most like ours must be the reality, but a the same time undermining that reality with phrases such as, I am not sure here is here anymore. This is repeatedly reinforced throughout the film with he emphasis that is placed upon the name of the game and its sponsors leaving the audience unsure as to whether or not we are ...