



Our Rating: 9.0

IMDb Ratings : 5 .5

Genre: Drama

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon

Country: France | Canada | Portugal | Italy

Language: English

Runtime: 109 min

Color: Color

C osmopolis, an adaptation of a 2003 novel of the same name by th annual Cannes Film Festival in May, 2012. Cosmopolis stars English actor Robert Pattinson in the lead role of Eric Packer—an emotionally detached 28-year-old multi-billionaire asset manager. Cosmopolis is an attempt to capture the abject hollowness associated with our materialistic existence through the microcosmic world of Eric Packer—a hyperrealistic manifestation of the modern man—confined to the boundaries of a stretch limousine riding across Manhattan . In other words, Cosmpolis is a tale of human decadence presented in form of a nightmarish rendezvous with the hyperreal—a glimpse of what awaits us. osmopolis, an adaptation of a 2003 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo , is a 2012 drama film directed by Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg . A nominee for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award, Cosmopolis premiered at the 65annual Cannes Film Festival in May, 2012. Cosmopolis stars English actor Robert Pattinson in the lead role of Eric Packer—an emotionally detached 28-year-old multi-billionaire asset manager. Cosmopolis is an attempt to capture the abject hollowness associated with our materialistic existence through the microcosmic world of Eric Packer—a hyperrealistic manifestation of the modern man—confined to the boundaries of a stretch limousine riding across. In other words, Cosmpolis is a tale of human decadence presented in form of a nightmarish rendezvous with the hyperreal—a glimpse of what awaits us.





Robert Pattinson as Eric Packer in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis In a worldly sense, Eric Packer epitomizes success. At a young age of 28, he has everything that a man can dream of possessing: be it wealth, fame, power, good looks, or intelligence. His high-end clients solely rely on his business acumen to invest their billions. He has a billionaire for a wife; a penthouse for lodging that he seldom visits; an uber-luxurious, high-tech limousine for an office that he more or less treats like a home. Packer, a connoisseur by taste and a perfectionist by behavior, does everything with absolute precision. And so even on a day that’s marked by heavy traffic jams, augmented by the President’s visit to the city and the funeral of a renowned musician, Packer is keen on getting a haircut from his preferred barber. En route, Packer sees his chief-of-finance, art-advisor (Juliette Binoche), chief-of-theory, doctor, and his reclusive wife who for some reason seems averse to the idea of having sex with him. And then there is Packer’s chief-of-security who from time to time makes his presence felt on what pans out to be a day of utter chaos. Each of these meetings, most of which take place inside Packer’s limo, helps us get an insight into Packer’s opulent yet empty life.





Eric Packer with his Billionaire Wife Eric replenishes the void created by his wife’s disinterest in him by fornicating with his female employees. During the course of the day, while encountering several anti-capitalist protestors, Packer learns from his chief-of-security that his life is under serious threat. Things gradually go from bad to worse as Packer makes terrible miscalculations. Consequently, his clients lose heaps of money mostly deployed in form of ‘cybercapital’—the electronic money generated through future market speculations that has become the greatest paradox of our time, for even though it doesn’t actually contribute to the productivity of the business cycles it drastically impacts the overall liquidity of the economy. Shattered by the totality of his failure, Packer loses his composure and ends up killing his own chief-of-security. He jeopardizes his security further by choosing to visit the house his potential killer, Richard Sheets a.k.a. Benno Levin—one of Packer’s ex-employees whose sole purpose in life is to kill Packer.





A Still from Cosmopolis Packer’s sudden descent has a kind of a ritualistic feel to it that’s strongly suggestive of a man condemned to be his own instrument of destruction, something that insinuates to the self-destructive propensity of the entire human race. Cronenberg uses a wide array of characters to evoke a sense of pathos for this self-inflicted plight of humanity. While Packer’s detachment revolves around an overwhelming sense of superficiality that he encounters day in and day out, Levin ’s alienation is a product of his spiteful disposition. In the same manner the reclusion that one sees in Packer’s wife has something to do with her inherent sense of apathy for the world that surrounds her. Cronenberg is a master at using sex and gore as effective tools to stimulate a sense of revulsion in the hearts of his audience, but in Cosmopolis he uses sex and gore to propagate a sense of apocalyptic fear in the minds of his viewers. In fact, the fear is all pervasive and the uncertainty associated with the movie's last act only augments it further. Cosmopolis has an element of crudity that one generally associates with art—the state of being open to interpretation.





Juliette Binoche as Didi Fancher in Cosmopolis In Cosmpolis, Cronenberg’s meticulous direction is brilliantly backed up by some fine acting and brilliant cinematography. Robert Pattinson is a revelation as Eric Packer. And while it would be remiss of me to downplay his previous works, I think it would be safe to regard Cosmopolis as his best work yet. Pattinson portrays the part with a sense of realism that is a trademark of a seasoned actor. But, without taking anything away from him, I just can’t help but wonder what role did Cronenberg have in Pattinson's remarkable transformation as an actor? Speaking of acting, Paul Giamatti as Benno Levin is equally brilliant in a portrayal that seems to perfectly contrast Pattinson’s. Sarah Gadon is consistently glacial as Packer’s reclusive wife and the air of haughtiness that she seems to exude is in perfect harmony with her caricature. Another performance that’s worth mentioning is a cameo by Juliette Binoche. If her performance in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) was an embodiment of nymphean innocence then probably her playful portrayal in Cosmopolis is its exact antithesis. The movie’s use of dialogue is quite elaborate, but for the most part it may seem hollow with little or no meaning. In fact, Cosmopolis encourages the viewers to try and read between the lines in order develop their own understanding.