Strange Days

Retrospective 2017

Set two days before the turn of the year 2000, the L.A. streets here resemble a war zone. Ex-cop Lenny Nero is a black marketeer of illegal, mostly pornographic discs recorded directly from the user’s mind that then provide playback of a simulated first-person experience. Lenny uses the discs to re-live intimate moments with his ex-girlfriend Faith, a rock singer who is now dating a music producer. One of the producer’s artists, a controversial black rapper, is found shot to death, while Lenny acquires a disc that shows the brutal murder of a prostitute friend. It turns out the two crimes are related ... The film combines virtual reality and current events. This virtuoso production, infused throughout with a modern cyberpunk aesthetic, is as much a showcase for the “tech noir thriller” as a look at the realities in US society. The fate of rapper Jeriko One has distinct parallels to the mistreatment of Rodney King, the African-American who was beaten by California police in 1991, while a witness documented the events on video.

by Kathryn Bigelow
with Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio USA 1995 English 145’ Colour Rating R16

With

Ralph Fiennes
Angela Bassett
Juliette Lewis
Tom Sizemore
Michael Wincott
Vincent D’Onofrio

Crew

Director	Kathryn Bigelow
Screenplay	James Cameron, Jay Cocks based on an idea by James Cameron
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing	Howard Smith
Music	Graeme Revell
Sound	Gary Rydstrom
Production Design	Lilly Kilvert
Special Effects	James S. Trois
Costumes	Ellen Mirojnick
Make-Up	Michael Germain
Producers	James Cameron, Steven-Charles Jaffe

Produced by

Lightstorm Entertainment

Additional information

Copy: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Los Angeles