Strange Days

Released 1995
Stars Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, William Fichner, Brigitte Bako, Josef Sommer, Glenn Plummer
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

December 30, 1999: the penultimate day of the penultimate year of the century (the 20th century doesn't officially end until the close of 2000). In Los Angeles, the "biggest party of all time" is already underway. Crime is flowing as freely through the streets as champagne at the high-class galas. Ex-cop Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is in his element: a world where his former colleagues are too busy with serious matters, like the roadside shooting of rapper/black activist Jeriko One, to harass small-time dealers like him. What Nero sells, however, isn't traditional dope, although it's just as addictive and arguably more dangerous. He's the magic man, not the candy man, and his bag of goodies contains disks full of memories and experiences. Once plugged into the appropriate player, one disk allows the user to re-live its contents, which could be something as innocent as taking a shower, something as raunchy as participating in an orgy, or something as grotesque as committing a murder.

Only five years into the future, LA is a poverty-stricken city seething with racial tension that Strange Days brings bubbling to the surface. This film can be seen as a two-pronged cautionary tale: what happens when drugs become the only escape from a grim reality, and what could occur if attempts aren't made to heal the racial fissure. A Rodney King-inspired scene with LA cops beating an unarmed black woman, and the riot that follows, underscores the volatility of the situation in 1999 -- and it's not that different from recent history. Strange Days may be a dark fantasy, but its subtext never strays far from a reality we can all understand.

Summary by James Berardinelli