If you like stark art-house sci-fi, this film has aged well imho, 10 years down the line. A cross between Dreamscape and maybe Darren Aronofsky's Pi. I only stumbled across it as Vespers is available now, and this film sounded compelling and strange.
The pacing is slow, and a lot rides on the main male actor (there is a nice device where he has to shave his head to connect via a neural net). There are waves a plenty, he submerges in a sort of isolation tank (viva "Altered States") and then quite literally floats into the mind of a comatose patient.
There's a sort of mystery to her, and he becomes both watcher and participant, as he dives into her memories. A lot of sense indulgence, including an orgy where I think some subtle body/image morphing went on. Food, sex, near-drowning experiences. Is it just me, or will Existentialists defeat the attack of AI ;>
Some of the research lab camaraderie fell a bit flat, but the polyglot world of different languages was a nice touch. The role of the watchful psychiatrist came with a lot of tension, in how the camera pitted him vs the lead. But I found that relationship a little unsatisfactory by the end.
That and I could have sworn the first scene played a trick on us, but maybe was a flash forward burst of cinematic consciousness?
Overall the set decor and low-budget high-idea meld worked for me. Really the pace was no problem, maybe at the end there is chase that goes on too long, but I think it was some footage/lighting that the director was happy with.
I am referencing the Pink Floyd song with my review title, as it has a weird accidental synchronicity with the film, or so I can convince myself.
There were a lot of neuro-scientists credited in the closing titles, I am curious to maybe read up on them in terms of this film, or better yet their own research. The idea from this film perhaps crossed with "The Diving Bell and the Buttefly" (a great film with a mild parallel here) - that might make a fascinating new movie, or better yet documentary on some breakthrough in neuroscience.
Something about thinking about thinking, and the mind unfolded from the brain's fissures....that can be uncomfortably numbing.
This film is a simple step towards more complicated matters, so bumping it up to an 8.
