Ballardian

Still from The Business of Strangers (dir. Patrick Stettner; 2002).

During my search for ghosted Ballard film productions — vapourware movies based on Ballard books — it struck me that I should instead be continuing my search for what Chris Darke terms the ‘Ballardian poetic’ in cinema, which he defines as:

…a valuable resource for imaginative filmmakers and writers [allowing] the transfiguration of an increasingly culturally homogenised, panic-stricken and media-saturated landscape into one of myths and wonders. In these terms, the contestants on Big Brother could be seen as no longer being the media-processed cretins that the press loves to hate, but CCTV cosmonauts who have stepped through Ballard’s ‘doorway’ to explore the “total alienation” that lies beyond.’

In other words, as Hollywood — and the slimline British film industry — seems incapable, unwilling or frightened to bring Ballard’s work to the screen, let us seek instead the work of those filmmakers mining the same seam.

Thus sidetracked, I came across Rex Roberts’ review of Patrick Stettner’s 2002 film, The Business of Strangers:

Set at an airport hotel during a 12-hour layover, the film relates a brief encounter between two women, one a successful corporate executive, the other a young assistant, who despite their different stations in life are drawn to each other. Like Ballard, Stettner is fascinated by power, sex and violence, and The Business of Strangers is highly charged on all three counts.
…
The two women begin to talk, and Julie, lonely and insecure beneath her tough-gal exterior, becomes fascinated with her brash, overtly erotic, vaguely sinister companion. Paula, in turn — acting the part of the villainous therapist — lures Julie on a drug-fueled adventure that turns violent, convincing her boss that a bit of malicious mischief is exactly what she needs to feel alive again. The Business of Strangers lures the viewer into a mendacious labyrinth eerily akin to those in Super-Cannes and Cocaine Nights.

“For me, airport hotels are a strange no-man’s land, a transitory island, contained and controlled in a biosphere of sorts,” says Stettner, sounding very Ballardian. “It’s a place where travelers have the illusion of total anonymity with the confidence that any social contact is only momentary, allowing them to do things they normally wouldn’t.”

The Business of Strangers, released late last year, still is in theaters, but some viewers may have to wait for the video. In the meantime, the rare producer with a taste for Ballard might want to put a call in to Stettner: He seems the perfect choice to direct an adaptation of Super-Cannes.”

That does sound intriguing, doesn’t it? I haven’t seen the film, but this being the blog it is, rest assured I’ll be hunting it down and dissecting it at some vague point in the future.

..:: MORE INFO
+ For more on Ballardian cinema, be sure to read Mr Darke’s excellent article.
+ In this compelling piece, k-punk positions Basic Instinct 2 not as a sequel to Verhoeven’s original Basic Instinct, but to Cronenberg’s Ballard adaptation — Crash.