1979
Directed by David Cronenberg
Written by Phil Savath
Starring John Saxon and William Smith
Before the subject of the film Fast Company can even be addressed, before it can be acknowledged as Cronenberg's third feature, the subject of the theme song "Fast Company" must be explored. Much like Zeus, "Fast Company," as performed by Michael Stanley, crushes all songs within it's path, choosing to take whatever creatures it wishes to bed--although the film does not contain a Hera to fear, one wonders in trepidation what the jealous wife of "Fast Company" would look like. Would it be a song that leaves men and women with bloody ears and ruptured spleens? Who could tame a song like Michael Stanley's "Fast Company?" A song that teaches us the plot and the plot dynamic of the film and appears no less than four times in this scant 90 minute feature? It is best not to imagine such a hellish counterpart--better to sleep easier imagining that the Father of the Gods ("Fast Company" the song) is a bachelor. Otherwise, no man could shut both eyes.
Fast Company is the first movie that Cronenberg helmed that he didn't write the script for, and excepting a scene where a young hitchhiker gets her naked chest glazed with motor oil, little of his style is apparent. To some extent, that's to be expected--until the advent of music videos and television, most directors learned their trade while making features. Although Cronenberg still refers lovingly to Fast Company, that probably has more to do with the making of the film than the film itself: this is, after all, a pretty stupid movie about funny car racing. Still, the crew that directed the film, for the most part, has been with David ever since. And while it was his next feature, The Brood, that truly exemplifies how good Cronenberg was becoming, Fast Company was the teams first mission. It'll have to do.
-Tucker Stone, 2006
Comments