Review of Stereo (Tile 3B of a CAEE Educational Mosaic) (1969) by Roy C — 06 Jan 2010

Call this one an interesting failure. "Stereo"'s minimalism is compelling -- the film is black and white, and entirely silent (not even music) except for intermittent narration by a variety of speakers.

The story involves a scientific study which induces telepathic bonds between a small number of subjects. Sexuality (both hetero- and homo-) comes into play as an enhancement of the telepathy's potency, and eventually this has a side effect of physical violence for reasons which were not all that clear to me.

The flat, academic narration becomes a chore to process after awhile, and its intense, deadpan concentration on "big words" hinders efforts to pluck out the central plot advancements (which the visuals can't communicate on their own) .

Still, the cinematography is stylish and the emergence of Cronenberg's favored techno-sexual themes is notable.