Dann chats with 'Splice' director Vincenzo Natali

Director a splice of life

Detroit-born Vincenzo Natali has directed four features so far, the last one being "Splice," a science-fiction thriller that opens today.

The filmmaker now makes his home in Toronto, Canada. He recently came to Chicago's Trump Towers to answer some questions about horror and human nature, and the scary subject of genetic splicing.

Q. "Splice" is about scientists - played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley - who genetically create a new life-form, which they debate whether should be killed or protected. How would you describe it?

A. I think it's a creature film spliced with a relationship story. That is what always intrigued me about it. I wanted to make an intimate creature film, one that would explore the nuances between creator and creation. I hope it works for people. I'm a great lover of creature films. This is my love letter to creature movies. As someone who appreciates the genre, I thought it could be treated with a slightly more delicate and sophisticated hand.

Q. Any reactions from ethics or religious groups?

A. It's a very loaded topic. Hopefully, the film isn't clear about where it stands morally. It goes into some very gray territory. There are clearly some positive things to come out of this technology. And there are great dangers ... I cowrote the script in consultation with a geneticist, and had a geneticist involved in the production of the film. They were very enthusiastic about the film. I haven't heard from an ethics person or religious group. I'm not sure how they would feel about the movie. They might support it.

Q. "Splice" contains some very edgy elements, like Polley's scientist uses her own DNA to create the creature they call Dren. What happens after that is pretty freaky.

A. I jokingly call it my "family film." It goes about as Freudian or Oedipal as you can go.

Q. The movie certainly doesn't endorse human genetic splicing. What's your take on it?

A. I'm not sure about it. The only for sure is that we will do it. We are already doing it. People have, for thousands of years, changed their environment. It seems natural that once the technology is available, they would start to change themselves. I'm sure this is where we are headed.

Q. How did you get stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley on board for this movie?

A: They wanted to do it. They're courageous actors. Or they could be twisted and sick individuals. They really responded to the script. Sarah thought her character was fascinating. And they were lovely to work with. If this movie works, it's because of them, and the actress Delphine Chaneac, who plays Dren (the spliced creation).

Q. Why are horror films important?

A. I think it's the Bruno Bettelheim thing. He wrote (in a landmark book "The Uses of Enchantment") about fairy tales and how for children they were a means of dealing with the real world indirectly, and dealing with some of the more frightening aspects of life. With a film like "Splice," you can deal with an Oedipal issue that is, in a way, palatable to a broad audience. It's distorted through the mirror of fantasy, or in this case, science fiction. The kind of science fiction I like is absolutely a mirror to the present.

We're living in a tumultuous, scary time. We're on the cusp of some seismic change. That (horror) seems to be the most appropriate genre to discuss what's going on in the world around us.

Q. "Splice" doesn't have a very high regard for human beings when they get involved in stepping outside the normal order of things. The story strongly suggests that even scientists tend to treat their "offspring" the way their parents treated them.

A. You can be the most brilliant scientist, but at the end of the day, you're a human being. Whatever makes you that person is what's going to come into play. While (Polley and Brody) are creating something for purely scientific reasons, at the end of day, they're motivated by very personal human reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with science.