There’ something cold, bleak and clinical about Errors of the Human Body, with more than a passing nod to the early body horror of David Cronenburg. We’ve got an austere futuristic lab in Germany, out of control experiments on a genetic level and strange mysterious characters acting in typically strange and mysterious ways. Yet Errors makes Cronenberg look like Michael Bay, as it’s a surprisingly low-key thriller, eschewing thrills and spills for slow building tension and genuine scientific intrigue. In fact it’s not really until the end that Errors really lands its first body blow.
Australian filmmaker Eron Sheean’ debut feature is remarkably assured, there are numerous more sensational directions that he could easily have pursued, but instead he elected to craft a dark psychological speculative thriller in which genetics becomes the battleground.
The emotionally distant geneticist Geoffrey Burton (Michael Eklund) accepts a position in a Dresden research facility to pursue his groundbreaking research and steps into a world of professional rivalries and top-secret research. It’s here that you can see the benefits of Sheean spending time as an artist in residence at the Max Plank Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics Research Centre where Errors of the Human Body was filmed. You get the sense that when it came to scripting, visual style and science Sheean was keen to approach the world with a rare kind of honesty without resorting too much to movie science cliché.
The score is by Australian experimental musician Anthony Pateras who spoke extensively about his experience working on the film here. And Pateras contributes to the differentness of the film considerably, by refusing to take the easy options, moving beyond typically foreboding drones and using analogue synth alongside piano, elements of percussion and woodwind. A case in point is a chase scene towards the end of the film where Pateras contributes periodic flurries of piano, offering plenty of space, the music increasing tension not by referencing a heartbeat like most chase scenes, but by its sparseness and lack of musicality. It’s a really interesting off-putting effect. The highlight though is his house track set at a fancy dress party where Burton is in skeletal makeup and Pateras provides a relentless freewheeling non loop based electronic groove that echoes the chaos and increasing paranoia that Burton is experiencing.
With viral infections, diseased mice, Mexican Salamanders, and fractured personal relationships, Errors of the Human Body manages to combine and contain multiple story strands. Playing down the action, this is almost a detective story as Burton battles his past and attempts to uncover a conspiracy, the evidence of which he repeatedly sees happening all around him. Whilst initially focusing on the human drama, the film as it progresses develops more cerebral concerns, broaching broader ethical dilemmas and examining the consequences of cutting edge scientific research. Strangely enough it also boasts an almost unrecognisable Rik Mayall (Young Ones) playing against as the good-natured Institute boss.
