Lorna Irvine reviews 'an overlooked little treasure' that's part of the Tekno Women Season.
Imagine if Cindy Sherman and David Cronenberg had a film baby together - the result would possibly be Teknolust.
Putting Tilda Swinton's otherworldly beauty to good use (as with her role in Orbital's video for The Box in 1996) this eccentric sci-fi comedy is witty, warped and not a little bit creepy.
Dr Rosetta Stone (Swinton) is the classic nerd: goofy and uncoordinated with huge specs and dodgy perm. She's lonely and formulates SRAs, or Self Replicating Automatons, of herself. Even these play with stereotypes: Olive the blonde is dizzy, Marinne the redhead a feisty one and Ruby, with hair like the film version of Cleopatra, a cold sex siren who seduces ordinary looking men in order to steal their sperm for protein. The women, colour co-ordinated in bright silk kimonos, communicate through Stone's microwave. Of course.
Problem is, the clones are beginning to revolt, desirous of human traits like love and fabulous jewellery. Worse yet, after one night with Ruby, bar codes are appearing on the male victims' heads and they have become impotent.
Every single sci-fi trope is toppled and gender clichés flipped. Sandy (Jeremy Davies) is the love interest here--a nebbishy type living with an over-protective mother.
There's even a cheeky cameo from Swinton's ex, one John Byrne as a whispering doctor, and the late great Karen Black appears, sending up her hippy vixen film roles as the brilliantly named Dirty Dick.
The result is a satisfying, witty and kitschy take on Dystopia--an overlooked little treasure.
Teknolust (15) dir: Lynn Hershman Leeson, 2002. Screened as part of The GFT and Glasgow Women's Library Tekno Women Season, which runs until Dec 6th.
www.glasgowfilm.org/teknowomen
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