CLIP FILM STRANGE DAYS PRODUCTION: USA 1995 DIRECTORS: Kathryn Bigelow STARRING: Ralph Fiennes (Lenny Nero) Juliette Lewis (Faith Justin) Angela Bassett (Mace Mason) Tom Sizemore (Max Peltier) Michael Wincott (Philo Gant) SYNOPSIS The story takes place in Los Angeles during the last two days of 1999. The protagonist, Lenny Nero, a former LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) vice cop, now deals with data discs, containing memories and emotions recorded directly from people’s cerebral cortex. These discs allow viewers to experience the participants’ recorded emotions through a brain wave transmitter (SQUID). SQUID is described as a drug and Lenny is highly dependent on it, always trying to recreate through it the emotions that he experienced with Faith, his former girlfriend, a beautiful singer. Lenny is a loser, still pathetically in love with her. His only two friends are Mace Mason, a bodyguard and limousine driver who is secretly in love with him, and a private detective, Max Peltier. On 30th December, Lenny receives a disc which contains the memories of a murderer while killing a prostitute, Iris. He and Mace start to investigate and discover a conspiracy of blackmail, murder and rape. Iris’s death is tied to a cover-up of the murder of Jeriko One, a rapper killed for political reasons. Another man, Tick, has been rendered brain-dead from the use of highly amplified SQUID by Iris’s killer, and Philo Gant, Faith’s manager, is also killed in the same way. Faith is involved in the conspiracy with Max, who Lenny then throws off the balcony after a hand-to-hand fight. In the meantime, Mace is pursued by two other criminals who are finally arrested. The new year is coming and, with it, the New Millennium, and Lenny, who is no longer in love with Faith, kisses Mace passionately. BEFORE WATCHING 12. Answer the questions. After reading the synopsis, what do you imagine a SQUID to look like? Do you think it is immoral to experience other people’s emotions? Why? Why not? Would you like to record happy moments to “feel” them again later? The protagonist’s surname is Nero. Do you remember a famous Nero in history? What was he famous for? What is the connection between the name ‘Nero’ and discs?