DAVID CRONENBERG

The Beginning

• Born in Toronto, 1943• Mom and Dad, Music

and Books.• Yes I’m Jewish; No

I’m not religious.• Classical Guitar• Veterinary Aspirations• Inquisitive Introvert

University of Toronto

• Science Department, Biochemistry• Disease, Parasites, Life• Attracted by “infinite possibilities” offered by studying

literature; earns degree in English lit• Friend completes independent film; DC is hooked

First Films/Traditions Begin

• Achieves funding from CFDC• Almost loses SHIVERS to Jonathan Demme• Criticism starts pouring in, along with MONEY• “Depraved, disgusting, perverse, grotesque, abhorrent”• Fascination with the body, orifices, diseases, parasites• Visceral horror of the flesh with mutations, carnage, bizarre medical conditions and

experiments

Issues solidify, Films improve

• Horrormeister becomes more sophisticated with his material

• Philosophy of Descartes in Dead Zone, The Fly, Scanners• Fascination with the power of the mind versus the

limitations of the body, Ageing, Sexuality, Violence

On Horror

• “A lot of people think of film, in general, as an escape, an escape to entertainment. But I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. I think of them as films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. In that way, horror is just like any other serious genre.”

On his characters

• “We’re all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos. So, to me, those characters in my films represent people in general, who somehow have to figure out what they’re doing, what their worth means, what their relationship to society is, how to use their creative energy and how to deal with their destructive energy.”

Going Mental with Stephen King

• Selling out? A new direction

• Less visceral, more emotional after Videodrome

• “A complete filmmaker should be able to appeal to all facets of human existence, the sensual as well as the cerebral. If you do get this mixture together properly, you have a perfect example of healing the Cartesian Schism. You have something that appeals to the intellect and to the viscera. If you mix them together you get a whole movie.”

Big Budget and Bigger Audience

• The Fly (1986)• Not just a remake, but also a rewrite• Financial success leading to opportunity (Witness, etc)

Retreat to old passion & intrigue

• Dead Ringers (1988) finally realized• Amazing Cronenberg take on true story• Ivan Reitman’s version• Dual role for Jeremy Irons

On Psychoanalytic Criticism

• “Some people say that movies tend to support or encourage a certain philosophy. But the movie doesn’t do anything. It just sits in the can. SO, are we talking about the writer, the director, or the producer? Who possesses the will behind this hypothetical movie that is saying--for example, in Dead Ringers--that misogyny is good, that I approve of it, partake in it? Where does that come from?”

On Violence and Censorship

• “Charles Manson found a message in a Beatles song that told him what he must do and why he must kill. Suppressing everything one might think of as potentially dangerous, explosive or provocative would not prevent a true psychotic from finding something that will trigger his own particular psychosis. For those of us who are normal, and who understand the difference between reality and fantasy, play, illusion--as most children readily do--there is enough distance and balance. It’s innate.”

Naked Lunch (1991)

• William S. Burroughs’ 1959 novel• Cronenberg is big Burroughs fan• The “unfilmable” nature of the book• Robocop on Bug Powder• One big hallucination • Visually Stunning with visceral creatures and surreal sets

Sexual Obsession

• M. Butterfly (1993)• Crash (1996)

On Sex

• “Sexuality is one of those very basic issues. Life and death and sexuality are interlinked. You can’t discuss one without in some way discussing the other. Since my films are concerned very much with death and the human body, sexuality is automatically discussed. And in the area we are not fully evolved--culturally, physically or in any other way. The films are an attempt to try and perceive what, having said that, a fully evolved human being might look like.”

eXistenZ (1999)

• Salman Rushdie• Vs. The Matrix• Alternate Reality• All in the mind?• Mutants again• More goop

Spider (2002)

• Internal Horror• Lack of external, visceral terror• Threat comes from within

Actor?

• Cameos in The Fly (1986), To Die For (1985)• Substantial roles in Nightbreed (1990) &• Jason X (2001)

Why are your films so darn grotesque, David?

• “If some harsh reality envelops you, rather than be crushed, destroyed, or diminished by it, embrace it fully [. . .] the more strange and grotesque the circumstances, the more interesting it becomes.”