I've been meaning to make a thread about Cronenberg for absolutely ages. Seeing mentions of The Fly (which may well be my favourite film of all time) in the Jeff Goldblum Appreciation Thread has inspired me.
I must say that I'm by no means an expert on Cronenberg: there are plenty of gaps in my knowledge. I don't know his earlier films (Stereo, Crimes of The Future) and I've not bothered with any of his more recent output beyond Eastern Promises. I don't know why this is because, along with Lynch, I hold him in exceptionally high esteem.
The Fly was my first introduction to him, rented from the video shop. I must have been about 7 or 8 when I saw this one and it absolutely fascinated me: the disgusting deterioration of Brundle and his warped take on his situation (the medicine cabinet of body parts was particularly grim because I had a tin under my bed where I kept all my baby teeth). I was also fascinated by the design of the telepods in the film and thought the computer was the coolest thing ever. A young me also fancied Geena Davis.
I must have seen this film perhaps more than any other and can quote it backwards. I used to re-enact Brundle's "children's book" about How Does Brundlefly Eat? much to the annoyance of my friends (without the vomit drop, sadly). The documentary Fear of The Flesh on the DVD and Blu-Ray is essential viewing, arguably one of the best documentaries you'll find as a special feature on any release.
I stumbled across Scanners next, probably late one night on Channel 4 and watched this obsessively. It's probably his most straightforward foray into sci-fi. It's main flaw, from what I can remember, is Stephen Lack as the main hero. He lacks something alright. Acting chops, unfortunately. And Patrick McGoohan wandering around, mumbling, gin-soaked and in full beard like a cross between Welles and Brando is always worth watching.
Videodrome came next and this was some serious heavy shit to my teenage mind. I'd already become fascinated with the moral outrage caused by the James Bulger case (having watched all the films his two killers had that the media were trying to blame the crime on), so a film about the harmful effect of screen violence was right up my street. Like The Fly, this film is incredibly lean (clocking in at just under 90 minutes, The Fly goes just a bit over I think) yet says a great deal, is filled with such striking imagery (cancer guns, stomach vaginas) that it feels infinitely rich. It is top-tier Cronenberg for me, along with The Fly.
And if I had to add a film to a top 3 then it would have to be Dead Ringers, which has inspired my avatar and username. A devastating and crushing experience this one. I probably have watched this one the least because it really puts me through an emotional mangler. I think Howard Shore's soundtrack marks the absolute peak of his collaboration with Cronenberg and Jeremy's Iron is immense as the Mantle twins. I made a point of watching this at uni with my friend who had a twin brother; when the film finished he sobbed uncontrollably.
I became acquainted with his earlier work in the mid 90s - I think Shivers and Rabid were shown one night as part of a double bill, but that might be me misremembering. I didn't enjoy the latter but was impressed with the former. When I read Ballard's novel High Rise I was struck by the similarities between the two works. In fact, it was probably inevitable that Cronenberg would adapt a Ballard novel at some point. I enjoyed Crash but didn't feel the need to revisit it as much as I have with many of his other films. A cold, nasty, emotionally detached film - which I guess was the point.
Cronenberg's other major literary adaptation Naked Lunch is often lauded as an unimpeachable masterpiece, but I never got on board with it. I saw the film many years before reading the book, enjoyed the first half hour or so, then just lost interest completely. I later read the book and was utterly unimpressed. I revisited the film around this time and felt exactly the same. Very odd. Cronenberg cites Burroughs as probably his biggest influence, and yet the union between them did nothing for me.
I saw eXistenZ in the cinema and thought it was great fun. I was expecting it to do for video games what Videodrome did for video tapes so was pleasantly surprised when it was more of a light-hearted pisstake (or at least that's how I read it). Spider is excellent, probably an underrated entry in the Cronenberg canon and A History of Violence and Eastern Promises are both okay, although I've not felt the need to revisit them.
One additional Cronenberg item worth mentioning, which I've revisited many times, is the book Cronenberg on Cronenberg. This book is absolutely fucking essential reading. Cronenberg is incredibly articulate and always interesting (his commentaries attest to this fact also) and this book is indispensable.
So yes, apologies for that long post. Thank you if you read it. Please share your Cronenberg insights, stories of how you came to see his films, further recommendations, and so on.
See you in Pittsburgh!
