David Cronenberg (1943 - )

• director, screenwriter
• born March 15, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario
• educated at University of Toronto (English, science)
• formerly considered an exploitation director; his recent films, however, have moved away from revolting special effects to concentrate instead on theme and character
• films include:

• Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970)
  • two experimental science fiction shorts, made at during his time at university
• They Came From Within (1975) (aka The Parasite Murders, aka Shivers)
  • co-produced by fellow Canadian Ivan Reitman
  • its depiction of an artificially created parasite that releases uncontrollable sexual desire, is a wry commentary on the sexual liberation of the time
  • early response ranged from MPs in Parliament railing about government funding for a "disgusting" movie, to critic Robert Fulford's review entitled "You Should Know How Bad This Film Is. After All, You Paid For It"
• Rabid (1977)
  • Marilyn Chambers, former Ivory Snow Girl and porn star, was cast as the unfortunate victim of an operation that leaves her with a vampiric appetite for blood
• The Brood (1979)
  • another exercise in biological horror, showed Cronenberg reaching for some measure of respectability
  • for the first time he used established actors, Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar, to good effect
• The Dead Zone (1983)
  • adapted from a Stephen King novel about a man able to predict future events in people's lives simply by touching them (Cronenberg's first non-original screenplay)
  • atmosphere and acting (especially by Christopher Walken) take precedence over special effects
• Videodrome (1983)
  • a McLuhanesque horror tale about the effects of TV on its viewers
  • an opportunistic TV executive, Max Renn played by James Woods, grows obsessed with a sadistic-erotic program emanating from a pirate station
  • his hallucinations, stimulated by the show, grow increasingly out of control
  • fantasy merges with reality to the point where the viewer of the film, like the protagonist himself, cannot separate the two
  • Woods later said: "He works from his dreams. If he'd just dream more normally, I'd love to work with him again."
  • Renn's TV station seems to be partly inspired by Citytv, and one of his partners shares a first name with Moses Znaimer
• Dead Ringers (1988)
  • was a critical and commercial success
  • in this film, horror is secondary to the exploration of character and use of cinematography
  • based on a true story, Jeremy Irons plays twin Gynecologists, who develop serious problems when one of them becomes involved with Genevieve Bujold
• Naked Lunch (1992) is based on the life and writings of William S. Burroughs
• Crash (1996) won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival
  
  
• Quotes:
  • My dentist said to me the other day, I've enough problems in my life, so why should I see your films?
  • A friend of mine saw Videodrome, said he really liked it, and added, you know someday they're going to lock you up.
  • I don't have a moral plan. I'm a Canadian.
• excerpts from an interview in Mondo 2000
  
  
• books:
  • Cronenberg on Cronenberg (1992) edited by Chris Rodley
  • The Shape of rage: the films of David Cronenberg (1983) edited by Piers Handling
  • David Cronenberg (1992) by Serge Grunberg
  • David Cronenberg (1993) by Gianni Canova
• filmography
• More info on Cronenberg

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