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David
Cronenberg - The rise of a great
director
Monday Feb 2, 2009
David
Cronenberg's movies are an acquired
taste. Sure, lucid visions of
typewriters turning into scarab
beetles and people absorbing pistols
into their stomachs might not be
everybody's taste, but it these
imaginative ideas that have
developed David Cronenberg into the
director he is today. Although he
has always made unique and
interesting films, its taken him
quite some time to find the right
medium that appeals to the widest of
markets. A history of violence was
one of these examples. My dad
enjoyed that immensely. but he
hated Naked Lunch (If you catch what
I'm driving at). Naked Lunch was a
great movie but only appealed to the
smallest of markets. Most mainstream
thinkers would consider the majority
of Cronenberg films to be weird.
True there are some pretty weird
moments but if you watch and follow
you will find that his movies really
do express his imagination as a
writer. And to be honest I respect
the fact that he has always made the
movies that he wanted to make and
didn't fold to the green eyed
monster of Hollywood money.
Naked Lunch
This looks like pretty strong
stuff. Typewriters turning into
insects? Im sure this really
happened to Cronenberg. I mean
how much acid do you have o take
to come up with this stuff.
Brilliant if you ask me!
I
dig the way it talks, kind of
sounds like the ice cream guy
that I remember from my
childhood.
He was
offered and turned down the
opportunity to direct massive hit
movies like Top Gun, Flashdance and
Beverly hills Cop! this could
have been offered because of his
1983 hit "the dead zone" witch was
directed in the same year as
Videodrome. Although he was
obviously focused on darker projects
with the 1986 hit "The Fly", witch
was a great movie that personified
the style that he has become famous
for. He never made another hit like
the fly but rather developed his
style through movies like "dead
ringers", "eXistenZ" and "Crash"
(Not the one with Matt Dillon, the
sexy one with James Spader! A lot of
people seem to confuse the two)
Crash was an interesting movie that
really delved into the mind of David
Cronenberg rather than provide
quality entertainment. It was tagged
as pornography and heavily
criticized. But if you watch it, its
not as offensive as the critics make
out. Its a bit near the bone, but by
today's standards would probably
receive a 15 age restriction. You
see more skin on MTV nowadays. I
guess this failure was a major hit
for him because his next movie
eXistenZ followed a good 4 years
after the release of Crash. eXistenZ
was ok but it was obvious that
Cronenberg had become scared of
pushing too many boundaries and as a
result it created a movie that
refused to delve as deep as his
previous offerings. This all
changed with 2002's Spider, starring
Ralph Fiennes
and
Gabriel Byrne,
both legendary
actors who secured the credibility
Cronenberg needed to create a more
serious and "grown up" movie. This
was the beginning of his rise to
legend.
Videodrome
Ok the trip just turned very
bad! Where the hell did I put
that pistol? It was right here a
minute ago.
A history
of Violence was a brilliant,
brilliant movie! One of the best
I've seen in a long time. The
darkness is there but its not to
abstract to scare away the
mainstream viewer. Cronenberg was
able to put his style into this
without inducing mass hysteria,
creating a very watch able movie
that still had undertones of
Cronenberg's dark and disturbing
intentions. A well directed, well
acted example of great cinema, A
history of violence really will go
down as one of my favorite movies
and should really be seen by anyone
who enjoys a good Action Thriller.
Then came Eastern Promises, another
to star
Viggo Mortensen,
as a Russian
gagster type who has work experience
in making dead bodies disappear by
cutting off their fingers and other
charming activities. Eastern
Promises was a great movie and still
had that same dark style with
seriously disturbing undertones.
So what are
we in store for next? David
Cronenberg is on a role now and
should really try to carry on the
same thread if he wants to secure
his place in the halls of fame as
one of the greatest film directors
to grace us with movies. Hey this
article may seem a bit bias, Im just
enjoying a personal Cronenberg
re-discovery and am enjoying it
immensely. So next time your
wondering round the video store
looking for an "older one" take a
looking the horror or cult section
and maybe grab a copy of Videodrome
or Dead Zone you wont be
disappointed.
Eastern Promises
Time to chop off some fingers.
All in a days work!
50min
Doccie on David Cronenberg
If you've got
a bit of time, below is a 50 min
Documentary made in 1986 about David
Cronenberg's movies. Man I love
Youtube!
