David Cronenberg is 75!
Today, Canadian director and screenwriter David Cronenberg, one of the largest representatives of independent cinema, who skillfully combines elements of horror and science fiction in his works, celebrates its 75th anniversary.David Paul Cronenberg was born in 1943 in Toronto into a creative Jewish family: his father was a writer and his mother was a pianist. From an early age, David showed an aptitude for literature and music. In 1967, with a BA in English, he graduated from the University of Toronto and, like his father, was going to become a writer. By his own admission of the hero of the day, he always loved cinema, but never considered it his vocation and did not consider the opportunity to make a career with his help. However, as a student, David Cronenberg was absolutely fascinated by filmmaking. The director himself recalls this turning point in the following way:“One of the students at the university where I studied made a full-length film in which some of my friends played. The fact that I saw on the big screen, in a real film, all these people whom I met every day, whose daily life was a part of my life, came as a shock to me. This, of course, may seem surprising today, when ten-year-olds are shooting films in their Camerascopes, but in my day I experienced that film of my friend as a revelation. I said to myself, “You can do it too”.  As a result, from 1966 to 1970, Cronenberg created several short and full-length experimental films, including Stereo and Crimes of the Future, then went to work for Canadian television, and in the mid-70s he wrote and directed his first commercial film "Convulsions". The film was a low-budget horror film about a genetically modified parasite that turned the inhabitants of a residential complex on an island near Montreal into violent sex maniacs. Despite the fact that the scary nature of the film was perceived by some viewers only as an attempt to shock the audience, the fragile integrity of the human mind and body, the relationship of physical changes and emotional experiences for many years became important themes of David Cronenberg's work.  The director's next few works solidified him as a virtuoso master of horror. In 1977, he released the film Mad, about a girl who, after surgery and experimental drugs, developed a sting that turned her into a kind of vampire. Two years later, he shot a picture "Brood" about how the rage and hatred of a woman gave birth to monster children. In 1979, Cronenberg briefly moved away from his beloved subject matter and directed the controversial sports drama Dissolute Company, which was coolly received by critics and audiences. But already in 1981, another fantastic horror film "Scanners" was released, which became his first commercially successful project. In the center of the plot were people with supernatural abilities, who can not only read the thoughts of other people, but also influence them psychologically. His next film "Videodrome" David Cronenberg has already devoted to the media and the TV channel, the viewing of which decomposes not only the psyche, but also the human flesh. In the tape, he also touched upon ethical issues related to the role of technology and science in modern life.  To my favorite topic of man-made mutations of the human body and the conflict between body and mind the director returned some time later in films such as "The Dead Zone" and "The Fly", which were already designed for the general public. The adaptation of the famous work of Stephen King with Christopher Walken as a teacher who discovered unique psychophysical abilities, and the horror with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis about a talented and eccentric scientist who turns into a fly as a result of an unsuccessful experiment, brought the director not only international fame, but and the first nominations and awards. In particular, the "Dead Zone" in 1984 in four categories was nominated for the "Saturn" eventually getting the title of the best horror film, and "Fly" in 1987 became a box office hit and brought its creators not only three Saturns, but also an Oscar for the best make-up.Several of the director's next films became adaptations of controversial literary works and plays. In 1991, a surreal film Naked Lunch was released, which took part in the main competition of the Berlin Film Festival and was based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs about a man who imperceptibly ceases to distinguish the boundaries between real life and drug paranoid delusions. Two years later, the drama “M. Butterfly, a film adaptation of the play by David Henri Hwang, challenging the notions of cultural and gender identity. 1996 was marked for the director by the release of yet another film adaptation, this time of the novel by J.G. Ballard about a group of people enjoying sexual pleasure from car accidents.  But while all of these tapes showed Cronenberg's expanding range as a director, audiences greeted them with mixed feelings and did not perform well at the box office. Far more warmly received from fans such films of the master as the sci-fi horror film about virtual reality "Existence" starring Jennifer Jason Lee and Jude Law, for which the director was awarded the "Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement" at the Berlinale. and the psychological thriller Spider, starring Ralph Fiennes as a schizophrenic hero, which brought David Cronenberg another Cannes nomination.  Gradually moving away from his early work focused on body horror, in the 2000s, Cronenberg shifted his focus from physical deviation to psychological and behavioral extremes, exploring violence that is rooted in human nature. For example, the crime drama Justified Cruelty told about a man who, after killing bandits, becomes a local hero and unexpectedly faces his own mysterious past. The action-packed film Vice for Export, for which Viggo Mortensen was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, told about the life of USA thieves in law in London. The plot of "Dangerous Method" revolved around the founders of psychoanalysis Carl Gustav Jung and Sigmund Freud, as well as their uneasy relationship with one of the patients. Another film-participant of the Cannes Film Festival "Cosmopolis" told about one day in the life of a young billionaire financier. And the director's latest film, released in 2014, the allegorical film Star Map, explored the dangers and injuries that Hollywood hides behind its golden screen.  Whatever the new film by David Cronenberg is dedicated to, the director always remains true to himself, and it is precisely for his originality and recognizable film language that viewers appreciate him so much. Even in his literary activity, today's hero of the day does not deviate from the horror and psychological thriller genre so beloved by him. In his debut novel "Consumed", the plans for a film adaptation of which became known last summer, he managed to combine a global conspiracy with a story of murder and cannibalism. Who knows, maybe after many years Cronenberg will return to television and direct one of the episodes of the show himself? In any case, fans of the master's creativity will be happy with any of his projects. The Topic of Article: David Cronenberg is 75!. |
