The Cinema of David Cronenburg: From Baron of Blood to Cultural Hero

by Mathijs, Ernest

• ISBN13: 9781905674664
• ISBN10: 190567466X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

"David Cronenberg has moved from the depths of low-budget exploitation horror to become one of North America's most respected movie directors. Since the early 1970s, the softly-spoken Baron of Blood has attracted widespread controversies with a steady stream of shocks - sex-crazed parasites in Shivers (1975), exploding heads in Scanners (1981), revolutionary flesh technology in Videodrome (1983), mutating bugs in The Fly (1986), car crash scars in Crash (1996) and psychopathic bursts of gun fire in A History of Violence (2005). This new study provides an overview of Cronenberg's films in the light of their international reception, placing them firmly in the cultures they influenced. It also highlights often-ignored works, such as the race movie Fast Company (1979), and includes a chapter on the latest film Eastern Promises (2007). Amidst bans and boos, Cronenberg has developed a consistent cult following for his chronicles of humankind's struggle with its ever-changing environment, bugged by technology and changing social roles - becoming a hero of contemporary popular culture."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Cinema, Reality and What to Make of It	p. 1
Exploration and Experimentation: Stereo and Crimes of the Future	p. 9
Revolution and Rage: Shivers and Rabid	p. 28
Cars and Races: Fast Company and The Italian Machine	p. 53
Cult Curio: The Brood and Scanners	p. 72
Politics and Paranoia: Videodrome and The Dead Zone	p. 102
Science and Progress: The Fly and Dead Ringers	p. 129
Muses and Machos: Naked Lunch and M. Butterfly	p. 156
Scars and Wrecks: Crash	p. 180
Cues and Clues: eXistenZ and Spider	p. 196
Family Affairs: A History of Violence and Eastern Promises	p. 225
Notes	p. 257
Filmography	p. 276
Bibliography	p. 284
Index	p. 306
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