David Paul CronenbergCCOOnt (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.[1] He is a principal originator of thebody horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and the intertwining of the psychological, physical, and technological. Cronenberg is best known for exploring these themes throughsci-fihorror films such asShivers (1975),Scanners (1981),Videodrome (1983) andThe Fly (1986), though he has also directeddramas,psychological thrillers andgangster films.[2]
Cronenberg's films have polarized critics and audiences alike; he has earned critical acclaim and has sparked controversy for his depictions of gore and violence.[3][4]The Village Voice called him "the most audacious and challenging narrative director in the English-speaking world".[5] His films have won numerous awards, including theSpecial Jury Prize forCrash at the1996 Cannes Film Festival, a unique award that is distinct from the Jury Prize as it is not given annually, but only at the request of the official jury, who in this case gave the award "for originality, for daring, and for audacity".[6]
David Cronenberg was born inToronto,Ontario, on March 15, 1943.[7] Cronenberg is the son of Esther (née Sumberg), a musician, and Milton Cronenberg, a writer and editor.[8] He was raised in a "middle-class progressiveJewish family".[9][10] His father was born inBaltimore, Maryland, and his mother was born in Toronto; all of his grandparents wereJews from Lithuania.[11] Milton wrote some short stories forTrue Detective and had a column in theToronto Telegram for around thirty years.[12] The Cronenberg household was full of a wide variety of books, and Cronenberg's father tried to introduce his son toart films such asThe Seventh Seal, although at the time Cronenberg was more interested inwestern andpirate films, showing a particular affinity for those featuringBurt Lancaster.[13]
Cronenberg's fascination with the filmWinter Kept Us Warm (1966), by classmateDavid Secter, sparked his interest in film. He began frequenting film camera rental houses and learned the art of filmmaking.[7] Cronenberg made two short films,Transfer andFrom the Drain, with a few hundred dollars.[23] Cronenberg,Ivan Reitman, Bob Fothergill, and Iain Ewing were inspired byJonas Mekas and formed the Toronto Film Co-op.[24]
After two short sketch films and two shortart-house features (theblack-and-whiteStereo and the colourCrimes of the Future) Cronenberg went into partnership withIvan Reitman. The Canadian government provided financing for his films throughout the 1970s.[7] During this period, he focused on his signature "body horror" films such asShivers (1975) andRabid (1977), the latter of which provided pornographic actressMarilyn Chambers with work in a different genre, although Cronenberg's first choice for the role had been a then little-knownSissy Spacek.Rabid was a breakthrough with international distributors, and his next horror feature,The Brood (1979), gained stronger support. Even then, he showed variety by makingFast Company (1979) betweenThe Brood andRabid, a project reflecting his interest in car racing and bike gangs.
In 1991, Cronenberg adaptedNaked Lunch (1959), his literary heroWilliam S. Burroughs' most controversial book. The novel was considered "unfilmable", and Cronenberg acknowledged that a straight translation into film would "cost 400 million dollars and be banned in every country in the world". Instead he chose to blur the lines between what appeared to be reality and what appeared to behallucinations brought on by the main character's drug addiction. Some of the book's "moments" (as well as incidents loosely based upon Burroughs' life) are presented in this manner within the film. Cronenberg said that while writing the screenplay forNaked Lunch (1991), he felt that his style and Burroughs' had synergized, and jokingly remarked that the connection between his screenwriting style and Burroughs' prose style was so strong, that should Burroughs pass on, he might write the next Burroughs novel.[27]
Cronenberg has also appeared as an actor in other directors' films. Most of his roles arecameo appearances, as in the filmsInto the Night (1985),Blood and Donuts (1995),To Die For (1995), andJason X (2002) and the television seriesAlias, but on occasion he has played major roles, as inNightbreed (1990) andLast Night (1998). He has not had major roles in any of his own films, but he did put in a brief appearance as a gynecologist inThe Fly; he can also be glimpsed among the sex-crazed hordes inShivers; he can be heard as an unseen car-pound attendant inCrash; his hands can be glimpsed ineXistenZ (1999); and he appeared as a stand-in forJames Woods inVideodrome.
Cronenberg has said that his films should be seen "from the point of view of the disease", and that inShivers, for example, he identifies with the charactersafter they become infected with the anarchic parasites. Disease and disaster, in Cronenberg's work, are less problems to be overcome than agents ofpersonal transformation. Of his characters' transformations, Cronenberg said, "But because of our necessity to impose our own structure of perception on things we look on ourselves as being relatively stable. But, in fact, when I look at a person I see this maelstrom of organic, chemical and electron chaos; volatility and instability, shimmering; and the ability to change and transform and transmute."[28] Similarly, inCrash (1996), people who have been injured in car crashes attempt to view their ordeal as "a fertilizing rather than a destructive event". In 2005, Cronenberg publicly disagreed withPaul Haggis' choice of the same name for the latter'sOscar-winning filmCrash (2004), arguing that it was "very disrespectful" to the "important and seminal"J. G. Ballard novel on which Cronenberg's film was based.[29]
His thrillerA History of Violence (2005) is one of his highest budgeted and most accessible to date. He has said that the decision to direct it was influenced by his having had to defer some of his salary on the low-budgetedSpider (2002), but it was one of his most critically acclaimed films to date, along withEastern Promises (2007), a film about the struggle of one man to gain power in the Russian Mafia. Although Cronenberg has worked with a number of Hollywood stars, he remains a staunchly Canadian filmmaker, with nearly all of his films (including major studio vehiclesThe Dead Zone andThe Fly) having been filmed in his home province Ontario. Notable exceptions includeM. Butterfly (1993), most of which was shot in China,Spider, andEastern Promises (2007), which were both filmed primarily in England, andA Dangerous Method (2011), which was filmed in Germany and Austria.Rabid andShivers were shot in and aroundMontreal. Most of his films have been at least partially financed byTelefilm Canada, and Cronenberg, a vocal supporter of government-backed film projects, has said: "Every country needs [a system of governmentgrants] to have a national cinema in the face of Hollywood".[30]
Filming for Cronenberg's next film, a satiredrama entitledMaps to the Stars (2014)—withJulianne Moore,Mia Wasikowska,John Cusack, andRobert Pattinson[34][35]—began on July 8, 2013, inToronto, Ontario and Los Angeles.[36][37] This was the first time Cronenberg filmed in the United States. On June 26, 2014, Cronenberg's short filmThe Nest was published on YouTube. The film was commissioned for "David Cronenberg – The Exhibition" at EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam and was available on YouTube for the duration of the exhibition, until September 14, 2014.[38] Also in 2014, Cronenberg published his first novel,Consumed.[39] In a May 2016 interview,Viggo Mortensen revealed that Cronenberg is considering retiring due to difficulty financing his film projects.[40]
Cronenberg appears as himself in the minute-long short filmThe Death of David Cronenberg, shot by his daughterCaitlin, which was released digitally on September 19, 2021.[41][42] In February 2021, Mortensen said Cronenberg had refined an older script he had written and hoped to film it with Mortensen that summer. He further hinted that it is a "strange film noir" and resembles Cronenberg's earlier body horror films.[43] In April 2021, the title was revealed to beCrimes of the Future.[44] It was shot in Greece during the summer of 2021,[44][45] and competed for thePalme d'Or at the2022 Cannes Film Festival.[46] Cronenberg's next filmThe Shrouds premiered at the2024 Cannes Film Festival in competition, and was released theatrically in September 2024.[47]
One of Cronenberg's earliest unproduced film concepts wasRoger Pagan, Gynecologist, about a neurotic man who impersonates a medical expert.[48] The project was initially conceived in the early 1970s in the form of a novel.
In the early 1980s Cronenberg attempted to make a film adaption ofMary Shelley'sFrankenstein that took place in the modern day.[49] Cronenberg wrote an original script for Universal afterVideodrome titledSix Legs, but the film was never made, although aspects were incorporated intoThe Fly andNaked Lunch.[50]
Cronenberg was offered the role of director forWitness while it was under the nameCome Home, but declined as he "could never be a fan of the Amish". He was also offered the director's position forReturn of the Jedi,Flashdance,Top Gun, andBeverly Hills Cop.[52][50][53] Marc Boyman offered Cronenberg the position of director forThe Incubus, but declined although this led to Boyman producingThe Fly andDead Ringers.[54]
Cronenberg also worked for nearly a year on a version ofTotal Recall (1990), but experienced "creative differences" with producersDino De Laurentiis andRonald Shusett; a different version of the film was eventually made byPaul Verhoeven. Cronenberg related in his 1992 memoir,Cronenberg on Cronenberg that, as a fan ofPhilip K. Dick—author of "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale", the short story upon which the film was based— his dissatisfaction with what he envisioned the film to be and what it ended up being pained him so greatly that, for a time, he suffered amigraine just thinking about it, akin to a needle piercing his eye.[55]
In 1993, Cronenberg signed a deal withParagon Entertainment Corporation in which he would create a six-part television series calledCrimes Against Nature forCBC Television. Cronenberg described the series as "William Burroughs meetsJean-Luc Godard'sAlphaville."[56] He started writing it on August 1, and filming was meant to begin in February 1994 using 35 mm film. The show was set in 2010 and was about members of the "Flesh Squad" police force. Carol Reynolds, the president of Paragon Entertainment, stated that each episode would cost between $500,000-600,000.[57][58]
In 1998, authorPatricia Anthony stated that Cronenberg would direct the adaptation of her novelBrother Termite written byJohn Sayles, and to be executive produced byJames Cameron. The premise follows an alien race that co-exists with man on Earth, influencing human society.[60]
For a time it appeared that, asEastern Promises producer Paul Webster toldScreen International, a sequel was in the works that would reunite the key team of Cronenberg,Steven Knight, and Viggo Mortensen. It was slated for production by Webster's new companyShoebox Films in collaboration withFocus Features, and shot in early 2013.[65] In 2012, Cronenberg said theEastern Promises sequel had fallen through due to budget disagreement withFocus Features.[66]
In the October 2011 edition ofRue Morgue, Cronenberg stated that he has written a companion piece to his 1986 remake ofThe Fly, which he would like to direct if given the chance. He has stated that it is not a traditional sequel, but rather a "parallel story".[68]
Cronenberg lives inToronto.[1] He married his first wife, Margaret Hindson, in 1972: their seven-year marriage ended in 1979 amidst personal and professional differences. They had one daughter, Cassandra Cronenberg. His second wife was film editor Carolyn Zeifman, to whom he was married from 1979 until her death in 2017.[74] The couple met on the set ofRabid while she was working as a production assistant.[74] They have two children,Caitlin andBrandon.[75] In the bookCronenberg on Cronenberg (1992), he revealed thatThe Brood was inspired by events that occurred during the unraveling of his first marriage, which caused both Cronenberg and his daughter Cassandra a great deal of turmoil. The character Nola Carveth, mother of the brood, is based on Cassandra's mother. Cronenberg said that he found the shooting of the climactic scene, in which Nola was strangled by her husband, to be "very satisfying".[76]
In a September 2013 interview, Cronenberg revealed that film directorMartin Scorsese admitted to him that he was intrigued by Cronenberg's early work but was subsequently "terrified" to meet him in person. Cronenberg responded to Scorsese: "You're the guy who madeTaxi Driver and you're afraid to meet me?"[77] In the same interview, Cronenberg identified as anatheist. "Anytime I've tried to imagine squeezing myself into the box of any particular religion, I find it claustrophobic and oppressive," Cronenberg elaborated. "I think atheism is an acceptance of what is real." In the same interview, Cronenberg revealed that it depends on the "time of day" as to whether he is afraid of death. He further stated that he is not concerned about posthumous representations of his film work: "It wouldn't disturb me to think that my work would just sink beneath the waves without trace and that would be it. So what? It doesn't bother me."[77]
InCronenberg on Cronenberg, the director further elaborated that he was raised in asecular Jewish home, and while he and his family had no disdain towards any religion, such matters were not discussed. In the same book, Cronenberg said that in his teens he went through a phase where he wondered about the existence of God, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the God concept was developed to cope with the fear of death.[55] In a 2007 interview, Cronenberg explained the role atheism plays in his work. He stated, "I'm interested in saying, 'Let us discuss the existential question. We are all going to die, that is the end of all consciousness. There is no afterlife. There is no God. Now what do we do.' That's the point where it starts getting interesting to me."[78][79]
In Cronenberg's later films (e.g.A History of Violence,Eastern Promises andA Dangerous Method) openly religious characters become more common. During an interview forA History of Violence, Cronenberg even chose to identify as amaterialist rather than an atheist, stating, "I'm not an atheist, but for me to turn away from any aspect of the human body to me is a philosophical betrayal. And there's a lot of art and religion whose whole purpose is to turn away from the human body. I feel in my art that my mandate is to not do that."[80]
Cronenberg has appeared on various "Greatest Director" lists. In 2004, Science Fiction magazineStrange Horizons named him the second greatest director in the history of the genre, ahead of better known directors such asSteven Spielberg,James Cameron,Jean-Luc Godard, andRidley Scott.[81] In the same year,The Guardian listed him 9th on their list of "The world's 40 best directors".[82] In 2007,Total Film named him as the 17th greatest director of all time.[83] Film professor Charles Derry, in his overview of the horror genreDark Dreams, called the director one of the most important in his field, and that "no discussion of contemporary horror film can conclude without reference to the films of David Cronenberg."[84]
The opening of the "David Cronenberg: Evolution"Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) exhibition occurred on October 30, 2013. Held at theTIFF Bell Lightbox venue, the exhibition paid tribute to the director's entire filmmaking career and the festival's promotional material referred to Cronenberg as "one of Canada's most prolific and iconic filmmakers". The exhibition was shown internationally following the conclusion of the TIFF showing on January 19, 2014.[77][94]
In 2014, he was made a Member of theOrder of Ontario in recognition for being "Canada's most celebrated internationally acclaimed filmmaker".[95]
^"Interview".Esquire. February 1992. "I'm simply a nonbeliever and have been forever. ... I'm interested in saying, 'Let us discuss the existential question. We are all going to die, that is the end of all consciousness. There is no afterlife. There is no God. Now what do we do.' That's the point where it starts getting interesting to me."
^"Evolution".tiff. Toronto International Film Festival Inc. September 2013. Archived fromthe original on September 9, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 13, 2013.
Dreibrodt, Thomas J. Dreibrodt (2000).Lang lebe das neue Fleisch. Die Filme von David Cronenberg – von 'Shivers' bis 'eXistenZ' (in German). Paragon-Verlag.ISBN978-3-932872-05-1.
Handling, Piers (1983).The Shape of Rage: The Films of David Cronenberg. General Publishing Company.ISBN978-0-7736-1137-5.
Humm, Maggie (1997). "Cronenberg's Films and Feminist Theories of Mothering".Feminism and Film. Edinburgh University Press.ISBN978-0-253-21146-0.
Robnik, Drehli Robnik; Palm, Michael, eds. (1992).Und das Wort ist Fleisch geworden. Texte über Filme von David Cronenberg. Vienna: PVS.ISBN978-3-901196-02-7.
-.jpg)
