Cronenberg, Goddamn Genre Poet and Eastern Promises
By: Alibastard | in: Movies |
Say what you will about David Cronenberg. Go ahead. Right now. Probably it’s one of two things. And it’s opinionated.
Ok. Now me.
After the (incredible, but) panned wreckage left behind from Crash (the NC-17 accident fetish flick a la 1994, not the heavy-handed LA Oscar contender from the past year), Canadian-born Cronenberg has only become more expert in his excavation of the human psyche, and more fascinated with characters psychologically torn and still somehow audience friendly.
Most notoriously is perhaps his last Cannes-contender, A History of Violence, whose entire film language is as schitzo as its main character. The film starts, like Viggo Mortensen’s Tom Stall, seemingly innocuous if not wholly dull - some flat, palatable American romp, ripe with all the typical community clichés: jock bullies and one-dimensional, pretty-people marriages (replete with eerily precocious children.)
As both the character and the film unravel, the darker interiors of both become actually preferable to the lie he starts us off with – not only more complex, but more entertaining (William Hurt’s cameo as Tom’s brother testament to this - wow.) And in tandem with Cronenberg’s signature coupling of gruesome violence with animal eroticism, absurd comedy with austere drama, the film’s rich textures become as compelling to watch as they are intellectually stimulated.
In his latest, Eastern Promises, Cronenberg fuses his wicked understanding of human aggression with near Oscar-worthy character development, Viggo picking up with Nickolai where he and Cronenberg left off with Stall. And if you liked History, Promises is even more satisfyingly sinister, its characters an even more disquieting combination of good and evil (and the script a lot better). And there is a sauna scene that I’m not even going to talk about – but is so thrilling, despite its gore (and, um, Greecian style male nudity), that the entire audience STOOD UP AND CHEERED.
To think, this critically acclaimed auteur started with B vampire films, reaches a kind of psycho-sexual pinnacle with a film comparing car crashes and erotic fixation and then goes on to make some of the most compelling work of the early 21st century seems incredible at least. But it’s that same need in horror to know how to work the audience (sadly, one of the genre’s only attributes, notable exceptions notwithstanding) that makes his fusion of psychological insight and entertainment value so riveting.
This movie is amazing.
Posted on October 13, 2007
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This isn’t really a surprise to me, Cronenberg’s horror films, every last one of them, always stood out from the pack. While the 80’s buried itself in the slasher cycle (basically ripping off Halloween)and stand up psychopaths like Freddy Kruger and the billion or so copies of him Cronenberg sailed on, blazing his own unique trail.
Thank God for David! If he directed a commercial for bagged dirt, it would be worth watching.
…and I thought you’d have something to say about the last sentence of this article D
Yeah - I really think Cronenberg got what was important about horror and has put it into every single film he’s made since, thriller or not. God, its in every sex scene he makes for Christ’s sake.
Its funny, D. Though I think our tastes are actually alarmingly compatible, Char was pretty sure you’d get on me for that last line — but I think probably we’re actually talking about the same thing.
The horror genre has had some striking works of art (Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Psycho) that have been so artlessly parroted that a significant part of the genre’s become limited at best. Its almost like sex in movies. It fulfills something so immediate that any ol’ _sshole thinks they can just put in an obligatory breast, or a bunch of red food coloring and they know people will want to see it.
And Cronenberg has depth in BOTH areas of sex and violence. I think he once described the union as “compatible like eggs and bacon”. And at Cannes no less.
word
I guess it’s true. I don’t remember so many films by one director that scared me as much as Cronenberg’s films. It’s not the blood or the “jump out of your seat” moments. For some reason every Cronenberg film I saw stayed with me for a long time and filled me with some measure of dread. I hated Crash, but spent a lot of time thinking about it. Videodrone still gives me the shivers when I think about it. Even the “lighter” ones like Existenz are extremely eerie. I do like the lighter side of horror as it’s often an excuse to shut your mind or just watch a high school drama (with kids getting murdered). But when it comes to real horror, not many directors can produce what Cronenberg has to offer.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been really into John Carpenter these days, though I haven’t seen any of his more recent stuff and only have to imagine its subpar. There is a tremendous appeal to me of genre directors doing exactly what Martin Scorsese says all great filmmakers are forced to do, “smuggle their ideas into Hollywood.” So even flawed filmmakers like Carpenter or like Nicholas Ray or Robert Alrdrich will always make amazing films because there’s SOMETHING going on that isn’t JUST about the surface details. And that’s something real horror and sci-fi has always been married to. Its the genre as an excuse for metaphor. They Live about class distinction and capitalism. Hostel about torture and American ignorance. Johnny Guitar about the McCarthy hearings. The idea that a poet would acknowledge splatter (or western or any base art form) and use it as a vessel for ideas — awesome.
Ok. I’ll stop.
“…and I thought you’d have something to say about the last sentence of this article D :-)”
What? You mean:
“But it’s that same need in horror to know how to work the audience (sadly, one of the genre’s only attributes, notable exceptions notwithstanding) that makes his fusion of psychological insight and entertainment value so riveting.”
Because if you start a sentence with a conjunction you should put a comma after it?
OHHHH, that OTHER sentence…
Nah, imitation = flattery. Verdict away.
OHHHH, you DID actually mean the sentence that started with “But”, well, sure, you technically SHOULD put that comma there, as in “But, it’s that same need in horror to know how to work the audience (sadly, one of the genre’s only attributes, notable exceptions notwithstanding)…”
I’ve never been the grammar cop here. Why’d you think that would bug me?
Grammar is very important in our day and age. I just had to draw your attention to that ill conceived sentence. Thank you for the correction.
Alibastard, if you think John Carpenter’s current work is substandard you should check out his very latest effort, “Pro-Life” from the Masters Of Horror
show. It falls right into the horror film as allegory line you were discussing and is a pretty cool piece of work both as a rumination on the American societal divide over abortion and as a gut snapping horror flick.
I’d also recommend William Friedkin’s just-out-on-DVD “Bug”. That’s one of the most intelligently creepy horror films I’ve seen in years.
Cool. Thanks. Will do. I liked the article on Bug — seemed worth a viewing. And I WANT to think Carpenter’s work is still in, so I’ll check it.
What about John Carpenter’s Vampires??
Well, I really enjoyed it, it’s very much a western, in the way that Stevie Ray Vaughan is western… but I wouldn’t say it was loaded down with subtext. Still, it’s a good vampire film. No one really WORKS a 2.35:1 widescreen image the way John does.
Interesting that the two best vampire films of the past ten years or so (Vampires and From Dusk Till Dawn) both feature this Tex-Mex theme.
In Carpenter’s case that would certainly be because his movie is based on Texan author Dan Steakley’s excellent novel ‘Vampire$’ which is well worth searching out. Steakley is up there with Joe Lansdale as far as I’m concerned; they’re two of the best authors Texas has ever produced.
Steakley, what an unfortunate name for a Texan…
Vampires was great fun. I remember I had problems with my TV when I watched it and half of it was yellow.
There was also a movie called The Forsaken which was pretty a pretty enjoyable for a vampire flick (came out around the same time).
Dusk till Dawn is still a genre best though. I can’t think of a better vampire flick…maybe Lost Boys actually…but that’s probably the subject of another post.
And there’s always the late era Hammer classic “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter” which is just awesome.
Not to mention the late era Hammer not-so-classic “Dracula A.D. 1972″ which is about as silly as a vampire film gets.
In watching “Vampires” again yesterday I was struck by how many of the ‘goon’ vampires were dressed as Mexican peasants. Virtually 100%, except for the lead vampire looked like illegal aliens. Do you think Carpenter was trying to say something? I discarded the idea because these vampires were so resolutely evil and if John was trying to draw that kind of allusion he’d probably have made them more sympathetic…