Dissecting Cinema's Most Disturbing Director (A Twisted Genius)

[@SpoopySquid]

"It took me four years to make _Shivers_ and I ondy made $13,000. That's not fast and it's not much of a buck!" What a clap-back

[@bmmaaate]

I just bought a DVD of shivers for 10p. He's not going to see any of that.

[@riseofazrael]

His son Brandon Cronenberg is carrying on his father's legacy with some great creative horror and thrillers. Possessor and Infinity Pool are both fantastic.

[@joseaguilar3323]

Legendary film makers with insane name-recognition having dificulty finding funding blows my mind. Not to sound hyperbolic but this era in the mainstream film industry feels like an 80's dystopia version of itself. The industry has always been mercenary, it's in the name, but now it's like "if you don't have an IP we can turn into cinematic universe of merch you can fuck off".

[@RenegadeFilm86]

A lot of truth in that unfortunately

[@targaghjj]

Isn't that the real censorship in our capitalist society?

[@hugh-johnfleming289]

Did he make cinema or money?

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@hugh-johnfleming289 Cronenberg makes art, with money as a side effect.

[@marocat4749]

Thats just sad,

[@jwnj9716]

Since he's into body horror, I always wondered what his version of the Thing would be like.

[@cherijoseph7819]

Watch The Fly and use your imagination.

[@RococoArtSucks]

He isn't. The uploader of the video reminds us of that in the very beginning. I'd go as far to say that 'The Thing' is the opposite of what Cronenberg does.

[@starwarsroo2448]

Some of his Total Recall ideas end up in the Verhoeven movie

[@cherijoseph7819]

@@RococoArtSucks Opposite? In what way?

[@schmebulockjizz]

Worse than our already existing classic

[@poindextertunes]

No Scanners?? 😭 It has the best head exploding scene of all time 🤯

[@philyeary8809]

As an fx artist, I watched it jn theaters as a kid....Savini is on the same level of greatness with the exploding head....agreed sir.

[@mrtunapie6653]

Everyone thought Naked Lunch was un-filmable, and then, Cronenberg did it and blew people away.

[@Toddlesification]

Really liked this and I liked the chronological approach through his work (though sad not much was spent on Existenz and Spider, the later being the only film of his I haven’t seen). My one nitpick is in your description of Crash that the two leads are cheating on each other. Cheating implies sneaking around when in fact they had an open relationship and enjoyed telling each other of their other hookups.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Fair point, Todd. Thanks for watching, really glad you enjoyed it!

[@DomWrath]

Spider is absolutely worth tracking down. Ralph Finnes performance is fantastic and the aesthetic of the film is really gorgeous. It has a pretty mature take on mental health as well especially for the era.

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

The Brood and Videodrome still live in my head rent-free, after I saw them in my freshmen year of high school. Man is a genius. I wish he'd gotten Return of the Jedi.

[@martinreid2352]

I feel like I’d like Star Wars more if he’d gotten to be behind one of the films

[@jamesthomas8645]

David lynch nearly directed rotj, not Cronenberg

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

@@jamesthomas8645 Cronenberg was also considered for ROTJ

[@jamesthomas8645]

@@thoughtfuldevil6069 oh right I didn’t know that

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

@@jamesthomas8645 No worries bro. May the Force be with you 🤟

[@Lagrangeify]

He's right up there in the Olympiad of cinematic gods, in the company of the likes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Scorsese. There's a small subset of that elite though who perform tangible miracles, turning relatively miniscule budgets into sumptuous and sophisticated experiences that stay with you for a life time. An absolute gold mine of creativity, I love him to bits.

[@rome8180]

I'd put Lars Von Trier and Gaspar Noe pretty high up there in the "most disturbing" category.

[@jumpbox3]

Michael Haneke belongs on that list too along with Pier Paolo Pasolini.

[@giovannisantopietro2612]

Gaspar Noè just wants to be provocative on a high level of steroids

[@chrisbano9216]

@@giovannisantopietro2612 Don’t forget Takeshi Miike, he is brilliant too,

[@giovannisantopietro2612]

@@chrisbano9216 of course miike Is way ahead of noe

[@chrisbano9216]

@@giovannisantopietro2612 I love Noe, he is one of a kind director, he surprised me with his latest film “Vortex” in which Dario Argento another master film maker

[@Kthomasritchie]

The Dead Zone is still very much my all-time favourite Stephen King adaptation. Such a well directed film.

[@owie4070]

Agreed. Perfect role for Walken too.

[@thatllputmarzipaninyourpie3117]

The scissor scene is...

[@gretchenbaker7435]

I love this film and the book. Such quiet in all the shots and acting makes it scary and so real. Plus Dead Ringers was amazing too!! I saw both these films probably too young but it helped me appreciate film

[@Bat_Boy]

He also skipped, a dangerous method, which was also very good.

[@cunneyes]

Great video, remarkably underated. Loved all the films you highlighted. Great choices from a huge catalogue of films. Noteable omissions, include: Scanners, Naked Lunch, Existenz and Spider. These are some of my favourites.

[@rachelblake2350]

I think you should definitely try and produce more long-form video essays like this, this was very well written.

[@mattgilbert7347]

I choose to believe he wasn't actually cast for S04 of "Star Trek: Discovery". He just showed up, started analysis on the cast and everyone was too scared to ask him to leave.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

Except that he's only scary by reputation, he's actually very thoughtful and mild mannered in person. Though I've never had the privilege to work with him, having worked in film and theatre in Toronto it's been inevitable that I've met him a few times at various talks and other events, and he's a thoroughly lovely person to chat with. Surprisingly funny, too!

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@thing_under_the_stairs He'd have to be funny. I mean, the roles he's accepted, some are pretty damn funny.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@mattgilbert7347 There's a certain sort of black humour in a lot of his work too. And though I hate to play to stereotypes, he's very Canadian in a lot of ways, and we love to laugh at ourselves!

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@thing_under_the_stairs I find "The Brood" to be deeply funny.

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@thing_under_the_stairs have you worked on anything I might have seen? Or anything upcoming? Just curious :)

[@marsupial3ew]

That's a really good overview of Cronenberg's work. The picture looks more like Richard Belzer than Cronenberg, though. ;-)

[@bev9708]

OUTSTANDING!!! I appreciate him so much more now!! Thank you so much!!

[@mattgilbert7347]

Eliot and Beverly were based on a real case. Their murder-suicide irl was extremely unpleasant. I can't recall their real names. One died of suicide by voluntary barbiturate withdrawal. That's a horrible way to go.

[@MrUndersolo]

I saw "Crash" in the theatre, and people walked out...during the opening credits! Did they know what to expect? Very odd...

[@cherijoseph7819]

Crash seemed to be where mainstream culture drew the line. Chrononberg was transitioning towards more mainstream films but I think the reaction to Crash made him take a break from body horror.

[@CorbCorbin]

@@cherijoseph7819 Existenz was just three years later. It has crazy body horror, with a Videodrome type plot, within the “VR” within a VR demonstration, that may or may not be within another simulated reality… 😄 When he fingers her spinal hole. 👌🏽 😆

[@cherijoseph7819]

@@CorbCorbin You're right, but Existenz is no where as crazy in the way of body horror of his earlier movies. For me, the implied body horror of Dead Ringers stayed with me more than Existenz, especially since the movie was based on real events.

[@VeritabIlIti]

Crash for me was just hampered by an air of pretentiousness to its themes. It's such an out-there concept that requires some very serious self-reflection to appreciate, and in trying to validate itself tended towards preachiness imo

[@philyeary8809]

​@@VeritabIlItisadly, this is more prevalent in Crimes of the Future, his early works remain transgression and bitter body horror.

[@Nicolas.Vincent]

My main complaint about Cronenberg is the lack of coverage of his material. My second complaint is that nobody ever covers Naked Lunch. When I was a kid, the main Cronenberg flick most people would talk about was Naked Lunch, but it wasn't even mentioned here. Baffling! Or is it that Naked Lunch is so baffling?

[@Chiller01]

The quality of his casts is amazing. He certainly must be well respected by the top tier of intellectually gifted actors.

[@paulkudish3017]

For me, the most disturbing question is why David Cronenberg would appear in a Clive Barker film,.. who is a director perhaps even more disturbing than himself?

[@MusikJunkiefromK]

I never hear from your channel but I like it. Keep it up. Even if it's hard

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Thank you!

[@ffnendhgrgd]

I feel strongly that Cosmopolis doesn't get the respect it's due. He brought something terrifying out of Robert Pattinson. Maybe the minimalism throws people off, since a lot of it takes place inside a limo. But still.

[@Birdsarentreal529]

First Cronenburg I saw was Videodrome and it BLEW ME AWAY! I've been a huge fan ever since!

[@WTFlux-lh2tf]

An absolute favorite. I'm kind of glad that David always had to scrape for funding because of how fierce it kept him. When things become easy your art suffers, and that's thing, what Cronenberg made was art, and certainly not just what are movies. This video treatment does a great job of elucidating what I feel was DC's greatest muse, the concept of vulnerability, and how we psychologically compensate our fears thereof.

[@scottboyd3838]

Cronenberg was years before his time; Videodrome was so prescient, to our current predicament

[@fakechemicals]

Cronenbergs Crash is far better than the other Crash that came out after his.

[@leoquesto9183]

Much of Canadian film was actually supported by a film industry. There was already a strong, decades-old documentary and animation tradition in Canada, with funding, and some feature support through grants and tax credits, some of which Cronenberg received. Also, the safest genre projects to produce without celebrities is horror, for which a return on investment is more likely at that level than other genres, especially in the days of drive ins and video sales and rental. Likewise, a genre most suited to celebrities with limited acting ability is horror. Cronenberg benefited in both cases. Suggestion: repeating a sequence of edits under VO should be avoided when there is a bounty of material available. Incessant recycling makes for a tough, hard-to-finish watch. I want to, though, because I am a fan of DC. Thanks!

[@carmelsileo6520]

Eastern Promises is one of my favorite movies and definitely my favorite Cronenberg. One of those movies that reverberates in the memory long after viewing.

[@hugh-johnfleming289]

Such an elegant film. What is missing here, in his essay, is Cronenberg's 'eye.' The frame work, camera movement, lighting, etc... It's a beautifully produced film as so many of his are. So much of that "talent" gets muddied with his more 'shocking' work, lost in so much nonsense...

[@MichaelLuke-w6p]

history of violence is also brilliant 😊

[@carmelsileo6520]

@@MichaelLuke-w6p Agreed! Both great performances by Viggo Mortensen.

[@MichaelLuke-w6p]

@@carmelsileo6520 thank you beautiful Lady! You have just made a 67 year olds day, take care and be kind wherever you are on this earth 🌹

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@carmelsileo6520 Absolutely. David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen are my film dream team. Two artist of such obvious intelligence and depth working together on beautifully filmed and mentally challenging movies is such a treat for us film lovers!

[@weird_cds8206]

He was horrifying in Nightbreed as Dr. Phillip K. Decker!!!

[@Emulous79]

That was perfect casting from Clive Barker. Oddly enough, the Decker in the book Cabal is the physical opposite: a big, burly guy.

[@xavierhollander6521]

I loved Videodrome, Scanners and The Brood, but Cronenberg does scare me. I think his mind is disturbed.

[@RococoArtSucks]

I'm disappointed you didn't go into Stereo and Crimes of the Future, since they along with his short films were very unique, and the debt after making them further hindered Shivers' production. Because Robert Fulford liked those films, Cronenberg assumed he would understand, and like Shivers as well. Boy was he wrong.

[@nathangolden8846]

A great video! Thank you for the time and effort you've put into this. Really excellent work.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Thank you for taking the time out to watch, Nathan!

[@jordanbateman-uw1zg]

Dead ringers is also an adaptation from of a novel called “Twins” you forgot to mention that.

[@owie4070]

I enjoy your content, sir. Please keep these videos coming.

[@Derek_Smallshorts]

It was 'Rabid' that got him kicked out of his apartment, not 'Shivers.' His landlady objected him making films with "That woman."

[@Ryo7_7]

Video Drone is one of the coolest movies to this day. Conceptually intriguing filmmaker.

[@judsongaiden9878]

2:12 "Iconic body" ...of work. There's no way you said that with a straight face. 🤣

[@ooooooo679]

Great analysis dude, I'm gonna watch crash again now, I liked it first time have wanted to watch it again but was to scared for some reason, now I know why ,I think i can enjoy it again

[@gryphon9507]

21:24 "Censorship is never about morality, it is always about control and power and fear always." And I have always felt in my bones that censorship was for those doing it a kind of perversity as David put it. A physiological power kink that gets them off.

[@robertagajeenian7222]

Hit the nail on the head. Nicely put - "a kind of perversity".

[@celeritas2-810]

Cronenberg's corporal focus is so urgent. The increasing disassociation of the human condition is something art must examine if we are to negotiate our cyborgisation effectively.

[@dilatedindisbelief]

Ditto on Richard Belzer in the preview art. I straight up command+F'ed that last name to make sure I wouldn't act like I was the first to notice.

[@troyevitt2437]

8:48 Suddenly very Kubrick-esque. The stark white background of snow and the three colors of the kids' snowsuits. Kinda like the three colors of the tray of "gravity-friendly food" in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[@acidangel162]

Cronenberg is one of my favourite directors. Up there with the likes of Justin Kerrigan and Edgar Wright. Great video on his directing. He has done a little acting too. Maybe you can make a video on those roles. He was calm, collected and menacing as the psychiatrist in the NIghtbreed. I haven't seen him in to many roles but it always cheers me to see such a great director in acting roles.

[@Ajnananda]

I never realized he was behind Naked Lunch as well... what a genius 🖤

[@yojimboeastwood5602]

Man. The way he explains censorship is so perfect

[@370530e]

Marvel should give him a gig. The next “Venom” maybe?

[@philyeary8809]

Good idea.

[@09philj]

A lot of JG Ballard's writing dealt with the idea of modern society as dystopian, and the psychological and sexual effects of new technology, which are also themes in a lot of Cronenberg's films, making him pretty much the ideal director to adapt Crash. (Ballard himself said how good he thought the film was)

[@cherijoseph7819]

Ballard used surreal and dystopian themes to explore his own experiences as a child in WWII.

[@09philj]

@@cherijoseph7819 That's a bit reductive. The early death of his wife also had a big effect on his work around the time he was writing the short stories that would become The Atrocity Exhibition, which is Crash's spiritual predecessor. He was also just generally fascinated by modernity and its preoccupations with tech and celebrity.

[@michaelmayo]

Hey! What happened to "Fast Company"? That should at least get a mention...

[@thomasfrenzel6706]

"A History of Violence" is made for Movie-History in my eyes! 😎

[@jackbrightside]

I understand that one episode of Rick n Morty now

[@VFRZen]

Informative retrospective but The Dead Zone should’ve been included. It’s one of DC’s best films, IMHO.

[@jordanzamora422]

I just have to say man your video is so good I've subscribed, keep it up!

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Truly appreciate that, Jordan! Thank you!

[@quite1enough]

Cosmopolis is hugely underrated movie, imo.

[@Lagrangeify]

Totally agree. That movie was riveting, couldn't take my eyes off it for a second and barely breathed through that crazy intense last third. Give it another 5 years or so and it'll be proclaimed a landmark in cinema. That's the Cronenberg effect.

[@Wintermars]

What did you think of Existenz? Its one of my favorite movies, I think its so fascinating

[@howardmann8689]

Once u have a serious illness. U understand cronenberg I think

[@deekismusic]

I can't be the only one who thinks your voice sounds like H. Jon Benjamin, right? lol, love the vids!

[@adellis24]

What is a cool exercise is watching Cosmopolis with the idea that this is what would happen to Gotham if Bruce Wayne never lost his parents. I saw it in theatres and said that Pattinson was playing the anti-Bruce Wayne and of course he would go on to become The Batman.

[@burgersuperking]

Interestingly, Saint Laurent onboarded him, current brand aesthetic and vibe sit somewhere around The Crash, would be interesting to see what he makes with them, maybe ad campaign, or something

[@History_Coffee]

I remember seeing Crash and trying to explain the plot to a coworker😂 "uhh um, yeah so..."

[@kramalerav]

I was fortunate enough to actually go see Crash during its very limited U.S. run in theaters. It is by far his edgiest picture. I need to re-visit that one, but it isn’t streaming anywhere and seems to be out of print on home media.

[@uncanalmenor]

Great retrospective, but I missed M Butterfly. It has another great performance by Jeremy Irons.

[@cherijoseph7819]

But casting John Lone as the actress was awful. I remember watching the movie a getting stuck on how Jeremy Irons character could possible think this big ole sexy man was a woman. The role should have remained with B.D. Wong.

[@9000ck]

Wasn't Cronenberg a medical doctor? I wouldn't be surprised if he was, we see gross out body horror everyday and kind of get used to it. But its interesting; it brings up all sorts of questions about identity and sexuality and existential stuff.

[@mattgilbert7347]

I believe he trained to be a surgeon

[@JustaKubrickFan]

You might be confusing him with director Michael Crichton.

[@hoibsh21]

Look, yr BODY is noBODY"s business except David Cronenberg's.

[@maplebob23]

Back in the day, I dreamed of collaboration between Cronenberg, Carpenter, and Lynch.

[@giantmonsterman]

His son is absolutely wonderful as well too.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Possessor was a tremendous movie!

[@giantmonsterman]

@@RenegadeFilm86 same with Antiviral. I was really put off by it, then I realized that's usually what the Cronenbergs want and I loved it.

[@tobiasfunke6284]

Videodrome is one of my favorite movies. Still need to watch Scanners and Dead Ringers, I'm especially convinced now after seeing this video

[@AnimationVault]

Cosmopolis did have a stiff clinical style, but I thought it had a lot more interesting ideas than Crimes of the Future which was a mess. The first two films with Viggo are the best!

[@scottboyd3838]

A History of Violence is one of the greatest films of all time, and his next was Eastern Promises, another top tier film.

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

My favourite of his movies is Crash as its one of the few movies that captures everything from a book that eroticism and Death being linked to Eros and Thanatos in the human psyche, its interesting too that its still band in being shown publicly in parts of the UK including Westminster cradle of the UK Parliament and Ministries. And much like Ben Wheatley's High-Rise and Steven Speilbergs Empire of the Sun bring a JG Ballard novel has the emotional elements with the mental breakdown of the characters including the protagonist. Its interesting that Shivers has elements that was compared to High-Rise in the look of a Late 1970's style with brutalist architecture and even in clothing, were it differse is High-Rise is like Fight Club its about Chaos becoming a normality through ultra violence and being British its all about the true class war not working against upper the real one is the Middle vs the upper the Mortgage payers vs the bankers.

[@jfdblues]

Why no mention of naked lunch

[@thomashussey5159]

Great work on this. Subscribed.

[@adrianac3258]

Thanks for this video David Cronenberg is my favorite director ever ✨

[@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace]

I've seen a couple of clips of his and was so disgusted I stay away from his work. But I find his personal story interesting.

[@benmcfee]

Try _The Dead Zone._ There's very little gruesome content (one scene notwithstanding, but even then he gives you plenty of warning before you see anything horrible). It's also very character-driven, and the performances are so strong that you genuinely care what happens to these people. For people intrigued by Cronenberg's intellectual approach to filmmaking, but wary of the blood, this is a good gateway drug. Plus it's a solid adaptation of one of Stephen King's more powerful novels. And we all know Stephen King adaptations are hit and miss at best but Cronenberg pulls it off.

[@beemelonhead1]

😄 Shivers just sounds like a prediction of Monkeypox outbreak

[@ryancolvin4285]

He should make a movie adaptation of the graphic novel "black hole".

[@randycunningham7318]

One of my favorite filmmakers.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

One of mine as well!

[@randycunningham7318]

Who else are some of your favorites?

[@RenegadeFilm86]

@@randycunningham7318 Kubrick, Friedkin, PT Anderson, Robert Eggers, Scorsese, Hitchcock, Lumet, Linklater, Bresson, Lynch, Herzog, Jarmusch and Ridley Scott are a few that jump to mind.

[@bassvibasics479]

Did this video just overlook "M. Butterfly"? and "The Dead Zone"?

[@MrBfg586]

I’m going to guess, but I bet there is not one mention of the movie Spider.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Not much but a mention at least

[@filmmakerdanielclements]

"Very little blood or gore" in dead ringers? Did you see the ending?

[@ericmalone3213]

Do people take David Cronenberg's films seriously? His films are comedies, hilarious dark comedies.

[@caloyssk1]

i wan't a "hellraiser" film version of him sirs, thanks 💪😉

[@MichaelLuke-w6p]

a brilliant and brave director. I have seen every movie he made and their is always something totally original and disturbing in all of them❤❤😂😂

[@plasticweapon]

he was never cinema's most disturbing director, but he used to be one of it's finest.

[@stella3265]

He was psychological horror.

[@GNARLOUSE]

Fking fantastic! Look forward to more, new sub.

[@Hydro-Ponik]

I knew it he's from Toronto. I live there. No wonder he's fucked up. But he does love using special makeup effects. That's what he's really known for.

[@srTraseroRojo]

Technology as extension of the body is marshall macluhan

[@hugh-johnfleming289]

Tread down the list of respected "film director" and you will find legion of autodidact. School can be the worst thing for art. Save for some business knowledge...

[@johnnytsunami7451]

Taking a Cronenburg college class in Georgia

[@Emulous79]

I 100% agree on his stance about censorship. It's a bloody cheek!

[@-0rbital-]

Thought was going to be about Von Trier.

[@lopiklop]

From what I've seen he's a completely normal dude.

[@benmcfee]

I know a couple of people who've met him. They say the same thing. He's apparently very cerebral, soft spoken, and incredibly chill. Fairly normal for a Canadian, who didn't grow up in Alberta.

[@Lurker1979]

As much as I have issues with Star Trek Discovery. I loved his part on that show.

[@Enerki]

I like his movies (his son's even more) but he'll be disappointed to find out he has an eternal soul after death. He should do a spiritual movie, that would be controversial.

[@ezequielcabanelas3425]

Un maestro. Videodrome es una película seminal para entender el presente. Adelantado varias generaciones.

[@bluebyyou7504]

Witches and warlocks...casting spells

[@NikoFrederiko.]

Bill Nye + Tony Bourdain + Rick Beato

[@ruperterskin2117]

Right on. Thanks for sharing.

[@RenegadeFilm86]

Thank you for watching!

[@FraserWatsonvid]

shivers wasn't his first film btw

[@RenegadeFilm86]

His first commercial film.