I think it’s completely wrong to say that Cronenberg has “lost it” or “gone mainstream” just because he’s not making bio-horror films at the moment. I thought ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ were both excellent films (except for ‘Easter Promises’‘s ridiculous, tacked-on ending) and just as much Cronenberg as anything else he’s done. Just because they’re not sci-fi/horror films, don’t have strange special effects and/or bodily transformations doesn’t mean they don’t fit into Cronenberg’s themes and cinematic style (they’re both psychological examinations of the relationship between sex and violence, and shot with his trademark cold, cerebral style) – he’s just moving in a different direction as a filmmaker, and not just a horror filmmaker, as I think he’s been wrongfully labeled.
Granted, ‘The Matarese Circle’ does sound like a more mainstream project (clearly an attempt to set up another lucrative Robert Ludlum franchise after the success of the Bourne movies), but what’s really wrong with that? I think it will be very interesting to see a filmmaker as original and innovative as Cronenberg taking on an old-fashioned Cold War thriller – maybe he’ll do something with the genre we’ve never seen before.
I actually really like ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’, though I agree it’s not one of Lynch’s best. I’ve always thought there are three levels of David Lynch films.
In the first, he tempers his surrealist predilections to tell a more mainstream, conventional story: ‘The Elephant Man’, ‘The Straight Story’.
In the second, he uses a surrealist cinematic style to tell a story that still has a coherent plot: ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Wild at Heart’, and ‘Twin Peaks’ the series (which always seemed to me like David Lynch-lite).
And in the third, he goes for full-blown surrealism: ‘Eraserhead’, ‘Lost Highway’, ‘Mullholland Drive’, ‘Inland Empire’.
I think a big part of the backlash over ‘Fire Walk With Me’ was that people were expecting a film like the second category, but got the third – alienating fans of the series who wanted “quirky” and got full-born insanity.
It’s definitely a muddled effort (I feel the same way about ‘Inland Empire’), but there are a lot of elements I really love in ‘Fire Walk With Me’: the absurdity of Chris Isaak’s FBI investigation in the opening scenes, Laura and her father’s near traffic accident, Laura’s dreams of the Man from Another Place. As a true David Lynch fan, I think there’s still a lot to appreciate in it.
Theodore Roszak’s ‘Flicker’ examines several film cultures from the 1960s along the course of a very compelling religious conspiracy plot. One of my all-time favorites.
Also, there’s Steve Erickson’s ‘Zeroville’, set in Hollywood during the 1970s, featuring many true-life cinematic figures as minor characters (though he rarely names names, so this one may be more fun for film fans to try and identify them).
‘Chronic City’ is a great pick, one of my favorite novels of the last decade.
Ommited Auteurs over 3 years ago
Tod Browning.
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What films would you like to see included in future ECLIPSE releases? over 3 years ago
A Tod Browning-Lon Chaney collection, maybe ‘The Unholy Three’ (1925), ‘The Unknown’ (1927), and ‘West of Zanzibar’ (1928).
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Has Cronenberg lost it...or found it?! over 3 years ago
I think it’s completely wrong to say that Cronenberg has “lost it” or “gone mainstream” just because he’s not making bio-horror films at the moment. I thought ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ were both excellent films (except for ‘Easter Promises’‘s ridiculous, tacked-on ending) and just as much Cronenberg as anything else he’s done. Just because they’re not sci-fi/horror films, don’t have strange special effects and/or bodily transformations doesn’t mean they don’t fit into Cronenberg’s themes and cinematic style (they’re both psychological examinations of the relationship between sex and violence, and shot with his trademark cold, cerebral style) – he’s just moving in a different direction as a filmmaker, and not just a horror filmmaker, as I think he’s been wrongfully labeled.
Granted, ‘The Matarese Circle’ does sound like a more mainstream project (clearly an attempt to set up another lucrative Robert Ludlum franchise after the success of the Bourne movies), but what’s really wrong with that? I think it will be very interesting to see a filmmaker as original and innovative as Cronenberg taking on an old-fashioned Cold War thriller – maybe he’ll do something with the genre we’ve never seen before.
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Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me over 3 years ago
I actually really like ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’, though I agree it’s not one of Lynch’s best. I’ve always thought there are three levels of David Lynch films.
In the first, he tempers his surrealist predilections to tell a more mainstream, conventional story: ‘The Elephant Man’, ‘The Straight Story’.
In the second, he uses a surrealist cinematic style to tell a story that still has a coherent plot: ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Wild at Heart’, and ‘Twin Peaks’ the series (which always seemed to me like David Lynch-lite).
And in the third, he goes for full-blown surrealism: ‘Eraserhead’, ‘Lost Highway’, ‘Mullholland Drive’, ‘Inland Empire’.
I think a big part of the backlash over ‘Fire Walk With Me’ was that people were expecting a film like the second category, but got the third – alienating fans of the series who wanted “quirky” and got full-born insanity.
It’s definitely a muddled effort (I feel the same way about ‘Inland Empire’), but there are a lot of elements I really love in ‘Fire Walk With Me’: the absurdity of Chris Isaak’s FBI investigation in the opening scenes, Laura and her father’s near traffic accident, Laura’s dreams of the Man from Another Place. As a true David Lynch fan, I think there’s still a lot to appreciate in it.
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Fiction about cinema over 1 year ago
Theodore Roszak’s ‘Flicker’ examines several film cultures from the 1960s along the course of a very compelling religious conspiracy plot. One of my all-time favorites.
Also, there’s Steve Erickson’s ‘Zeroville’, set in Hollywood during the 1970s, featuring many true-life cinematic figures as minor characters (though he rarely names names, so this one may be more fun for film fans to try and identify them).
‘Chronic City’ is a great pick, one of my favorite novels of the last decade.
Go to Comment