Parasites and addictions
David Cronenberg has created a multidimensional universe in which he insistently questions the limits of every facet of the human condition – physical, moral and existential. This program extends from his early days in Montreal, where he made exploitation flicks produced by Cinépix (Rabid, Shivers), to Maps to the Stars, a scathing take on the California jet-set lifestyle. A creepy parallel universe emerges through films like The Fly, which catapulted him to mainstream success, and eXistenZ, in which it seems perfectly normal to plug an organic game console into one’s spine. This is inside-out cinema, in which unique beings constantly show us funhouse-mirror reflections of our world. This program includes all of Cronenberg’s features, most of them in 35 mm.
Echoing Sabrina Ratté's House of Skin, the Cinemathèque will explore the universe of David Cronenberg with posters, photos and artefacts from its collections.
David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg is a Canadian film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is one of the main originators of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and the intertwining of the psychological, physical, and technological. In the first third of his career, he explored these themes mostly through sci-fi horror films such as Scanners (1981) and Videodrome (1983), although his work has since expanded beyond these genres. 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. His films have won numerous awards, including the Special Jury Prize for Crash at the 1996 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 its originality, daring, and audacity". From the 2000s to the 2020s, he collaborated on several films with Viggo Mortensen, including one of his most recent offering, Crimes of the Future (2022).
