David Cronenberg Masterclass

With A History Of Violence, Cronenberg rips open the fragile flesh of 21st century 'civilised' society to reveal the primal forces lurking below the surface. Making Movies discovers the Canadian shock auteur has been ripping the cinematic flesh for quite some time...

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WHO IS HE?
Canadian-born Cronenberg is the horror director of films like Rabid and Scanners, who achieved auteur status on the international festival circuit with films like Dead Ringers, The Fly, Crash, and Naked Lunch. In recognition of his status, he was made President of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.

WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
Cronenberg is the exploitation king who never sold out to the mainstream, the Canadian who went to Hollywood but never stayed, the B-movie director who turned down the likes of Flashdance and Top Gun and still made it onto the international A-list.

WHEN WAS HE WORKING?
Cronenberg was born in Ontario, Canada in 1943, to a journalist father and a pianist mother. He graduated from Toronto University with a degree in Literature, (having left the Science Department after a year), but scientific matters would always be of interest to him. After the release of The Brood (1979), the story of a husband investigating his wife's suspicious psychiatrist, Cronenberg won audience attention with his classic head-exploding telepathy-shocker Scanners (1981). With Videodrome (1983), he used the latest video morphing techniques for horrific and satirical effect. Body mutation was taken to graphic and wryly humorous extremes with The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986). Dead Ringers (1988) saw the shockmeister's bloody reputation swept under the festival red carpet and up the garlanded path to critical acclaim. Cronenberg continues to develop film projects, including London Fields, based on the Martin Amis novel.