Cronenberg. David Cronenberg emerged from the creative burst the horror genre produced in the 1970s to become one of the greatest auteurs on the planet in the modern era. Cronenberg’s great strength is the quality of his films 1-6 and the consistency of his oeuvre (and I mean hell I love Spider and that’s his #8 film). His 6th film matches up very well with Lynch, Malick, and clearly PT, Wes Anderson and Tarantino (though they are much younger).
Best film: Dead Ringers It is icy, perverse, and utterly brilliant. Jeremy Irons gives one of the best performances of the 1980’s in this ambitious masterpiece. Cronenberg’s work is intellectualized, unsympathetic and haunting- and this is all of those things.
total archiveable films: 16
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 6 (Dead Ringers, Crash, A History of Violence, Naked Lunch, The Fly, Videodrome)
top 100 films of the decade: 7 (Dead Ringers, Crash, A History of Violence, Naked Lunch, The Fly, Videodrome, Eastern Promises)
most overrated: Videodrome–on TSPDT. I’m fine with the #292 ranking- that’s not overrated by much (I’m at #444)– but I don’t think it’s his best film. It’s still a magnificent film that has grown on me since seeing it a decade ago for the first time.
most underrated: Naked lunch. Clever and deliriously funny- it’s a brilliant adaptation of Burroughs yet stands on its own and is obstinately Cronenbergian (thank god). It should certainly be in the top 1000 of all-time (which it isn’t for the TSPDT consensus). It’s #364 for me.
gem I want to spotlight: The Fly. Pop-art at its finest, a horror/sci-fi representation and meditation on AIDS. Any way you slice it this is an absolutely absorbing film.
stylistic innovations/traits: Cerebral, cold and destabilizing. Cronenberg is much more than just “Dave Deprave” (Scorsese’s nickname for him) and the inventor of “body horror”. As a stylist his work varies. Crash is immaculately edited (those shots in the car showing discomfort and obsession). A History of Violence starts with a breathtaking tracking shot. As much as I like his collaborations with Viggo—his best work was from 1983-1996 there’s a definite dark/sterile lighting/mise-en/scene combination (dark blues, greys and blacks) that is distinctly Cronenberg. Clear architecture as character in Spider. Thematically the body mutation is in almost every film. In some the transformation is closer to a baptism (Viggo’s work), rebirth or evolution—– heady stuff.
top 10
- Dead Ringers
- Crash
- A History of Violence
- Naked Lunch
- The Fly
- Videodrome
- Eastern Promises
- Spider
- Scanners
- The Dead Zone
By year and grades
| 1975- Shivers | R |
| 1977- Rabid | R |
| 1979- The Brood | R |
| 1981- Scanners | R |
| 1983- The Dead Zone | R |
| 1983- Videodrome | MS |
| 1986- The Fly | MS |
| 1988- Dead Ringers | MP |
| 1991- Naked Lunch | MS |
| 1996- Crash | MP |
| 1999- Existenz | R |
| 2002- Spider | HR |
| 2005- A History of Violence | MP |
| 2007- Eastern Promises | HR |
| 2011- A Dangerous Method | R |
| 2014- Maps to the Stars | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
dead ringers is a top 100 film at least
@m — I don’t have a problem with that. It is marvelous. I have it at #125 but that’s close and I’m not sure how many of the 124 ahead of it you’ve seen.
[…] 36. David Cronenberg […]
What about A Dangerous Method makes it a recommended movie? Apart from Knightley and Mortensen performances I didn’t think there was anything special about it compared to any other Cronenberg film.
@Harry– thanks for the comment. I’m hoping @Matt Harris catches the comment and can chime in. I know he found much to admire in Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method. I found enough to put it in the archives (for me, largely on the strength of the writing and acting– Fassbender is superb as well). I only have it as a recommend– sometimes certainly writing and acting is enough to get it into the archives at that level… currently it would not land in the top 25 of 2011
Decided to give Dead Ringers another shot since you have it so close to the top 100 and as Cronenberg’s best film. Don’t know what happened with me and this film when I first watched it a couple months ago but it clearly didn’t happen this time; what an incredible film and I’ve come around to it being Cronenberg’s best (I still have to catch Crash and Naked Lunch) and Irons’ performance is just unbelievable. He might deserve a spot on the top 100 for this film alone but I haven’t seen too many of his other performances (aside from Kingdom of Heaven which I am planning to revisit this year) so I couldn’t say what would be his second best. Compare him to Casey Affleck, who is on there largely off 2 incredible performances and if it were just one he would be left off. Similar case to Dennis Hopper.
You vastly underrate eXistenZ, one of his best 3 or 4 films, with rich philosophical themes, and overrate A History of Violence and Spider. It’s at times a very funny film, and worth mentioning in the same league as The Matrix. Also, The Brood should at least get a mention, along with the micro-budgeted Shivers, as ground-breakers in thoughtful explorations of the relationship between the mind and body. I really think that 1975-1999 was Cronenberg’s most vital period. And Cosmopolis is worthy of mention as a sort of comeback.
@Doug Mann- thanks for visiting the site and the comment. Anything else in eXistenZ? I’m going to need more than rich philosophical themes to make it in his top 3-4. Doesn’t sound like you think much of the Viggo collaborations. That’s too bad. I’m with the consensus on this one. Again though- thanks for the comment
Thoughts on M. Butterfly? I certainly think it has some of Cronenbergs best images (the mining quarry, the streets of China at night) and a great performance from Jeremy Irons and really everyone else involved. It’s only an R grade to me but it deserves to be mentioned in the archives I thought.
@Harry- I’ve only seen it once- which is certainly never enough for a film from a director like Cronenberg. I look forward to revisiting it.
Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers or Daniel Day lewis in My Left Foot ????… Which is a better performance if forced to choose one.I find it very hard to choose one haha so would like to know your opinion.
@Adam- I’d say Irons here
I see. I would also like to ask you Are Jim Jarmusch films similar to Cronenberg,lynch etc??. I havent seen any of his films. Do they require multiple viewings to fully grasp???. I have no idea about his films. Would like to start so.
@Adam- I mean they’re contemporaries — some of the best directors of their era– but different. I have a page for Jarmusch here http://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/05/16/the-38th-best-director-of-all-time-jim-jarmusch/ – here’s the section on his style
stylistic innovations/traits: Jarmusch is one of cinema’s most dedicated formalists. His work involves controlled repetition, slight variations on that repetition, usually, inside of a rigid set structure. Much of his early work is easily numerically organized (3— Down by Law, Stranger Than Paradise, Mystery Train, 5- Night on Earth, Broken Flowers, 7- Days in Paterson). A Jarmuschian vibe is created by a measured rhythm in the scene (pauses and carries everything a beat long)—– while the skeleton of the film is formally so sound and distinct. Visual poetry—dilapidated and decrepit—a boarded up movie house, bars, graffiti of course in the mise-en-scene– another decaying hotel—but it’s art—pool halls, walking down the street. The narratives most often involve a fish out of water with language as a barrier. They’re often essentially plotless films, requiring patience and attention to detail to pick up his formal cues while his laid-back editing (heavy dissolves or longer elliptical transitions) works on you. Hipster cool. From Camby NYT “the excitement (of Down by Law) comes from the realization that we are seeing a true film maker at work, using film to create a narrative that couldn’t exist on the stage or the printed page of a novel”. He’s largely an urban filmmaker– garbage art- Wenders an influence. He told each scene a beat long- again I believe this is Akerman and Ozu’s influence. The editing a major achievement—it fades to black in many of his scenes.
My current Cronenberg ranking:
1. Dead Ringers – MP
2. Videodrome – MP
3. A History of Violence – MP
4. Naked Lunch – MS/MP
5. The Fly – MS
6. Eastern Promises – HR
@Zane- I love to see it. Naked lunch is wild… when do you watch Crash?
I can’t wait to see Crash, so hopefully in the very near future. I love me some Cronenberg and Naked Lunch has made me want some more very soon. It may be evolving into a full MP (though probably a relatively fringe one) with every second removed from the viewing. I also hope to get second looks at Videodrome and A History of Violence as well due to the time removed from first seeing them.
Well I just caught Crash. Here’s the list now:
1. Crash – MP
2. Dead Ringers – MP
3. Videodrome – MP
4. A History of Violence – MP
5. Naked Lunch – MP
6. The Fly – MS
7. Eastern Promises – HR
All things considered, I could put anything in his top 4 as the #1 upon a revisit. Every one of those films is absolutely brilliant and it wasn’t until the very final sequence of this film that I even put it above Dead Ringers.
I should note that throughout the first 6 Cronenberg films I’d seen, I did feel that the content was often “gross” for lack of a better term, but I was always more intrigued than disgusted, and I was interested in further exploration of the topics discussed in the film. Crash changed that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film that was so disgustingly unnerving and horrifying as this one in my entire life, save for maybe Saw (the James Wan film), and even then I think this one surpassed it (it’s also much better). Unlike a lot of gross-out films–like Saw, for that matter–that Crash could be compared to, I don’t think this film falls victim to its own depravity, but uses it to enhance its own power. It was mind-bendingly brilliant, and I feel it to be his most realized effort, but I don’t think I’ll be revisiting it for a long time.
I have one last question: which is worse (in terms of the content), this or Salò?
@Zane– Salo
@Zane – Watched Crash for the 1st time myself and I agree it’s not easiest watch but absolutely fascinating. It also has a magnificent score. It’s definitely a movie driven more by mood than by plot.
@James Trapp – Honestly Crash may enter the very edge of my top 100; I doubt it would go any higher than #90, and even then I don’t think it would be that high (though it is a brilliant MP). I agree with everything you’ve said here, it’s an extremely fascinating film and the score certainly elevates it. I think that’s a common trait with the greatest films of all time is that they’re almost universally driven by atmosphere, or mood here as you say. Not that they can’t have plots, but they wouldn’t be so great if they weren’t such powerful experiences while watching them.
Have you seen Requiem for a Dream, James? I think it’s even more brutal.
@Zane – I saw Requiem years ago and it was also a fascinating but brutal watch, especially the plot involving the older lady who dreams of making it to the gameshow. You’re right though, that has to be one of the 5 or so hardest films to watch
Finished my Cronenberg study today with Spider, definitely been one of my favorite directors to go through so far, had so much fun and enjoyed a lot except the 2010s work. Here’s my rankings
MP:
1. Dead Ringers
2. Eastern Promises
3. A History of Violence
MS:
4. The Fly
HR:
5. Videodrome
6. Crash
7. The Brood
8. The Dead Zone
9. Shivers
R/HR:
10. Spider
11. Naked Lunch
R:
12. M. Butterfly
13. eXistenZ
< R
14. Rabid
15 Scanners
16. Cosmopolis
17. A Dangerous Method
18. Maps to The Stars
I will try and rewatch Videodrome, Crash and Naked Lunch soon as well.
Nice job on going long with Cronenberg. Of course I disagree very strongly with a lot of your rankings here, especially on Naked Lunch but I still have to recognize the achievement.
I’ll use this as a spot to mention that (retrospectively of course, more than a year has now passed since I’ve seen them in early May 2020) A History of Violence has surpassed Videodrome on my Cronenberg list, but I should probably get to rewatching them one of these days. Eastern Promises as well (watched it a year ago now as well), I could be lowballing on that one, though since I share the ranking with Drake I won’t look back on it too much.
Appreciate that. I’m hoping Naked Lunch gets better on a rewatch, I enjoyed the top 3 here all a lot more on rewatches, in fact none of them were MPs first time around.
Eastern Promises has a great overarching story with a talented cast to go with it, nice use of colour (the reds in the restaurant), one of the best fight scenes .. I found a lot to appreciate with it.
Yeah I remember it surprisingly vividly actually, hell probably even more so than A History of Violence or Videodrome. I’m very excited to revisit it sometime.
@Harry- Wow- what a nice study here- great work!
Re-ranking of the top 5
Dead Ringers – MP
Crash – MP
A History of Viokence – MP
Eastern Promises – MP
Videodrome – MS
With The Fly in 6th.
Rewatched Crash tonight:
“Second watch.
Despised at Canne’s, especially by Coppola who was jury president that year. in 2021 we have Titane winning the Palme d’Or. On the flip side, it was in Scorsese’s top 10 of the 1990s.
I normally don’t think too highly of the cinematography in Cronenberg’s oeuvre, but incredible work from his frequent collaborator Peter Suschitzky. Reflections on the windows, lights on the highways that shine blue and red onto the windshield, and gorgeous orange during Kotoes’ final drive. Like in Cronenberg’s Spider, architecture in the background like a character, this time with the packed highways on Spader’s mind – he watches crippled from his balcony with binoculars like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window.
I feel these are really difficult roles for the actors to pull off to make you feel threatened by this underground community but everyone is up for the challenge. I think I can say that Elios Koteas has the best performance in two of the 90’s biggest masterpieces. He is vile and sleazy, he looks like a ghoul or a zombie at points. scarred from his self-destructive lifestyle.
Howard Shore’s score is so hypnotic and elevates the atmosphere. The sharp guitars are the perfect fit for Cronenberg’s thrilling world.
Koteas leaving the car to photograph the car crash and get in the way of the paramedics reminds me of Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler.
Cronenberg makes the effective choice to cut from quiet dialogue scenes to the fast action in the cars.
Some of Cronenberg’s most unnerving content even without there being much attention body horror. The hole in the leg is quite disgusting though.
Like in A History of Violence I think this ends in a rebirth via destruction.
“Maybe the next one”
A masterpiece.”
[…] Cronenberg is currently listed as the 36th best director of all-time http://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/05/16/the-36th-best-director-of-all-time-david-cronenberg/ and Dead Ringers is his best film. Cronenberg’s modern day Jekyll and Hyde comes complete with […]
Just watched a bunch of cronenberg this last week and i think in general, he is very underrated by many cinephiles, definitely alot more to his films than gore and exploding heada
I think i would probably have Rabid as a R/Hr. it had very good cinemtaography. Cool hallway shots throughout, as well as a shot that follows the motorcycle during the opening credits. Theres also a beautiful tracking shot infront of the main character as she walks along a neon lit street which has a carrie (1976) poster in the background (apparently cronenberg wanted spacek to play the main character of rabid). Nothing crazy but i think its slightly better than the rest of his films with a recomended rating. I also think his 70s films are very entertaining and underrated by critical consensus in general, though i wouldnt give any of then anything higher than a recomeneded, besides rabid as stated above.
Naked lunch was hilarious. Reminds me of inherent vice or the big lebowski in just how random it all is
Obviously cronenberg is known for body horror, but i think he has among the best opening and closing credit sequences ever. Not that thats too important to a films quality, but definitely worth note.
I wonder, what do you think the meaning of the Gasworks building in spider is? Maybe a reminder of the past? Not sure
Watching existenz tonight
Something I never see get brought up when praising Crash is Howard Shore’s soundtrack. I think the main theme is one of my favourites in general, very mesmerizing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF76uSQXOOA&ab_channel=wiredsphere
“The guitar sounds like a car being assembled.”
Howard Shore and Cronenberg in general are a really nice duo.
@Harry- Great point, very nice duo — looks like they are teaming back up next year for Crimes of the Future
Is there any chance that you’ll upgrade Spider before your 2002 page? I feel it’s much more than a plain HR. Also Ralph Fiennes gives one of the performances of the year.
@MASH – No offense but I’ve seen Spider and it’s pretty inactive visually despite the incredible narrative structure and Fiennes’ excellent performance. I don’t think it’s any higher than Drake has it as, perhaps HR/MS but no more.
@Zane- that’s what I meant. I’m not saying that it’s a masterpiece. It’s a nice HR/MS leaning MS.
And I adore it’s visuals. It’s something unique and contributes to the overall structure and vision of Cronenberg.
@M*A*S*H- Unfortunately not. 2002 is coming today
Has anyone been following the trailers for Crimes of The Future (coming in June)? Looks like a huge return to form
@Harry – I have not heard of it but Cronenberg and Viggo! I’m in.
@Harry- I have- looks very promising. Reviews should start coming in from Cannes in just a few weeks.
Has anyone had the opportunity to watch Crimes of The Future?
80 on RT
65 on MC
@James Trapp- I should be getting to it and Top Gun early next week. Very excited for them both. Cronenberg especially has had some superb films underrated by the consensus initially. Videodrome has a 60 on metacritic, Naked Lunch a 67, Crash has a 50,
Have you been able to catch The Batman, The Northman, and Everything Everywhere All At Once yet? I was really impressed by all three, and was particularly blown away by the editing in EEAAO. The Batman will surely have some of the best lighting of the year (obviously a massive Fincher influence there) and The Northman felt very Revenant-inspired in those long takes navigating intensely choreographed battle scenes.
@DeclanG- I have- and I would agree with you here all the way through on the comments. I have a HR or better grade for all three right now.
@James Trapp – Finally got around to Crimes of the Future. Certainly more interesting than the average fare at the multiplex and unquestionably auteur cinema– but not among Cronenberg or 2022’s best.
I was not particulary a fan at all, but there’s so much to admire, a R I would say.
Shivers R
Rabid R
The Brood HR
Scanners R
The Dead Zone R
Videodrome HR
The Fly MS
Dead Ringers MS
Naked Lunch R
Crash MP
Existenz R
Spider HR
A History of Violence MP
Eastern Promises HR
A Dangerous Method R
Maps to the Stars R
@Drake-Did you see Cronenberg’s new film Crimes of the Future? Is it achievable?
@Malith- I did, and yes, but certainly not one of his or 2022’s best
His next film “The Shrouds” will have Vincent Cassell and Lea Seydoux.
Brandon Cronenberg also has another film coming soon, “Infinity Pool” with Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth.
I wonder who will have the better movie.
@Harry – pretty cool stuff, a perhaps the start of a father/son rivalry…winner gets bragging rights at Thanksgiving Dinner
@Harry- Excited for both. Brandon’s looks like it’ll be ready much sooner- already in post production and I saw it received an NC-17 rating.