If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or get my blog updates by email. Thanks for visiting!

There are times when we think human suffering, carnage and self pity would have reached its limit. But it takes one singular mind of David Cronenberg to make us think again. He makes sure we are left gasping at the definitive violence and thought gone into making his movies. His last two movies have been reworking of some old plot outlines.

Take for example the History of Violence which took a graphic novel and was turned into a redefined piece of carnage. His take on this film was very different by contemplating shots which gave us clues of his existence in society. The theme of hero worship was used as a ploy for people to warm up for the character’s vocational hazard. But once the man is exposed the audience is left with a quintessential identity crisis. In this film the crisis is used as a digression for the plot. It leaves us wandering in the inner recess of the protagonists mind. This leaves his perfectly happy family in the throes of a bitter evolution. Several events from here on leave the family corrupted by the workings of violence. There is a dormancy which the character is put through in first couple of reels. But this makes the violence so volatile yet contained. The men in this movie are just meant to destroy everything around them. They are very animalistic in their approach to killing. They kill their prey with extreme precision and gentle caresses of death which they have mastered through the years.

Another example of this calculated reworking of old stories is the Eastern Promises. This time it is on the Russian mafia who are more ferocious than any thing Cronenberg has sketched before on screen. The film shot in the dark streets of London giving it a more textured ambiance for the characters to carry out their daily chores. This film raises the bar on action with a sauna fight sequence. This scene is not only revealing but also very affecting. Cronenberg has a very good understanding of what audience takes from a violent film. He takes his time to take the plot forward tightening the hold over it almost choking it. There are times when we feel he might go too far but holds back with sharp edged knife of an editor. His choice of scenes and his final presentation is really clear cut leaving very little for chance and giving very little away. This film also sees an amazing transformation by Viggo Mortenson whose face shows the marks of a man bruised by the job he has undertaken. This is one of the best films from his repertoir of classics like LOTR and History of Violence. I hope from here on Viggo takes up roles like these which match his capacity for good roles.

Crash is another film which studies car crashes and sex. One of the most sexually daring film from his palette. It gives us a peek into the minds of a society which fornicate at the site of car crashes. The film caused a huge stir at the time of its release at Cannes. It was banned in many countries. But this chaotic film of inhibited characters also gives us analogies of what society is heading towards. Crash is based on the seminal work of J.G Ballard whose exploration of the minds of these people is almost psychotic. But the mind is used as cache of destruction responding to different stimuli in the most brutal manner. Many of the characters have lost their lives in this most craziest of hobbies. Crashes are used as an example for any kind of addiction. But the film also leaves us questioning the existence of violence and its repercussions.

There are questions always raised about how much violence is accepted and what is the reason for excess. Cronenberg address this question by pushing the envelop and carefully studying violence as a subject. For a world which has been harvesting violence for its on gain and destroying its own morality, films like these are the need of the hour. Cronenberg’s meticulous preparation and his careful selection of subjects make him one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. He is also one who has created his very own stamp in cinema which is blemished by some great violent images. These images will remain with our society for quite sometime.