The Shape of Rage: The films of David Cronenberg

by Piers Handling (editor), Academy Of Canadian Cinema (Other Contributor)

Heads explode. Parasites fly at people’s faces. Television sets breathe. A woman grows a spike in her armpit and unleashes a cataclysm on the world. These are the startling images David Cronenberg uses to shock and disturb us as his films travel through a nightmare world where the grotesque and the bizarre make our flesh creep.



Yet beneath the blood and gore, Cronenberg has carved out a reputation as one of the masters of the horror and science-fiction genre. Undaunted by the controversy which has followed him throughout his career, Canada’s own “Baron of Blood” and “Prince of Horror” continues to dazzle audiences with the shocking force and power of his vision.



This book is the first to deal with the work of Cronenberg. Seven critics examine what it is that these horrific films are saying to us. They explore and analyze all of Cronenberg’s explosive creations, from the unique Stereo, through such masterpieces as The Brood, Scanners and Videodrome, to The Dead Zone.



Serving as a counterpoint and insight into the man and his work is a frank, searching and comprehensive interview with Cronenberg himself – a brilliant and relentlessly provocative challenger of our sensibilities and our passions.



A Publication of the Academy of Canadian Cinema.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the early films of David Cronenberg. Originally published by the the Academy of Canadian Cinema and edited by Piers Handling, this collection of insightful essays goes up to Videodrome (1982) and was released while Cronenberg was still exclusively involved in the Canadian film industry. His early movies are harsh marvels of horror. Even Rabid, with Marilyn Chambers and her vampiric armpit is a eerie jewel of unease and terror. He had a vision in the early films that seems a bit lost now, even though he remains one of my favorite film directors. If you like Cronenberg films, it would be to your advantage to hunt down this elusive book. Mine is signed by Cronenberg so keep your hands off of it!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theory has come a long way since 1983. In many ways, Cronenberg made films that we had to learn how to talk about. This first attempt is a very jarring mess of outdated assertions and wince inducing conservatism used to try to explain and embrace the complicated nonsense of Cronenberg's early films. One by one here they are:

Wm. Brand's "The Visceral Mind: The Films of David Cronenberg" applies a set of criteria (plot, interpretation, and direction) to all the films. The most thorough and conventional of the essays. Brand does manage to notice a few connections between the films as well as Cronenberg's developing directing style, but seems completely blind to the larger issues hidden in each film's subtly.

Maurice Yacowar's "The Comedy of Cronenberg" points out the Pynchonesque phonics of the movies as well as does a fine job pointing out that horror is often best enjoyed when absurdly over the top. The humor is black and goopy.

John Harkness' "The Word, the flesh, and David Cronenberg" is basically an attack piece on Robin Wood's astute reading of Cronenberg. Harkness does not fair well after the march of time. Gay and Marxist theory were still strawdogs easily stuffed with snide dismissals. Harkness even goes so far to assert that Wood's critique of Cronenberg is born from him trying to justify his homosexuality. That Wood's film commentary was better when Wood was still in the closet. Ugh.

Piers Handling presents a boring essay titled "A Canadian Cronenberg" that is a fair contextualization of his films in a national scene.

Robin Wood's "Cronenberg: A Dissenting View" is basically a restatement of Wood's points that Cronenberg's films are more conservative, sexist, and messy than they are anything else. Fair criticisms which need to be addressed head on, instead of deflected away. I would take issue with Wood's complete dismissal of Cronenberg, since Wood does seem to willfully ignore the larger tradition of decadence, shock, and disgusting social parody (especially, in Cronenberg's telegraphed Wm Burroughs punches).

Geoff Pevere's "Cronenberg Tackles Dominant Videology" attempts to unpack Wood's critique on a purely technical level. Pevere argues that while Videodrome might have an ideology, such a question is not as interesting as the techniques that Cronenberg employs to make his points and tell his story. Horror and satire are the tools that are used to explore society's relationship with machines.

Tim Lucas' "The Image as Virus: The Filming of Videodrome" is the best essay in the collection. Originally published as an article for Cinefantastique, Lucas really hits all the major points, hard. He really understood the film and managed to get the most interesting quotes out of the director.

The collection ends with a longish interview with the director. There are few insights as a result.

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Cronenberg has always surprised me with his work because I never thought anyone born in Canada could think the way he does. You know...weird. It's good to know the Northerners have some quirks after all, which is why I love Cronenberg movies. This book is broken up into chapters from several film critics who expound on the films made by Canada's cultist filmmaker.

With the new Blu-Ray release of his masterpiece, THE BROOD, this book is the perfect accompaniment to look at Cronenberg's early films (up to 1983), before he caught the Hollywood bug. The title itself comes from THE BROOD and is the epitome of what his films say to us, in all their weirdness.

Book Season = Winter (Canada, eh)

[Jim Kirkland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one took me a while to find an affordable copy. I really liked Tim Lucas's book on Videodrome, so I was always on the look out for this one.

It's interesting to read the critiques of Cronenberg from back when they only had his body of work through Videodrome to examine. To give the writers credit they unanimously were expecting big things from David Cronenberg, and I suspect they have not been disappointed.

Finding extensive coverage of his early works also shed light on the horror scene in the early 80s. Times have changed, but the placement of the horror/sci-fi horror genre still remains in the ghetto of cinema. Most of it deserves to be there, but it's nice to see Cronenberg's films buying real estate in the upscale part of town and making his conservative neighbors nervous.

[Rase McCray]

I liked this, though I skimmed some of the essays. As others have said, it's sort of landmark in the wya it's the first major book-length anthology of Cronenberg analysis. That means it only covers her early movies, and it also means it's not perhaps as rigorous or interesting as contemporary academic film analysis might be. Still, for what it is, I think it's an important work.

[spitesmite]

i've read one chapter that focused on Videodrome. i plan to read the rest soon.
so far, so good.