David Cronenberg: A Delicate Balance

by Peter Morris

David Cronenberg has been called a contemporary Hitchcock who blends horror, fantasy, and outrageous images into the celebrated films-films like Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, and, most recently, M. Butterfly-that have made him a cult figure among movies buffs. Some people think his movies are repulsive and grotesque. Others call him a genius who has created some of the screen's most provocative images. Everyone agrees that he is different. Very different. Peter Morris's biography provides all the details about this remarkable filmmaker's life.

Genres: Film

155 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[Savannah Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting and insightful but read like a school essay

[Jessrawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, an easy read of an overview of Cronenberg's career (up until publication). Three things really bothered me, though:
1) The incessant comparison with Burroughs. This book should (could) have been subtitled "Let's Compare David Cronenberg to William S. Burroughs."
2) The writer's (or editor's? Unclear) decision to include the name of the interviewer every time they mention a line from a particular interview. In a biography, this is bloody often. So clunky to read and, really, adds nothing.
3) It's offhand, but they include (their words!) "Toronto gossip" about Cronenberg's (negative) behaviour as an actor for another Canadian director. Though it happened post-publication, he acted for this director again so, uh, couldn't have been that bad (or true). Either way, a pretty unprofessional inclusion in an official biography.

[Drew Raley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slim, but totally worth it for a glimpse inside Cronenberg's youth and his troubled first marriage. His previously cryptic statements about his wife's influence on his horror movie The Brood are given shape (of rage).

[no elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

slim, outdated bio but still a little bit of interest to cronenberg fans.