David Cronenberg on his favourite David Lynch movie: “It had a big impact on me”
The phrase “two peas in a pod” seems quite fitting when applied to David Cronenberg and David Lynch.
Despite having vastly different styles, the pair are both renowned for dark, polarising and challenging films that make you ponder the goings-on inside their head (as well as sharing the same first name).
Whether it be the disturbing undertone to Blue Velvet or the warped narrative of Videodrome, both directors are distinguished for being unapologetically weird, remaining true to their visions no matter how misconstrued they might have been by mainstream audiences.
However, while we might think of them as being creatively distinct from each other, Cronenberg recently revealed during his Criterion Closet tour that the pair crossed paths quite a few times, while also sharing his favourite film from the late director.
Cronenberg has become most famous for exploring matters of the body, often in the most grotesque and disturbing ways, with bodies becoming fleshy vehicles for much grander ideas relating to sexuality, death and consumerism. From his divisive 1996 film Crash to The Fly (which surprisingly remains one of the most tragic love stories from his filmography), the director has always pushed boundaries with the metaphors and ideas within his work, exploring complex subjects that result in unexpectedly moving meditations.
This is one strand that Cronenberg certainly shares with Lynch, with both directors exploring dark stories that somehow lead us to the light and encourage us to ask questions, with the Crash director highlighting this in the film of Lynch’s that he loves the most.
Cronenberg said, “A film I could relate to more in terms of my own filmmaking was David Lynch’s film, Eraserhead. Very American and saying some really interesting, kind of sublime things about American culture and the American ethos and zeitgeist that you wouldn’t see in a Hollywood film, but you also wouldn’t see in a European film”.
He added, “This is a really special film that had a big impact on me. I can’t say that it was an influence because I had already been making films by this time, but it was significant for me.”
Eraserhead was one of those films that caused a ripple effect throughout cinematic history, with it birthing the beginning of Lynch’s voice and a style that went against the status quo. It was seen as an extreme and polarising watch where few people could agree on its meaning, which meant that Lynch had done his job beautifully.
As well as being a long admirer of his work, Cronenberg also revealed that the pair had been friends, stating, “And I met David, and we got along very well, I went with him to Bob’s Big Boy where we would eat hamburgers for lunch, and we got along very well.”
While we will never know what they spoke about during those lunches, it’s the perfect activity for two people with plenty in common, and we can be sure that it was maybe one of the most engrossing conversations to ever take place in a Bob’s Big Boy.
