“I could cry right now thinking about it”: A collection of David Cronenberg’s favourite movies
David Cronenberg is renowned for his pioneering work of body horror and overtly erotic, taboo themes, so one would expect him to have a particularly horror-filled list of favourite films. Instead, Cronenberg has a varied and genre-spanning taste, much like the everyday person who watches his work, as evidenced during his conversation with the French YouTube channel Konbini.
Of course, there are more than a few nods to horror ranging from the “beautiful” nightmare vision of Ingmar Bergman’s Hour of the Wolf to Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic, box-office smash Alien. In the latter film, he even claims to have many of the same elements as his preceding low-budget movie Shivers, in which a murderer is found to have been doing experiments with deadly parasites. Of course, he also discusses Juleit Decournau’s Palme d’Or winning body horror Titane, which he even calls a “dangerous film”.
He also gives a hint at the origins of his fascination with the erotic. Discussing his obsession with Brigitte Bardot, he explains how under 18s were banned from viewing her films in Toronto while he was growing up, so on family trips to New York, he would see “only Brigitte Bardot movies, I would see like five of them”. He discusses And God Created Woman and how Bardot’s sexuality entraned him, causing him to still be in love with her. He also cites Blue is the Warmest Colour, noting especially the intense performances of its young actors, Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchoupoulos.
Cronenberg also covers some surprising favourites that he almost had a hand in making, including Total Recall. Renowned for being stuck in production limbo for 16 years, the movie underwent 40 script rewrites, 12 of which were from Cronenberg. However, his were rejected for being the “Phillip K Dick version” and not the “Raiders of the Lost Ark Go to Mars” finished product.
His most surprising favourite and missed opportunity is Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Approached to direct what is now one of the most famous films in cinematic history, Cronenberg was swiftly hung up on once he declared he didn’t usually make other people’s material. On the other hand, many of his picks are those that convinced him of the talents of actors he would later work with, such as Personal Shopper (Kristen Stewart), La Haine (Vincent Cassel) and Strange Days (Ralph Fiennes).
The director even speaks about the “beginning of his entracement with film”, which, of course, started with Frederico Fellini’s La Strada. As a child, he saw adults leaving a movie screening in tears and became aware of the power of cinema. He’s loved Fellini ever since. Cronenberg also gives a shout-out to the film that had the fastest vote for the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or, which he happened to be on the jury of, Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Then, he rounds up his picks with a touching mention of his son Brandon Cronenberg’s film Possessor, which seemed to come up against much of the same issues he had experienced as a filmmaker.
Despite being in his eighth decade on earth and nearly his sixth as a filmmaker, Cronenberg still finds new ways and remains uncompromising in his cinematic vision, which is clearly shaped by this eclectic collection.
