‘The Death of David Cronenberg’: an artist confronting his own mortality
Throughout his trailblazing career, Canadian auteur David Cronenberg has tackled a multitude of difficult subjects – ranging from the dangerous machinations of new media to the post-human condition. Having produced masterpieces such as Videodrome and The Fly, Cronenberg fashioned a new language of cinematic body horror, which has been vastly influential for the development of the subgenre and for the evolution of horror in general.
After a significant hiatus from body horror, Cronenberg returned with Crimes of the Future in 2022. Starring Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux, Cronenberg’s latest feature imagines a dystopian society where human evolution has become a bizarre phenomenon involving the arbitrary growth of undiscovered organs. Although it wasn’t one of Cronenberg’s more polished efforts, Crimes of the Future was definitely among the most interesting films of the year.
While Cronenberg’s 2022 effort will be cited as his grand return to body horror, there’s another short that deals with body horror and actually precedes Crimes of the Future. Titled The Death of David Cronenberg, the one-minute short was actually Cronenberg’s venture into the NFT realm at a time when there was an incomprehensible craze around it. Even though the NFT craze has faded, The Death of David Cronenberg is still just as bizarre.
Set in a cosy little attic, the deceptively simple short features Cronenberg climbing into a bed that has a life-size replica of his own corpse. The hyper-realistic corpse is a technical achievement, capturing the horror and tranquillity of death through an open-mouthed, vacant expression. If we found our own corpse in our bed, we would probably be scared out of our minds, but the auteur gently kisses the decaying body before snuggling up for comfort.
During a conversation with SuperRare, Cronenberg opened up about the symbolism of the emotionally intense project. “I left it up there for a couple days, and I’d occasionally just go and check it out,” the director explained. “It had an emotional resonance for me. The obvious thing is [the short film] is a little metaphorical piece about a person embracing his own death. I embrace it, partially, because I have no choice: this is man’s fate.”
Viewers will obviously view it as a commentary on mortality by Cronenberg, but the film is actually more personal to him. According to the filmmaker, the corpse also represents his wife, who passed away in the same house. “[She] died in that house, in a bed, and it felt when she died, partly, like I died, and I still feel that,” he said. “That corpse is my wife to me. So it’s not just a frivolous horror film. It is a film about love and the transient aspect of being human.”
Co-directed by his daughter Caitlin, The Death of David Cronenberg is a surreal examination of mortality conducted by an artist who has always lived on the edge. Watch the film below.
