The Directors - David Cronenberg

Starring:Directors
Studio: Winstar
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Anyone who has closely followed the career of David Cronenberg will be pleased to know that this one-hour program is one of the best in the entire Directors series. Articulate and highly thoughtful about his work and its dominant themes, Cronenberg is an engaging intellectual throughout an extensive interview, explaining how he'd been inspired by the New York underground scene of the 1950s (perhaps destined to be "an obscure novelist," he says) when an independent Canadian film titled Winter Kept Us Warm prompted him to pursue filmmaking. "The body is the first fact of human existence," the director observes, in reference to the fascination with flesh, mutation, and other bodily matters that recur throughout his films. Shivers and Scanners are given their due, including enjoyable interview clips with ex-porn star Marilyn Chambers and Michael Ironside (the latter providing a revealing anecdote about Cronenberg describing a bizarre dream). Cronenberg blames Paramount for botching the release of The Dead Zone, and discussion of Crash allows him to reveal his disdainful "strange relationship" with film critics, while Holly Hunter observes that Crash is an exercise in "exploring the moral code." Like Cronenberg's films, these interviews and film clips are filled with challenging perspectives and passionate defense of the artist's prerogative, and the result is a welcomed and illuminating examination of a truly original director. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

If you dig Cronenberg's work - go for it!.......2002-01-20

I am very happy to have finally picked up this disc. To get to hear David Cronenberg himself speak in detail about his films, his actors and his experiences of making the films is not superficial by any means - but quite fascinating. To get to hear nine actors from his films speak about their experiences of working with Cronenberg is really the icing on the cake. Who cares if the image quality of some of the film clips is crappy (what, maybe three out of the thirteen films?) - I didn't buy the disc to catch glimpses of Cronenberg films. (Besides, if you are buying this disc then you probably already own all of the available DVD or Laser Disc versions anyway...) The picture quality of all of the interview footage is excellent and the transfer to DVD is clean and sharp. If you have an interest in making of Cronenberg films, I would suggest seeking out the Canadian DVD version of eXistenZ (a region one disc) because it has an incredible documentary called "The Invisible Art of Production Designer Carol Spier" - that also features extensive interviews with Cronenberg himself and is absolutely fantastic. And if you can read French, then check out the recent interview book published by Cahiers Du Cinema in 2000 - another fabulous resource about the films and life of David Cronenberg.

Follow-up Review (Terrible quality production).......2000-09-30

Now that I have viewed the entire program, I felt compelled to follow up my original review by stating that the technical standards of this disc are ABSOLUTELY AWFUL! Terrible tracking lines, shimmering, grainy video - everything about it is terrible. Film clips look as if they were taken from a second generation bootleg dub. Content aside, the quality is terrible. Fox Lorber has always been a poor quality company, releasing classic films with bad transfers and no extras, and this is just like them.

Superficial glimpse of Cronenberg.......2000-09-21

As a dedictated Cronenberg fan, I eagerly awaited this disc in the hope that it would prove a complete if not exhaustive look at this complex film auteur. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Although it features interviews with numerous actors (even Rabid's Marilyn Chambers) and Cronenberg himself, much of the material covered seems rather bland and a retread of what I've heard before. Also, the quality of the actual program is questionable and I noticed several instances of shimmering and pixelation. There are even TRACKING LINES - they must have just transfered the videotape version onto the disc! Aberrant films in Cronenberg's body of work (think Fast Company) are passed over completely with only a few seconds of description. Produced by the AFI, whose credibility has nose-dived ever since they released their 100 greatest films list, this documentary is weak and superficial. I can only imagine what the other programs in the series are like. Overall, I'd recommend this for people interested in learning about Cronenberg, but I wouldn't waste the extra money on the disc, just buy the vhs instead.

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