1. David Cronenberg's latest film, Crimes of the Future, explores the big existential question about art and where artists get their ideas.
2. The movie is full of paradoxes and contradictions, simultaneously timeless and eerily of its moment.
3. Cronenberg sees the artistic and creative process as offering up an artist's essential self to the world for nourishment between themselves and their audience.
The article provides a detailed analysis of David Cronenberg's latest film, Crimes of the Future, and its exploration of the artistic and creative process. The author notes that the movie is full of paradoxes and contradictions, simultaneously timeless and eerily of its moment. They suggest that Crimes of the Future offers Cronenberg's distinct take on the trend in movies from established auteurs building movies around their formative years and the events that shaped them.
The article explores how Cronenberg's body horror often feels like a literal expression of his central philosophy that horror comes from within man. The author notes that Cronenberg frequently rejects attempts to impose external meaning on his work, insisting that he just chooses to make a movie "for whatever reason." However, they suggest that there may be something autobiographical about Crimes of the Future, given Saul's crop of striking white hair recalls the iconic Canadian filmmaker.
The author explores how many of Cronenberg's movies are built around artists and how the process of creativity is tied to body horror and internal transformation literalized. They note that in Crimes of the Future, these reproductive and creative urges intersect and overlap. The article suggests that Saul offering up his body is an analogue for what an artist is, offering up their essential self inside out to the world for some kind of nourishment between themselves and their audience.
Overall, the article provides a thoughtful analysis of Crimes of the Future and Cronenberg as an artist fascinated by his own creative process. While it does not present any counterarguments or potential biases explicitly, it could be argued that it presents a somewhat one-sided view of Cronenberg's work as solely focused on body horror and internal transformation. Additionally, while it notes some parallels between Saul's creations being cut out of him and Cronenberg donating his archives to a film festival, it does not explore this idea in depth or provide evidence for its claims.