Scar Machines: the films of David Cronenberg

The mysteries of the new flesh have never been so enticing. This year’s Retrospective Section pays tribute to a filmmaker whose work has delved deep into the modification of bodies, in the interaction between mechanical and organic: David Cronenberg.

Born in Toronto in 1943, the Canadian filmmaker has directed 47 works in a career spanning almost six decades. Faced with the arduous task of choosing from a prolific and thought-provoking filmography, this year’s Retrospective Section focused on the first 25 years of Cronenberg’s career, screening seven of his most representative films: the short film From the Drain (1967) and the six feature films Shivers (1975), Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), Dead Ringers (1988), Crash (1996), and eXistenZ (1999).

His works flirt with easily recognizable genres, particularly science fiction and horror cinema, but go (deeply) beyond conventional codes. In these six screening sessions, the lines of force travel between scientific experiment and the clash between instinct and machine, “pure” and hybrid. What is perceived as distinctly human – both physically and ethically – ultimately transforms into something else, just as technology is overrun by the organic on a path of no return.

Scar Machines, the films of David Cronenberg provoke and disrupt sensations, inviting us to rip open images and bodies and face them in living flesh. Between popular and niche cinema, the filmmaker opens the doors to a frightening, fascinating, sensual world. 

Ralo Acima
/From the drain
Dir. David Cronenberg
Canadá / 1967 / 14min.

Calafrios
/Shivers
Dir. David Cronenberg
Canadá / 1975 / 87min.

Videodrome – A Síndrome do Vídeo
/Videodrome
Dir. David Cronenberg
Canadá / 1983 / 89min.

A Mosca
/The Fly
Dir. David Cronenberg
Estados Unidos, Canadá / 1986 / 96min.

Crash: Estranhos Prazeres
/Crash
Dir. David Cronenberg
Canadá, Reino Unido / 1996 / 100min.

eXistenZ
/eXistenZ
Dir. David Cronenberg
Canadá, Reino Unido, França / 1999 / 97min.

Gêmeos: Mórbida Semelhança
/Dead Ringers
Dir. David Cronenberg
Estados Unidos, Canadá / 1988 / 115min.