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What is David CronenbergsCrimes of the Futureabout?
Cronenberg only shrugs at the idea that he made a movie about himself.
I want to hear about the inception ofCrimes of the Future.
So it was more than 20 years.
But I wasnt thinking that it would be 20 years before I made the movie.
Robert Lantos, who produced it, was interested even then.
I think heannouncedit at Cannes 2005 then it was calledPainkillers that its going to be my next movie.
Of course, it turned out not to be.
For various reasons it didnt happen.
And afterMaps to the Stars, I wasnt making any movies.
I wrote a novel.
I was thinking maybe Id prefer to just write because the hassle is less.
But youre not hassled.
You dont have to finance it.
You dont have agents and actors.
And I enjoyed that.
But Robert Lantos said, You really should start making movies again.
And I said, Well, I dont have a project.
And he said, Well, have you read your old scriptPainkillers?
I said, Well, its a sci-fi script.
Its 20 years old.
It obviously will be totally irrelevant because technology has moved on and society has changed.
And his classic line was, No, no, its more relevant than ever.
So I read it and I thought,Hes actually right.
What happened in 2005?
We did three movies, and this is the fourth.
I dont know if they suggested him or I just thought he would be good for the role.
But we met in L.A. and we got along immediately, although I wasnt sure he liked the script.
And they said, No, his agent just said he really wants to do it.
When you looked back at the script forCrimes, did you change anything?Not a word.
Not a single word?Not one word, no.
What did change, but this is always the case, was in production.
We were shooting in Athens.
That was not in the script.
The kid and the sea were, but not that ship.
You have to be open to the things that surprise you.
Sometimes its from an actor.
Sometimes its on the set.
Sometimes its a location.
But in terms of dialogue, nothing changed.
The characters are basically the same.
Part of it is that its set in a kind of alternate universe.
Because of what it was, it could sort of float in a timeless bubble.
You always are returning this idea of the evolution of the body, the transformation of the body.
But in specifics, what we film most in filmmaking is the human body.
The face, the body, the voice, which I consider part of the body.
So how can you be a filmmaker and not be sort of obsessed with the body?
They know that their instrument is the body.
So its just natural for me to explore that.
Viggo called this your most autobiographical film.
Do you think its autobiographical?I wonder if hes kidding about that.
And Tenser is an artist.
Hes giving everything, including the inside of his body, to his art.
I think thats a part of me as a filmmaker that Viggo is referring to.
But Ive never done body art and I dont even have a tattoo.
Do you see it functioning that way?I do.
But I really do think were kind of destroying the Earth.
So it kind of becomes satirical on one level, and actually serious on another level.
There are two solutions.
How realistic is that?
So is that really the solution?
So the movie was always functioning on multiple levels for you.Yeah, I think so.
Life is not just one level.
Every person at every moment is functioning on many different levels and not just in terms of Twitter feeds.
Theres so many things going on in any human being.
Were very complex, as Im sure you know.
So why shouldnt a movie be like that?
Why shouldnt a movie be like a human body?
Are you on Twitter at all?Imnot on social media at all.
Its partly because I just dont want to be that accessible.
I dont do Instagram.
I dont do Facebook.
I have enough friends who let me know when things are interesting.
I dont need to be there.
I like the clarity.
But for me, technology was always 100 percent human.
Its like an extension of our fists, our hand, our eyes, our voice.
What changed?Well, I think time moves on.
They certainly werent walking out or anything.
It was based on a 1972 novel by J.G.
Ballard that was very well accepted.
I said, Youre exaggerating a bit.
But he was so totally right.
How did you feel when it happened?I loved the fight that we had.
The press conference was classic because Ballard was there.
And it was fun.
The worst thing would be if your movie was born and nobody cared.
That would be depressing.
Francis Ford Coppola was the one who hadthe biggest issueand was sort of scandalized by the film.
You said that when you saw him again, you would talk to him about it.
He says it like he thinks I dont know that he hated the movie.
So I didnt want to make a big deal out of it.
But on the other hand, I can live without 100 percent love.
I think the only movie that was almost 100 percent loved wasE.T.,maybe.
Are you concerned aboutCrimesbeing misunderstood at all?
But youre also open to some other interpretations that might be valid.
Im not really engaged with it directly.
Theyre taking that idea seriously.
Theyre saying, Bodyisreality.
I want to change my reality.
That means I have to change my body.
I say, go ahead.
This is an artist giving their all to their art.
To me, inner beauty is more like what I would talk about.
It was some critic or some fan who came up with the term body horror and that stuck.
And you know, fine.
But doesCrimesfeel like a return to a sort of filmmaking that you havent done in a while?Yes.
Undeniably, thats true.
But its been said, Are you giving a kind of wink to the audience?
And Im saying, Totally not.
I dont have that in me.
Im not interested in being self-referential.
Everyone who I have spoken to about you talks about what a sweet and normal person you are.
And how they all were sort of surprised by that.
Making scary movies doesnt mean youre a scary person.
Making dark movies doesnt mean that youre a depressive.
It gives you a sense of control of these bad things.
Youre acknowledging them in the movie, that these things can happen.
By doing that, youre sort of keeping it out of your life.
Like youre expunging it.Yeah.
But thats maybe too simplistic.
I really dont know the answer to that question.
In the end, was it difficult to come back after eight years?I wondered.
I thought, What is it going to be like on the set?
Im eight years older now, and its very draining.
You really have to give everything to directing.
I wondered if I had the stamina.
Would I need to sleep more?
Would I be anxious?
Im pretending, basically, to be a film director so I can say, Action, Cut.
Then after that it was like no time had passed.
It felt completely normal.
And now youre going to make another film, right?
Maybe another two I have in mind.
And you had basically said that you were retired afterMaps to the Stars.I didnt really say that.
And they say, Oh, yes, you did.
And Im saying, No, I didnt say that.
I said, IfMaps to the Starsis my last movie, itll be okay.
If it turns out that I just dont end up making another movie, its fine.
Some fans got very upset by that, which is very sweet.
But I still deny that I actually said, I am officially retired.
I know about Soderbergh.
He retired like five times already.
I didnt want to do that.
And you know, my wife had died.
We had been together 43 years.
And that was part of it.
It wasnt the only part.
I felt that I could really live without making another movie.
It wouldnt crush me.
But now, these are projects I would really like to do.
Because the industrys always been hard.
Theyre making a different thing, but their attitude is basically very Hollywood.
The answer is absolutely not.
He has to fight all the same battles.
Ive even seen Guillermo del Toro go through hell.
And his projects are usually pretty monsters and stuff.
Technically you would say theyre pretty commercial.
And Ive seen him have things fall apart.
So I cant really be the martyr there.
Have you done therapy?No.
Have you purposely avoided it?No.
I just honestly I felt I didnt need it.
Youre just all good.Yeah, Im totally cool.
I had no problems to solve.
My parents were really sweet, very sensitive, very understanding and supportive.
I had a lovely childhood.
You dont make a movie about nice people who are all nice to each other.
Thatd be so boring.
You might want to live like that.
But you dont make a movie like that.
I yearn for your placidity.Well, the placid nature is genuine.
