AT THE CHAZEN: 3 FROM CRONENBERG
On three Thursday evenings during the fall, the Cinematheque will present three modern classics of horror from Canadian master David Cronenberg. In Dead Ringers, Videodrome, and Existenz, Cronenberg probes the disturbed psyches of his protagonists and finds many creative ways to create disturbing imagery from advanced technology and everyday household objects. All three films will be screened in 35mm prints in the auditorium at the Chazen Museum of Art, in conjuction with The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection of Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture in the Rowland, Garfield and Mayer galleries September 5 to November 30.
- Thu., Sep. 25 | 7:00 PMChazen
In the dual role that cemented his reputation as one of the world’s finest actors, Irons plays identical twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle. The aggressive Elliott and the shy Beverly find their lives and successful practice falling apart when they become sexually involved with one of their patients (Bujold). Cronenberg’s compelling and precise storytelling makes this decidedly unsettling downward spiral story feel like no other thriller you have ever seen before. A beautiful new 35mm print of Dead Ringers will be screened, courtesy TIFF’s Film Reference Library.
- Thu., Oct. 23 | 7:00 PMChazen
Looking for new shows, slick and sleazy cable TV programmer Max Wren (Woods) discovers a torture-porn show called Videodrome broadcast on pirated signals. While he slowly loses his grip on reality, Max tries to track down the show’s creators; a hallucinatory odyssey that leads him to the discovery of “the new flesh”. One of the key films of the 1980s, director Cronenberg’s spellbinding riff on the mass medium of television is truly one-of-a-kind.
- Thu., Nov. 20 | 7:00 PMChazen
Cronenberg envisions a near future where video gamers can immerse themselves in virtual reality through pods that attach to the spine via umbilical cords. One game designer (Leigh) finds herself enmeshed in a sometimes deadly war between the “realist” movement and her own industry...or perhaps it’s all just a game. A mind-bending, visually stunning piece of horror and science-fiction, eXistenZ does for video games and the internet what Videodrome did for cable TV and the VCR. Print courtesy TIFF’s Film Reference Library.