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The king of twisted psychological cinema shows you why he's Hollywood's worst nightmare.

David Cronenberg

The king of twisted psychological cinema shows you why he's Hollywood's worst nightmare.

By Gabriel Alvarez; Photograph by Chris Woods
David Cronenberg is a rare breed of filmmaker. He’s birthed an exceptional body of work in (and mostly out of) the major studio system with films like The Fly (1986), Naked Lunch (1991), and A History of Violence (2005). For his latest film, Eastern Promises, the 64-year-old Canadian tells a story of London-based Russian mobsters, and explores concepts of family, organized crime, masculinity, and other deep ish. He may not do box-office numbers like Steven Spielberg, but he speaks real words.
You’ve been making daring, thought-provoking films for over 30 years. What’s the secret to your success?
David Cronenberg: Well, I suppose you have to define success. I remember talking to Oliver Stone, and he asked me if I was happy being a marginal filmmaker and having as small of an audience as I have. [Laughs.] I said, “Well, how big of an audience do you need?” I’ve never had a movie that made $100 million, and to do a movie that was a product—I wouldn’t enjoy it. You have to have the courage to do what it is that satisfies you. For me, it’s the experience of
making the films; each film is a philosophical voyage, an exploration.
Do you wonder how the Russian mob will react to Eastern Promises?
David Cronenberg: I’ve already got some reactions, and I think they love it. [Laughs.] It’s like the Mafia probably loved the kind of nobility and tragic heroism involved in a movie like The Godfather. I’ve gotten—through the grapevine—very good reviews from ex-criminals for portraying the mentality of a criminal who has tried to go straight in A History of Violence. I have a feeling that Eastern Promises will do the same thing on the other side of the Atlantic.
The film’s bad guys demand respect, but they don’t reciprocate. Is a lack of respect for underlings common with powerful people?
David Cronenberg: Like they say, “Power corrupts.” Especially in the criminal world, power is indicated by everything: what you wear, the car you drive. It’s all meant to exude an aura of power, and there’s easily developed a feeling that if you extend respect to a person that’s not on your level of power, it diminishes your power. In fact, showing no respect to underlings is a symbol of power. It’s a pretty brutal society, the criminal underworld.
How strong is the Russian mob’s presence in London?
David Cronenberg: The Russian mob in London was a subject that was pretty obscure until recently. Halfway through filming, we were suddenly not only hot, we were radioactively hot because a Russian in London named Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by a radioactive isotope called polonium. And some of that happened just literally half a block from my front door when I was living in London making the movie. So suddenly Russians living in exile in London, and the criminal activity around them became huge news.
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