You’ve been called misogynistic, despite having written many strong female characters. In Eastern Promises, there’s a scene filled with violence, blood, and male nudity. Do you expect to be called a “man hater” now as well?

David Cronenberg: [Laughs.] That would be pretty good. I’ve been attacked for many things and it always tends to be a knee-jerk reflex. People confuse your characters with the filmmaker. Political correctness is a very detrimental force for both education and art. I tend to dismiss those kinds of [shallow] accusations.

Were you mad that there was another film made called Crash?

David Cronenberg: Oh yes. I’ve told Paul Haggis that he was an asshole basically for doing that. [Laughs.] And so have many other people. It’s very disrespectful, not only to me, but to J.G. Ballard, who wrote the book Crash in 1973. It’s considered a dark classic. And I made my movie [in 1996] based on his book in a very respectful way. Haggis just co-opted the title, and he knew what he was doing.

Shivers (1976), made before the AIDS epidemic, is about a monstrous STD. Rabid (1977) has ideas very similar to stem cell research. Videodrome (1983) predates the real torture and murder you can see on the Internet today. How much of what you’ve predicted is coincidence and how much is great research?

David Cronenberg: It’s not exactly coincidence. Everybody has antennae, but most people suppress the information they get because they can’t deal with it or they’re not interested. But if you’re an artist you encourage your antennae to pick up these vibrations that are out there, even if they’re scary or disturbing or confusing. It’s kind of inevitable that every once in a while you will seem like a prophet.

Is it true that you turned down directing Return of the Jedi?

David Cronenberg: I did get a phone call asking me about that, and my response was, “Gee, I normally don’t do other people’s material.” And there was a silence on the phone and then a sort of, “OK, goodbye.” [Laughs.] So that was the end of it. I have been asked to do sequels for various franchise-type movies, and I’ve always said no, just because it can only be so exciting. The tone of the thing has been set, and if the main actors have been cast for you, it really takes a lot of your weaponry out of your hands as a director.

So if DreamWorks Pictures called you to do Transformers 2…

David Cronenberg: I’d say, “No. But thanks for the offer.”

Home // CELEBRITIES // THE SHOTCALLER // David Cronenberg