David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials

David Cronenberg’s films have long enjoyed a cult following, pushing the boundaries of taste, blending high art with horror, and straddling the commercial and the cutting-edge. With this handsome book, the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of iconic films such as Videodrome, The Fly, Naked Lunch, and Crash is explored.

Though dividing the book into two halves suggests a binary, the Jungian-inspired chapters within each emphasize that this work—and the world itself—is perpetually shifting. The reader progresses through these different stages (of Jungian individuation and therapy) and sees how the recurrent narrative, cultural, and visual themes loop back and intersect with one another.

Rather than a straightforward narrative about a filmmaker, this book is a dreamlike exploration of all that is Cronenbergian.

Featuring a foreword by Oscar-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen, it also includes interviews with composer Howard Shore, production designer Carol Spier, cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, and producer and playwright/screenwriter Jeremy Thomas.