David Cronenberg: The Short Films

This is a collection of all the short films of David Cronenberg. There are 5 short films that David Cronenberg has Directed, Written, or Produced in his career so far...

 

Transfer  (1966)

David Cronenberg wrote, directed, and produced this film, as well as, took on the rolls of editor and cinematographer. It features Mort Ritts and Rafe Macpherson and has a runtime of just under 7 minutes. 
Cronenberg summarized Transfer as follows:

    "Transfer, my first film, was a surreal sketch for two people - a psychiatrist and his patient - at a table set for dinner in the middle of a field covered in snow. The psychiatrist has been followed by his obsessive former patient. The only relationship the patient has had which has meant anything to him has been with the psychiatrist. The patient complains that he has invented things to amuse and occasionally worry the psychiatrist but that he has remained unappreciative of his efforts."

From The Drain  (1967)

The film is centered on two men in a bathtub; it is implied that they are veterans of some past conflict but revealed that they are currently in a mental institution. The first man is paranoid about the drain of the tub, the second indifferent to it. After the conversation between the two men progresses, a vine-like tendril emerges from the drain to strangle the first man. The second shows no emotion to this sudden turn of events and the film ends.

 

TIFF’s Cronenberg Museum admits From the Drain is often “read as a political text” and there are definite correlations to John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate (1962) in its intrigue, conspiracy theory and narrative layers. More than anything, though, From the Drain is an illuminating case of retrospection, whereby we get to see a fledgling master discovering his craft, honing his approach and sketching the broad outline of a career that would go on to combine the physical and psychological in an unparalleled manner.

 

 

 

Camera  (2000)

A seasoned actor (Leslie Carlson, in his fourth collaboration with Cronenberg) discusses the current state of film while a group of young children sneak in with production equipment to film him. The children are enamored with the camera, which the actor views as an infectious, malevolent presence.

 

 

At the suicide of the last Jew in the world in the last cinema in the world  (2007)

In this film, Cronenberg explores for the first time, his Jewish identity. The short film is part of a compilation of other short films from 35 auteurs that the Cannes Film Festival commissioned for its 60th anniversary. Cronenberg plays the title character, an old man holding a gun to his head, which Maclean's Brian D. Johnson described as "Cronenberg shoots himself shooting himself." He prepares to commit suicide on television while commentators discuss Jews and cinema.

 

Cronenberg said, "I've never thought of myself as a Philip Roth whose subject was his Jewishness, but I've never denied it." He decided to finally deal with issues involving his Jewish identity because of Hezbollah's mission statement. He said, "It's pretty interesting to hear someone say our goal is to kill every Jew in the world wherever they are. That means me and my children. It does evoke a reaction."

 

 

The Nest  (2013)

The film is a single-take short involving an unlicensed surgeon, interviewing a woman, who would like her left breast removed.  The viewer sees everything from the perspective of the doctor, voiced by Cronenberg.

 

 

  - Written By 'Siva de Ferrera [a.k.a. Keith Ferrera]

Copyright © 2021 'Siva de Ferrera (a.k.a. Keith Ferrera)