You nailed this one. Woods as Max Renn has to descend into the criminal underground a la Orpheus -- and the character is fascinatingly ambivalent; is he really just trying to satisfy his own perverse desires or is he trying to be an investigative reporter/detective and solve a horrible crime?
"The signal's coming from somewhere around Pittsburgh." I think one of the piquant things about the movie is that the USA's general depravity is infecting Canada by osmosis, although Cronenberg himself might disabuse the notion; "I don't have a moral plan. I'm Canadian."
The Canada stuff is interesting to me, I'm aware it's a factor in a movie like this (the cultural relationship between CA and USA) but I have no frame of reference to understand what the implications are, thanks for the illuminating comment. On Burroughs, I've never seen the adaptation of Naked Lunch. Cronenberg seemed the perfect person to adapt it but it didn't seem to work out? Must check it out some day
I eagerly await Marvel Studios' adaptation of the John Byrne/Bill Mantlo ALPHA FLIGHT comics from the 1980s, helmed by Cronenberg on Disney+.
I wish I could say I were speaking sarcastically/ironically, but this is the world in which we now live. Like, Werner Herzog is now a part of STAR WARS.
You nailed this one. Woods as Max Renn has to descend into the criminal underground a la Orpheus -- and the character is fascinatingly ambivalent; is he really just trying to satisfy his own perverse desires or is he trying to be an investigative reporter/detective and solve a horrible crime?
"The signal's coming from somewhere around Pittsburgh." I think one of the piquant things about the movie is that the USA's general depravity is infecting Canada by osmosis, although Cronenberg himself might disabuse the notion; "I don't have a moral plan. I'm Canadian."
Now the criminal underground is delivered to us, virtually. Crime used to be hard work! I have respect for old-school criminals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Win_(book)
If you haven't seen them yet, I recommend Cronenberg's FAST COMPANY and THE ITALIAN MACHINE. The man unironically loves fast cars and motorcycles.
Just gonna drop this here without comment: https://realitystudio.org/interviews/1992-burroughs-cronenberg/
The Canada stuff is interesting to me, I'm aware it's a factor in a movie like this (the cultural relationship between CA and USA) but I have no frame of reference to understand what the implications are, thanks for the illuminating comment. On Burroughs, I've never seen the adaptation of Naked Lunch. Cronenberg seemed the perfect person to adapt it but it didn't seem to work out? Must check it out some day
I thought it worked out, but there's no accounting for taste.
I eagerly await Marvel Studios' adaptation of the John Byrne/Bill Mantlo ALPHA FLIGHT comics from the 1980s, helmed by Cronenberg on Disney+.
I wish I could say I were speaking sarcastically/ironically, but this is the world in which we now live. Like, Werner Herzog is now a part of STAR WARS.