Crimes of the Future (1970)

As I psyche myself up for the opening of Cronenberg’s latest, Crimes of the Future, which shares a name with this early effort, I was able to track it down on YouTube and watched it (as well as a few of his other shorts). I found this one to be the most interesting of his early works.

A dermatologist named Antoine Rouge mysteriously vanishes after a disease emerges that’s caused by cosmetic products. A man named Tripod searches for Antoine, who was his mentor. He spends his days at a clinic, with an assortment of odd characters. The disease causes those who suffer from it to bleed some white, foamy substance, and has killed off the entire population of sexually mature women.

The movie has no dialogue and is narrated by the main character Tripod. In lieu of a cohesive plot, it presents mostly ideas and themes, much of them having to do with the body horror that would be present throughout the rest of Cronenberg’s filmography, including The Fly, Shivers, Rabid, eXistenZ, Videodrome, The Brood. You can clearly see his touch all over this, with some weird, creepy and disturbing imagery and suggestions, including victims of the disease foaming that weird substance, foot fetish, strange body parts kept in jars, and the finale which involves a young girl.

He packs enough ideas into this for several films, and at barely over 1 hour, it kept my interest despite its unconventional nature. It was cool to see the workings of Cronenberg’s brain, seeing how it lead to his later work. Cronenberg, along with David Lynch, is my favorite film director. I’ve enjoyed his movies throughout my life, including his less abstract later offerings, such as History of Violence and Maps To The Stars. My personal favorite was Crash, which I found so uncomfortable to watch that it left such an impression on me. This weekend is the opening of his latest, also titled Crimes of the Future, and it promises to be a return to the body horror themes of his earlier works. With reports that some audience members at the screening at Cannes walked out in shock, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store. This short is an interesting watch, and the best of his early work.

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