Claiming that he's not a fan of superhero genre, the 'Cosmopolis' helmer states that people who say 'Dark Knight Rises' is 'a supreme cinema art' don't 'know what the f**k they're talking about.'
- Aug 16, 2012
AceShowbiz - While superhero movies are becoming trends in recent years, there is at least one director who admits to disliking the genre and promises never to direct a superhero flick. He's none other than "Cosmopolis" helmer David Cronenberg, who dubs comic book movies are "for kids" and says Christopher Nolan's Batman films, which were highly praised by critics, are "boring."
"I don't think they are making them an elevated art form," Cronenberg tells Next Movie when asked if he's interested to do a superhero film. "I think it's still Batman running around in a stupid cape. I just don't think it's elevated."
Criticizing Nolan's critically-acclaimed Caped Crusader trilogy, the Canadian filmmaker states, "Christopher Nolan's best movie is 'Memento', and that is an interesting movie. I don't think his Batman movies are half as interesting though they're 20 million times the expense."
"What he is doing is some very interesting technical stuff, which, you know, he's shooting IMAX and in 3-D. That's really tricky and difficult to do. I read about it in American Cinematography Magazine, and technically, that's all very interesting. The movie, to me, they're mostly boring."
When quized if superhero genre prohibits the elevated art form, Cronenberg responds, "Absolutely." He goes on, "Anybody who works in the studio system has got 20 studio people sitting on his head at every moment, and they have no respect, and there's no... it doesn't matter how successful you've been. And obviously Nolan has been very succesful. He's got a lot of power, relatively speaking. But he doesn't really have power."
Explaining further about why he's never a fan of comic book films, Cronenberg says, "And the problem is you gotta... as I say, you can do some interesting, maybe unexpected things. And certainly, I've made the horror films and people say, 'Can you make a horror film also an art film?' And I would say, 'Yeah, I think you can'."
"But a superhero movie, by definition, you know, it's comic book. It's for kids. It's adolescent in its core. That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying, you know, ' 'The Dark Knight Rises' is, you know, supreme cinema art,' I don't think they know what the f**k they're talking about."
Best known as the principal originator of the body horror or venereal horror genre, Cronenberg has helmed such films as "Scanners", "Videodrome" and "Dead Ringers". He recently directed historical film "A Dangerous Method", which starred Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. His upcoming film "Cosmopolis", which stars Robert Pattinson, is due in the U.S. on August 17.
