The Visceral Screen: Between the Cinemas of John Cassavetes and David Cronenberg

Robert Furze argues the defining characteristic of John Cassavetes and David Cronenberg’s respective approaches is that of “visceral” cinema, a term that illustrates the anxiety these film-makers provoke in their audiences. Cassavetes demonstrates this through disregard for plot structure and character coherence, while Cronenberg’s focus is on graphic depictions of mutilation, extreme forms of bodily transformation, and violence. Cassavetes and Cronenberg are established auteurs, but the elements of their films that appear to be barriers to their artistic status, for example, slipshod method and lingering violence or pre-digital special effects, are reassessed here as indicators of creativity. In this way, Furze encourages debates of what makes a film good or bad.