VIDEODROME

VIDEODROME, 1983

Canada |DCP, Color, 87' |English
Director:David Cronenberg
Cast:James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits

Released at a time when videotapes started becoming all the rage, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome is a warning about the infectious power of the disease called technology and the deterioration of the body. Technology is an extension of the human body. Under the influence of the Videodrome signal, we’re no longer satisfied by just looking at the screen, we want to stick our heads into the screen. The screen transforms into lips or a weapon and begins changing our organic body. Described by Andy Warhol as “A Clockwork Orange of the 1980s”, the film is a prophecy, somewhere at the intersection of violence, media, and technology. By tapping into the collective subconscious of the VHS era, it shows us our fears, and our desires, and the intimate relationship we establish with screens in the current era of the Internet.