Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Italian Machine

David Cronenberg – 1976 – Canada

Intriguing early short film written and directed by David Cronenberg for Canadian television in between his two infamous horror features Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977).  It is really a preamble to his almost equally little-known (and little-respected) seemingly uncharacteristic Fast Company of 1979.  Both films document Cronenberg’s fascination with motor vehicles and racing, but of the two this one is infused with even more recognizably Cronenbergian elements; cultish obsessions, fetishism, drugs and the fusion of art and technology.  A trio of mechanics and bike enthusiasts are incensed to madness to learn that a rich art collector has purchased a sublime new motorcycle not to ride but to keep in his home as an object d’art.  Posing as a team of journalists, they visit the man’s house as part of a plan to liberate the machine.

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