Director David CronenbergReuters
Think you can one-up David Cronenberg's transformation of Jeff Goldblum into a hairy, stinky fly?
That's the ask from the Toronto International Film Festival – reportedly on the prowl for a savvy gamer to help them launch an interactive retrospective of director David Cronenberg's dark, avant-garde body of work, expected to be unveiled when TIFF kicks off next September.
TIFF declined yesterday to offer details of The Worlds of David Cronenberg: An Augmented Reality Game, which is still in the early stages. But dabbling in a format that enhances play with computer-generated sensory experiences is sure to make for an interesting immersion in this case: The Toronto director is known for his surreal, often deranged narratives ( Scanners, The Fly, eXistenZ) – and for taking viewers into uncomfortable explorations of technology, violence, sex and death.
In a grant proposal to the Ontario government, TIFF describes the game as "stylized social media meets psychological thriller game play." According to the blog Cinemablend.com, it will be available online and on multiple social-media platforms in September, 2012, with the final rollout completed by the end of 2013.
Called Body/Mind/Change, the game is certainly a fitting tribute to Cronenberg, who a few years ago told The Globe, "to me, our bodily reality is often avoided – a lot of art, religion, politics and culture seek to make us avoid our existential reality. And I insist on it.... I'm not looking to transcend the body, but to delve into it. Profoundly."
Cronenberg, who is currently doing post-production for his latest film, Cosmopolis starring Robert Pattinson, could not be reached for comment.
Gayle MacDonald