2008-10-03

Ballard's Crash



Contrary to popular belief, Cronenberg wasn't the first to adapt Ballard's work for the screen. Here is Harley Cokeliss' 1971 film of the same name, starring Ballard himself, that happens to predate the book by two years. The relationships between this film, Ballard's short story, his novel, and then Cronenberg's film, are somewhat winding, but it makes me think that there are always crashes rather than the single, lonely event.

3 comments:

Jon Law said...
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Jon Law said...

Further to this, please observe these facts relating to Ballard's 1970 exhibition of crashed cars.

The text also includes an excellent template for an opening night shindig.

tom mccarthy said...

I'd forgotten what an incredibly good film this is. It really puts Cronenberg's version to shame. Yes, Ballard published a very short blueprint for the novel 'Crash' in 1970, in 'The Atrocity Exhibition' - a truly astonishing book which I'd encourage you all to read if you have the time after reading 'Crash' (TAE is very short).