History lessons

Their critical obsession with the subversive is borne out in the reaction to the latest releases by David Cronenberg and Roman Polanski | Andrew Coffin

David Cronenberg and Roman Polanski could both be described as subversive filmmakers. Mr. Cronenberg (Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers, The Fly) regularly plunges into graphic explorations of body mutilation and sexual perversity. Mr. Polanski (The Pianist, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby), a visual aesthete by comparison, frequently examines similar themes of sexual repression and victimization.

Critics tend to love outsiders and subversives, and so Mr. Cronenberg and Mr. Polanski, only intermittently successful in reaching broader audiences, are critical favorites.

This critical obsession with the subversive is borne out in the reaction to the latest release from each, Mr. Cronenberg's A History of Violence and Mr. Polanski's Oliver Twist. Mr. Cronenberg's incendiary film is being heralded as one of the best of the year. But Mr. Polanski's straightforward, largely faithful retelling of Charles Dickens' oft-filmed tale has left most critics bored and unmoved.