If you ever needed proof that genre could be an expansive framework rather than a limitation, just look to David Cronenberg.

From severe and experimental early shorts to growing a penis-thing out of Marilyn Chambers’ armpit to the identity crises of BrundleFly, the Mantle twins, Bill Lee and Tom Stall, Cronenberg has found unsettlingly effective ways to explore the nature and mutability of humanity through film. He’s created images and concepts that viewers never forget, and has been eerily prescient about the development of media and technology.

So it’s appropriate that France is honoring the director with the country’s highest distinction, the Legion d’honneur. On April 1 in Toronto, Cronenberg will be  presented with the Medal of Knight to the French National Order of the Legion of Honor by Francis Delattre, France’s ambassador to Canada, on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

I’m not sure that something this notable can be met with a simple ‘congratulations’. Regardless, the honor is well-earned.