A History of Violence (2005)
Directed by David Cronenberg
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
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What critics say influenced A History of Violence
He could be Cary Grant in "North by Northwest," an innocent man forced by mistaken identity into a life-or-death struggle, or maybe he's Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven," a reformed gunslinger who has retreated to the quiet life but finds he hasn't washed all the blood off his hands.
There are strong parallels between A History of Violence and Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Unforgiven, in that both films examine once viciously violent men who have long since reformed, and have become domesticated family men, but who are eventually drawn back into their violent ways of old.
By degrees he insinuates the idea of violence as an inescapable destiny, redolent of Clint Eastwood's reformed killer in Unforgiven finding himself pulled back into the old ways.
Working from a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, screenwriter Josh Olson creates a modern-day parallel to all those classic Westerns (from "The Gunfighter" to "Shane" to "The Shootist" to "Unforgiven") in which world-weary gunslingers naively think they can hang up their six-shooters -- at least until, inevitably, their violent pasts catch up with them.
The modern apex is the vigilante Western Unforgiven, in which a return to bloodshed costs the hero his soul—but the higher price (for him and at the box office) would have been leaving his buddy unavenged.
As the movie opens, in a sequence that recalls the off-hand horror of John McNaughton's 1986 "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," we see a pair of vicious drifters making their way toward Tom's town with a stick-up on their minds.
More formally and narratively conventional than 2002’s Spider (or anything in the Canadian auteur’s oeuvre, for that matter), but nonetheless similarly preoccupied with bifurcated identities, personality reinvention, and the constantly shifting borderline between reality and fantasy, Cronenberg’s latest begins, like Robert Siodmak’s The Killers, with the arrival of two thugs at a Norman Rockwell-esque small-town U.S.A diner.
In an electrifying sequence that begins like the opening bravado-dialogue section of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers,” then escalates with the flaunting of a gun and the manhandling of a terrified waitress, the soft-spoken Tom hurls boiling hot coffee in one assailant’s face and springs over the counter to seize his gun, which he swiftly uses to kill both men.
Working from a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, screenwriter Josh Olson creates a modern-day parallel to all those classic Westerns (from "The Gunfighter" to "Shane" to "The Shootist" to "Unforgiven") in which world-weary gunslingers naively think they can hang up their six-shooters -- at least until, inevitably, their violent pasts catch up with them.
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In fact, 1955's At Gunpoint starring Fred MacMurray begins much the same way: Baddies ride into town to stir up severe trouble, only to be dispatched by the most mild-mannered guy on the block.
That Tom's teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes) has pit-bull instincts - the scene in which he suddenly attacks the school bully is genuinely shocking - actually presses the argument further that violence might be genetic, a theme that transfused Paul Schrader's sombre father-and-son picture, Affliction.
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
In Cronenberg's canon, it belongs in the same breath as The Fly and Dead Ringers.
Indeed, Cronenberg suggests, we might all have a Joey buried somewhere inside us, waiting to be loosed from his lamp.A History of Violence is, like so many Cronenbergs before it (The Brood, The Fly, Dead Ringers), a study in transference and transmutation, no matter those who have pinned it as an atypical effort.
For the past 25 years, he has pushed the envelope in films such as "Scanners," "Videodrome," "Dead Ringers" and his memorably nasty remake of "The Fly."
It’s Cronenberg’s best film since Dead Ringers and, as such, easily one of the best films of the year.
David Cronenberg, the director of such films as Dead Ringers and The Fly, has a reputation for being a little "out there."
As he would later show in A History of Violence , Cronenberg excels at telling a seemingly simple story with great intensity and human dimensions masked in genre elements.
The big turning points came with his reinterpretation of "The Fly" (1986), which transformed a standard sci-fi/horror flick into a serious character study and romance, followed by the ingenious "Dead Ringers" (1988).
In Cronenberg's canon, it belongs in the same breath as The Fly and Dead Ringers.
For the past 25 years, he has pushed the envelope in films such as "Scanners," "Videodrome," "Dead Ringers" and his memorably nasty remake of "The Fly."
Cronenberg (“The Fly,” “Naked Lunch”) is no stranger to violence or sex.
The Top Gun offer came after Cronenberg had scored at the box office with The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986).
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
Director David Cronenberg, a specialist of dark, brooding action and psychological thrillers, has lurked on the fringes for decades, surfacing for the occasional cult hit, such as "Scanners" (1981), "The Dead Zone" (1983) and "eXistenZ" (1999).
Now in his early 60’s, Mr. Cronenberg, a one-time honors student in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, has retained his obsession with the yearnings and vulnerabilities of the human body and mind in increasingly depraved human societies, in such films as Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both 1983).
Working from a script by Josh Olson adapted from John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel, Cronenberg reprises the naturalistic style he used in 1983's underappreciated "The Dead Zone."
The Top Gun offer came after Cronenberg had scored at the box office with The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986).
After that, his films increased in popularity with "Scanners" (1981), "Videodrome" (1983), and "The Dead Zone" (1983).
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
Early horror flicks such as "Rabid" and "The Brood" detailed his fascination with the human body turning against itself.
Now in his early 60’s, Mr. Cronenberg, a one-time honors student in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, has retained his obsession with the yearnings and vulnerabilities of the human body and mind in increasingly depraved human societies, in such films as Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both 1983).
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
Indeed, Cronenberg suggests, we might all have a Joey buried somewhere inside us, waiting to be loosed from his lamp.A History of Violence is, like so many Cronenbergs before it (The Brood, The Fly, Dead Ringers), a study in transference and transmutation, no matter those who have pinned it as an atypical effort.
Early horror flicks such as "Rabid" and "The Brood" detailed his fascination with the human body turning against itself.
Cronenberg's movie is a kind of sequel to his 1982 masterpiece "The Brood," another meditation on the legacy of violence one generation hands down to another.
Now in his early 60’s, Mr. Cronenberg, a one-time honors student in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, has retained his obsession with the yearnings and vulnerabilities of the human body and mind in increasingly depraved human societies, in such films as Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both 1983).
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
For the past 25 years, he has pushed the envelope in films such as "Scanners," "Videodrome," "Dead Ringers" and his memorably nasty remake of "The Fly."
Director David Cronenberg, a specialist of dark, brooding action and psychological thrillers, has lurked on the fringes for decades, surfacing for the occasional cult hit, such as "Scanners" (1981), "The Dead Zone" (1983) and "eXistenZ" (1999).
Now in his early 60’s, Mr. Cronenberg, a one-time honors student in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, has retained his obsession with the yearnings and vulnerabilities of the human body and mind in increasingly depraved human societies, in such films as Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both 1983).
ADVERTISEMENT With more than a dozen features to his credit over three decades as a director, Cronenberg is a filmmaker whose previous work, from "Scanners" to "Naked Lunch," "Dead Ringers" and "The Fly," has usually played out on reality's farthest shores.
After that, his films increased in popularity with "Scanners" (1981), "Videodrome" (1983), and "The Dead Zone" (1983).
Until recently, the violence has always stood apart from humanity, seeping into our pores from outside sources and poisoning the charactersâ lives in films such as Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and many more.
The horrors here are no less bodily than in Videodrome or The Fly, yet distilled and stretched over the skin of a "realistic" morality play; the subversive artist pierces through the skin, imperceptibly, and brilliantly contaminates the body.
For the past 25 years, he has pushed the envelope in films such as "Scanners," "Videodrome," "Dead Ringers" and his memorably nasty remake of "The Fly."
Later, Cronenberg's "Videodrome" mutated humans with tumors and all kinds of media.
While later efforts such as "Videodrome" and "eXistenZ" explored how flesh and technology were uncomfortably beginning to merge in modern society.
Now in his early 60’s, Mr. Cronenberg, a one-time honors student in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, has retained his obsession with the yearnings and vulnerabilities of the human body and mind in increasingly depraved human societies, in such films as Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both 1983).
(He's also well-known in Lawrence for adapting William S. Burroughs' darn-near unadaptable "Naked Lunch" for the big screen.)
Dead Ringers (1988), with Jeremy Irons in the dual role of warring identical-twin gynecologists, was an artistic and commercial success that led to Mr. Cronenberg being elevated to more prestigious but less effectively rendered projects, such as Naked Lunch (1991), M. Butterfly (1993) and eXistenZ (1999).
So we'll just say this: David Cronenberg's latest twisting thriller probably will appeal to a wider audience than his more daring films like "Naked Lunch" and "Crash," but is no less penetrating in its insights into human nature.
ADVERTISEMENT With more than a dozen features to his credit over three decades as a director, Cronenberg is a filmmaker whose previous work, from "Scanners" to "Naked Lunch," "Dead Ringers" and "The Fly," has usually played out on reality's farthest shores.
Cronenberg (“The Fly,” “Naked Lunch”) is no stranger to violence or sex.
After that came a period of oddball films worthy of another director named David--David Lynch: "Naked Lunch" (1991), "M.
His last few films have been disappointing, to say the least, from the virtual reality shenanigans of eXistenZ to Ralph Fiennes’s oedipal mumblings in Spider.
Dead Ringers (1988), with Jeremy Irons in the dual role of warring identical-twin gynecologists, was an artistic and commercial success that led to Mr. Cronenberg being elevated to more prestigious but less effectively rendered projects, such as Naked Lunch (1991), M. Butterfly (1993) and eXistenZ (1999).
After his last two films, the critically lauded but commercially challenged eXistenZ (1999) and Spider (2002), the studios haven�t exactly come knocking.
A History of Violence ***1/2 (out of four) -- After wasting most of the 1990s directing gross, self-indugent dreck like Naked Lunch, Crash (not the good Paul Haggis ensemble piece from earlier this year, but the NC-17 abomination from 1996 about sickos who get off on car-crash injuries) and eXistenZ, it looks like David Cronenberg has returned to form after the sad little tale of one man's psychological torment, Spider (2002), and the new violence-in-the-heartland thriller, A History of Violence.
Dead Ringers (1988), with Jeremy Irons in the dual role of warring identical-twin gynecologists, was an artistic and commercial success that led to Mr. Cronenberg being elevated to more prestigious but less effectively rendered projects, such as Naked Lunch (1991), M. Butterfly (1993) and eXistenZ (1999).
From the sexual fetishists of Crash to the mentally deranged central character of Spider, and now the mobsters of A History of Violence, Cronenberg now seems to be creating characters whose violence is intrinsic â not something completely implanted by external forces but a virus that resides within.
A History of Violence ***1/2 (out of four) -- After wasting most of the 1990s directing gross, self-indugent dreck like Naked Lunch, Crash (not the good Paul Haggis ensemble piece from earlier this year, but the NC-17 abomination from 1996 about sickos who get off on car-crash injuries) and eXistenZ, it looks like David Cronenberg has returned to form after the sad little tale of one man's psychological torment, Spider (2002), and the new violence-in-the-heartland thriller, A History of Violence.
After his last two films, the critically lauded but commercially challenged eXistenZ (1999) and Spider (2002), the studios haven�t exactly come knocking.
More recently, "Spider" had Ralph Fiennes portray a man who slowly suffers from paranoia and mental decay.
David Cronenberg's ("Spider") elegant direction of Josh Olson's adaptation of John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel almost seems like overkill for this spare and obvious tale.
But with Spider and now A History of Violence, a new tack is in order.
A History of Violence, which was written by Josh Olson, takes its cue from a tradition of films — Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet among them — that use the iconography of the American Dream to lead us toward an American nightmare.
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Working from a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, screenwriter Josh Olson creates a modern-day parallel to all those classic Westerns (from "The Gunfighter" to "Shane" to "The Shootist" to "Unforgiven") in which world-weary gunslingers naively think they can hang up their six-shooters -- at least until, inevitably, their violent pasts catch up with them.
Loosely based on the graphic novel of the same name, "Violence" also seems to borrow some of its story elements from the French classic "The Return of Martin Guerre," in which a long-lost husband and father suddenly returns home to his family, much to the surprise of his wife, who isn't entirely certain he's the man she married years ago.