| More than the average bunch of journalists showed up at the Hamburg press screening of David Cronenbergs suggestively titled "A History of Violence", eager to see the R-rated film that had caused quite a bit of discussion and uncomfortable laughter at the exaggeratedly graphic scenes of violence in Cannes. It turned out to be a very refreshing experience indeed. Although this is easily Cronenbergs most accessible film, one that may disappoint old fans but will certainly win him lots of mainstream viewers, it's still a long shot from the cliché-ridden thrillers one usually <more> gets to review. A clever, manipulative take at the title-giving topic, oscillating between relaxed mid-western realism and the extreme, almost comic brutality one has got used to in the wake of Lynch, Woo and Tarantino. Very minor plot spoilers in the following two paragraphs: "A History of Violence" is the story of simple, good not to say good-looking, though his film-wife Maria Bello calls him just that, in a slightly ironic moment typical of the film's many Hollywood-references family man Tom Stall Viggo Mortensen , who's suddenly faced with a couple of brutal killers walking into his coffee-shop with every intention to wreak havoc. He rises to the occasion, surprising himself, his employees and the audience by deftly finishing the villains off, and becomes the rather unwilling all-American hero of the day. Unfortunately, in the wake of Tom Stall's sudden fame, an evil big-town gangster Ed Harris shows up, black limousine, scar-face, bodyguards and all, who insists on recognizing Stall and mistaking him for someone else someone with, precisely, "a history of violence" behind him. The gangster lingers in the vicinity, threatening Stalls idyllic small town family life, raising questions and suspicions. And of course, eventually, the situation gets out of hand
What really distinguishes this mistaken-identity plot of the type "innocent-man-is-faced-with-violence-and-has-to-act" from other, similar films Dirty Harry and many Westerns come to mind is the way Canadian David Cronenberg manages to deconstruct the US-culture of visual violence and armed self-defense by seducing his audience to embrace that culture, to like his characters in spite of their brutal actions, to have fun and feel uncomfortable about it at the same time.In addition to that, Cronenberg also takes his audience on a ride through the total range of human emotions from loving tenderness to blazing hatred, portraying every possible human relationship, each of which features an aspect of violence at some time sexual relations certainly included, though those may not feature in full-length in the US theatrical versions... Man and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, boys and girls, old friends and young bullies you get it all, portrayed by an excellent, carefully chosen cast of actors that manage to make their characters come realistically to life in spite of or rather in juxtaposition to the topical story. Cronenberg in fact took pains to choose actors who aren't just charismatic, glamorous stars taking care of their image, but who have a reputation for embracing their roles, for being somewhat eccentric and therefore willing to go beyond the usual acting limits. Next to Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris, there is also William Hurt who appears later on as a criminal and who, quite obviously, really enjoyed his role. The final scenes between him and Mortensen are easily the most drastically violent ones in the movie, reminiscent of the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke this film is based on. They are also the ones that had the critics laughing although it was the kind of laughter that sticks uncomfortably in the throat. <less> |
