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A History of Violence
(2005)
 
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Director:
David
Cronenberg |
COUNTRY
USA |
GENRE
Drama/Mystery/Crime |
NORWEGIAN
TITLE
A History of
Violence |
RUNNING
TIME
95
minutes |
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Producer:
Chris Bender
David Cronenberg
J. C. Spink |
Screenwriter
(based on a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke):
Josh Olson |
Review
Most
movies are fairly clear on whether they try to emulate realism or take a
more or less fantastical approach to its material. Veteran filmmaker
David Cronenberg's latest outing A History of Violence embarks
on a far more challenging path,
opting for a road somewhere in between
and
taking us on a symbolic and historical journey into both sides of
Americanism. His setting is classic
American
small-town life on
one
hand and classic
American
mafia on the other. And the result is a powerful, sublime,
thought-provoking and insightful
film.
Cronenberg directs with a wonderful poetic realism; his
statements are low-key and bold at the same time, and he manages to take
a series
of well-known types and settings and highlight them from a new angle.
The cast is great with two
particularly
effective character-relations:
(1) Viggo Mortensen/Maria
Bello
as the man and wife,
and (2)
Viggo
Mortensen/William
Hurt
as the two brothers.
The
chemistry and interaction between the former two is sparkling. They
conjure (well assisted by Cronenberg's pre-occupation and experience
with the subject matter) two of the hottest and most innovative sex-scenes
I've ever seen in film, and manage to pin-down the implicit and often
wordless arguments of long-term partners. The way their relationship is
projected shows how love sometimes can be both unhealthy and irrational
but still prevail.
A
final treat here is the introduction of William Hurt and the brief
scenes he shares with Mortensen. Hurt,
in the 1980s
hailed as one of the greatest talents
in
Hollywood, shows his impressive versatility and forceful acting in a
magnificent little part. In many ways, he sums up what Cronenberg's
film is about and provides the director with the appropriate ammunition
to close his film. A film that might well be an outsider on Oscar night.
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