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9
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
WARNING:
The following review may contain spoilers.
Tom
Stall (Viggo Mortensen) becomes a local hero after
defending his diner against a couple of hoodlums,
but his newfound celebrity uncovers a side of
himself that he was hoping to keep hidden...
Despite rave reviews
by the mainstream press, David Cronenberg's A
History Of Violence has been met with skepticism
and indifference by many of the cult filmmaker's
core fan base. Even as the director has joked
about the film being his "sellout project",
many on the internet have taken this jokey description
to heart, attacking the film as a hollow attempt
to break into the mainstream. Such criticism overlooks
the subtle shading of the film, as well as the
way it neatly fits into the director's consistent
themes of identity and the transitory nature of
appearance. It is, of course, sadly common among
cult film buffs to equate mainstream success with
selling out, so this reaction from certain factions
is almost to be expected. Far from being "mainstream"
Cronenberg, it is a film of subtle tension and
intelligence that shows its gifted maker moving
in a different direction from his earlier bodily
horrors while still retaining the same coolly
clinical point of view.
Josh
Olsen's screenplay, based on a graphic novel by
Vince Locke and John Wagner, sets itself up as
a conventional vigilante tale, but this is no
simplistic action thriller. The basic idea of
peeling away the layers of superficial reality
to expose a harsh, ugly reality beneath the veneer
of a suburban ideal recalls David Lynch (Blue
Velvet) and Larry Clark (Ken
Park), but Cronenberg resists the urge
to overdo the grotesque aspects of the drama,
preferring instead to ground the film firmly in
reality before exploring the complexity of its
protagonists and their relationships. Cronenberg
has stated in interviews that his aim was to explore
America's obsession with violence, a potentially
loaded subject in our contemporary political climate,
and he manages to do so without sermonizing. Tom
Stall is put on a pedestal by the local townspeople
for committing an act of violence — one that was
in self-defense, true, but nevertheless the implication
is that there is something inherently off-kilter
about a society that idolizes acts of violence,
no matter how justified. As Tom undergoes the
transformation from respected but anonymous citizen
to local celebrity, ghosts of the past show up
to haunt him —
Cronenberg and Olsen keep things tantalizingly
ambiguous for much of the running time, but inevitably
the truth has to be revealed. Without wanting
to spoil where the film goes, suffice it to say
that the duality of Tom's character is a running
thread in much of Cronenberg's work, from the
embittered mother (Samantha Eggar) and the children
that manifest her rage in The
Brood to Jeremy Irons' twin gynecologists
in Dead Ringers and
so forth.
A History Of Violence
is one of Cronenberg's most satisfying films to
date —
while many of his early works sometimes suffer
from weaknesses in characterization, here the
protagonists are richly detailed and recognizably
human, no matter how flawed they may be. On a
purely technical level, the filmmaking is some
of the best of his career; every shot is meticulously
framed without feeling artificially pre-planned
or stagnant. The rich lighting by Peter Sushitsky
yields some potent images, especially as the Rockwellian
perfection of the Stalls' family life begins to
deteriorate and is replaced by a more hard-edged
reality. Howard Shore's melancholy score sets
the right tone of impending doom. The performances
are top notch. Mortensen has never been better.
Cronenberg tends to favor leading men who have
a somewhat dull, flat quality to them (think of
Peter Weller in Naked Lunch
or Stephen Lack in Scanners)
and Mortensen is consistent with this, albeit
in a good way. He embodies the best and worst
aspects of his character with conviction and credibility
—
the actor may have found popularity in the popular
Lord of the Rings
films, but this is the role of a lifetime, rich
in detail and opportunity to show how diverse
a performer he really is. Mario Bello is superb
as Tom's loving wife —
quite simply, there was no finer female performance
in 2005, and the fact that she was not nominated
for an Academy Award for her brave, thoughtful
work here is a solid indicator of how superficial
the Awards can be. Whether it be exposing herself
physically during the film's controversial sex
scenes (both added, it deserves to be noted, by
the director himself) or emotionally as her character's
world is turned inside out, she manages to hit
the right emotional chord without becoming irritatingly
overwrought. Ed Harris adds another impressive
characterization to his list, as a scar-faced
mobster who sets his good eye on Tom, but it's
William Hurt who virtually steals the film. Hurt,
originally Cronenberg's first choice for Dead
Ringers, has a very small role but he makes
a tremendous impression. Alternately frightening,
funny, clumsy and perversely evil, he proves the
dictum that there are no small roles, only small
actors and was rightly nominated for an Oscar.
Capped with a wonderfully ambiguous ending, A
History Of Violence is a slow burn of a
thriller that can stand with the very best of
Cronenberg's work. It may not have the spectacular
visual effects of his earlier films, but it works
just as well on the strength of its thoughtful
execution and performances. Mixing moments of
visceral and emotional impact, it has enough going
for it to discredit any claim that it was done
with an eye towards appeasing the mainstream money
machine.
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New
Line's release of A History
Of Violence has been generating a bit of
buzz on the internet. This is the R-rated theatrical
cut of the film, as opposed to the ever so slightly
bloodier "international version" shown overseas.
According to Cronenberg's commentary, the differences
were so small that he didn't see the point in
releasing two different cuts of the film. Censorship
it might be, but Cronenberg is right —
the differences are literally of no consequence
(they are limited to two shots, adding a couple
of spurts of blood to two already vicious images)
and if the filmmaker isn't complaining, then why
should we? Beyond this point of contention, this
is a first-rate release. The 1.78/16x9 transfer
looks superb —
colorful, razor-sharp and
unaffected by edge enhancement issues and the
like. The 5.1 audio packs a wallop; dialogue comes
through clearly and the music and sound effects
have the desired effect. Extras include a commentary
by Cronenberg, the usual assortment of trailers,
and a pleasing variety of featurettes. The commentary
is terrific —
Cronenberg is one of the directors who seems very
much at home in this medium, and he provides some
fascinating insights into the film and its production.
The first featurette is a behind the scenes special,
divided into several parts, that is mercifully
not the usual PR puff piece prepared for DVD releases.
It provides some excellent insights into the genesis,
production and reception of the film, offering
some glimpses of Cronenberg blocking scenes out
with his cast and crew. The second featurette
is divided into two parts —
the first presents a cut
scene, finished for the DVD, which Cronenberg
decided during editing to remove from the picture;
it includes optional commentary by the director.
The second part offers some behind the scenes
footage and comments on the making of the scene
in question, a set-piece which Cronenberg admits
might have pleased his core fan base but which
never sat well with him. The third featurette,
Too Commercial for Cannes, pokes fun at
the rumors of "commercial sellout" that has dogged
Cronenberg since taking on the project and shows
the film's enthusiastic reception at the Cannes
Film Festival.
4/05/06
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