A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (HIGHLY RECOIMMENDED) A
Are we defined by how we live our lives now or by our past sins? Are some acts beyond redemption? How deep do the roots of violence reach?
These are just a few of the questions David Cronenberg confronts us with in his deceptively straightforward action thriller, A History Of Violence. Based on an unspectacular graphic novel, Cronenberg has transformed a gripping but simple thriller into something darker and more personal.
Viggo Mortensen stars as salt-of-the-earth Tom Stall, adored husband, devoted father and owner of a small town cafe in one of those idyllic communities that only exist in Norman Rockwell paintings. He has two swell kids (new-comer Ashton Holmes and angelically cute Heidi Hayes) and a smart, sexy wife (Maria Bello). When a pair of sadistic thugs tries to rob him, Tom reacts with brutal precision, killing them both and saving the lives of his employees and customers.
Overnight, he’s heralded as a hero by the media, drawing the attention of a Philadelphia mobster (Ed Harris) who claims that Tom is actually someone else; a member of the ‘family’ who disfigured him twenty years earlier. Even as Tom insists that it’s a case of mistaken identity, everyone around him begins to have doubts.
With more than a nod to Hitchcock and Sam Peckinpah, HoV’s ‘wrong man’ fighting to protect his family and clear his name delivers unexpected jolts of intense violence and candid sexuality. Though it’s meticulously paced and expertly crafted, the straightforward plot may strike Cronenberg’s fans as shockingly conventional.
It’s the film’s carefully rendered subtext, however, that sets it apart. Without conceding any of his iconoclastic vision, Cronenberg has turned a genre film with classic Western overtones (complete with shoot outs and showdowns) into a gripping psychological drama that examines the duality of man and his infatuation with the art of violence.
Unlike most of today’s action films, where violence is choreographed with balletic elegance, HoV treats physical violence --and, for that matter, sex-- as sudden, ruthless and clumsy. It regards brutality as universal: a disease of mankind that can be treated, ignored and, even contained, but never fully cured.
Employing narrative hyperrealism, Cronenberg constantly blurs the line between iconic fantasy and harsh reality, deviously underlining the links between acting, role-playing and denial. Can a person ever escape their true nature? Is identity mutable or constant? The film taps into something primal about the consequences of brute force, encouraging the audience to reflect on its own capacity for violence.
The cast is uniformly superb. Mortensen is quietly commanding and deeply sympathetic as Tom; a man struggling to hold love, family and penitence as his core values. Maria Bello takes the stereotypical devoted-but-tormented wife and invests it with sensuality and passion, creating a character that is entirely authentic.
The two actors have genuine chemistry and you believe the bonds between them, suddenly in danger of severing, are very real. Taking advantage of this, Cronenberg masterfully stages two sex scenes; one gently candid the other uncomfortably violent.
The supporting cast impresses as well. Ed Harris brings an icy, laid-back menace to his sociopath mobster. William Hurt surprises in a scene-chewing role that might easily have gone to Christopher Walken or Dennis Hopper.
Screenwriter Josh Olson shapes the film’s mythic narrative with effective contemporary touches and, more importantly, characters that think and behave with believable authenticity. By investing the full weight of family drama on Tom Stall’s struggle to keep the trust and love of his wife and kids, he earns the film’s poignant finale.
A History Of Violence is graceful, terrifying and emotionally compelling. David Cronenberg displays impeccable restraint and quiet confidence over his material, all while maintaining his sly sense of humor. He keeps things surprising without ever trying to trick us, moving without ever being manipulative. It’s the kind of thoughtful, adult filmmaking that engages both the heart and the mind.