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Monday, 31 July 2006 |
  Who is each of us, really? Is it all an act? Are we just a collection of the behaviors we think we are supposed to display? Can anyone just decide to act differently, become a completely different person simply because we are tired of who we are? I doubt it, though I do think the way we behave and the person we think we are is mostly an act. How's that for a contradiction? At its deepest level, Canadian director David Cronenberg's most recent film, A History of Violence is about exactly that, as well as the possibility of violence as a genetic trait. It is a film which is held up by many film enthusiasts as one of the finest exampled of the art currently being made, while Cronenberg considers it too "mainstream" for his tastes.
Viggo Mortensen (from those Lord of the Rings flicks) plays Tom Stall, a laid back, soft spoken business owner in middle America with a farm house, Wife (Maria Bello) and two children. He lives the standard life. Mowing the lawn, going to work, fixing his truck, dealing with the kids. One day a couple bad guys (we've already seen an example of their work in the opening scene) come into his diner at closing time and pretty soon it is obvious they intend to rob the place, and they might as well kill everyone while they're at it. After dealing with them calmly, once it becomes obvious what their intentions are, Tom delivers them both to the great beyond like a seasoned pro. News programs soon flood the town and Tom becomes a highly publicized hero, something he isn't exactly thrilled about. Shortly, a heavily scarred, serious looking individual named Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris) arrives in town telling Tom he is actually a Philadelphian named Joey Cusack, and he's pretty adamant about it.
What follows is an intriguing, occasionally grisly tale of Tom and his family coping with, and discovering, who they actually are. Topics like, what is in a name, what makes us who we are and how much do genetics determine how we behave, are touched on in this nicely made, stunningly photographed (Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky has knocked another one out of the park) movie from one of the most (few) talented "Horror" directors working today. I put "Horror" in quotes because, even though every movie David Cronenberg has ever made has significant horror themes, by traditional thought, most of them are not conventional horror. I once mentioned his outstanding Sci-Fi/Psychological Horror film eXistenZ (that's not a typo) to someone asking for recommendations, and got an angry response once it had been seen that "That wasn't a horror movie!!!.
Beyond this, I'll say no more. It's best to let the real meat of the story come as a relative surprise. It's not an entirely new idea for a movie however. In 1996 Geena Davis played essentially the same character as Mortensen in director Renny Harlin's darkly amusing The Long Kiss Goodnight, which took the more mainstream Action/Buddy flick approach. Both movies are extremely enjoyable, though for completely different reasons.
Before its release, A History of Violence received a lot of press regarding its possible NC-17 rating for both the grisly violence and a couple sexually explicit scenes. Like many movie viewers, I am a fan of both grisly violence and sexually explicit scenes, particularly when the latter involves an actress like Maria Bello. Besides, in the time of DVD, even if the movie was cut to achieve an "R" rating, thus eliminating the theatrical death of the misunderstand NC-17, it would be guaranteed to be restored to full glory on an unrated video release. No matter, the NC-17 rating was avoided, after months of battling and threatened legal action, with only the removal of one short bit of footage.
Even though A History of Violence falls a bit short of top tier Cronenberg, such as the previously mentioned eXistenZ and his fabulous and quietly fascinating Spider, it is the most accessible film he has made in recent years. With a director whose films tend to range from extremely odd (Dead Ringers) to decidedly bizarre (Crash 1996, Videodrome, Naked Lunch), accessibility might make for a good introduction to his work.
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, Ashton Holmes, Peter MacNeill, Heidi Hayes, Stephen McHattie, William Hurt
Director: David Cronenberg
Written by: Josh Olson (Screenplay) John Wagner & Vince Locke (Graphic Novel)
Cinematographer: Peter Suschitzky
Studio: Alliance Atlantis, Warner Brothers
Rated: R (big time)
Running Time: 96 mins
Release: 2005
Reviewer: John Rice
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