A History of Violence (2005)

Thanks to the always-kind folks at the Providence Phoenix magazine, I was invited to a free advance screening of Cronenberg's latest work, A History of Violence. It was actually a few days before the film's opening, but because of my huge backlog, it's been out since yesterday as of this writing. D'oh!

As a film, it was slightly disappointing, actually. But, the more I think about it, in retrospect, the more it stays with me. But, the film, for me, was a great chance for some deep and intelligent explorations of the very nature of violence. While it does do that to some extent, most of the film falls into a pretty standard Hitchcockian thriller mold. While it's better than 99% of the crap Hollywood's producing, it seems like they dropped the ball in really exploring these themes as deep as they could have. But, I guess that's the compromise between intelligent filmmaking and entertaining the masses.

The scenes with Tom's son felt very cheesy to me, like they were straight out of an after-school special. And this is coming from someone with plenty of bully experience in High School, heh. But, it's interesting to see him go off the handle, suggesting the possible inheritance of a violent nature, conjuring up the title.

There are a couple of sex scenes that seem extremely forced, which isn't surprising, given this is Cronenberg. But, they seem out of place, and honestly, I felt uncomfortable watching them. The first scene isn't too tasteful, but it seems normal enough, a young married couple enjoying a night alone. But, the second scene begins with her fleeing from Tom in terror, and he pins her on the staircase and pretty much rapes her, as her guard is slowly let down, ultimately consenting. This says something about the nature of violence and its relation to sexuality, as well as how much of a turn on brutish, masculine power is. But, it still seems really out of place in the film.

But, like I said, the more I think about it, especially in today's moviegoing climate, the more the film grows upon me. It's another great film from Cronenberg.