DVD | A History Of Violence

Rating: R18 - Contains Graphic Violence & Sex Scenes.
Duration: 91 mins.
Genre : Suspense/Thriller.
Actors: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt, Maria Bello, Stephen McHattie, Peter MacNeill.
Release Date: Available now.

I was a little taken back when I discovered – just before watching – that David Cronenberg had directed A History Of Violence.

Cronenberg is a capable director, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that he normally chooses movies with a stranger subject. In the end however, it became easy to see why Cronenberg had chosen to tackle this movie.

History’s plot is simple: small town diner owner Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a loved member of the community, with a loving wife and two children. Then one night, as he’s closing up, two men enter his diner and demand to be served. Tom senses something isn’t right and tells his waitress she can go home, but then men stop her and Tom takes action. With in seconds Tom has disarmed both men and killed them. Tom is hailed a local Hero, and the story is picked up by the media and he becomes front page news.

The attention is unwanted, as Tom has a dark past that is about to catch up to him, and put his life and the safety of his family on the line.

The quality of the preview disk that I viewed History on, was such that the tonal range was all wrong, and the movie was devoid of a full range of colour, and resulted in a very dark image. Being a dark subject matter, I’m guessing that some of the scenes would have been filmed a little darker, but it’s hard to judge based on my viewing.

The camera work however was good, with some interesting angles, and the pacing was perfect, with Cronenberg finding the right amount of action vs reflection.

If you watch History purely as an entertaining movie, you might end up disappointed with the ending, but if you’re prepared to delve deeper into the subliminal subject matter, you’ll get the fullness of the story.

Cronenberg you see has strong beliefs in the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest, and in History takes a look at inherited survival traits.

As the film’s title suggests, these survival traits are violent in nature, which comes as a shock to the viewer when they manifest in Tom’s son Jack, who has spent his entire life shying away from confrontation.

It’s in this dark and violent movie that Cronenberg wants us to believe that we are all capable of hideous acts of violence, if we are forced into a situation where our survival – or the survival of loved ones – depends on them.

It also seems to be Cronenberg’s belief that we cannot escape our past, that we are born a certain way, and that is what we will be for the rest of our lives.

It’s an interesting, if seriously flawed theory, which makes for an engaging movie.

Food for thought:
Are we born a certain way or do our decisions in life develop who we are?

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