A History of Violence

[m.g.]

Definitely one of the five best english speaking movie i saw last year...

[adam]

I think it's definitely interesting how much this movie has divided people's opinions. I haven't yet had anyone try and vocalize what they like about it, though. I mean, in any significant detail.

[m.g.]

my technical vocabulary will be... erm... very poor, sorry, but :

Very good script
Cast very well distributed
Amazing editing
Almost perfect technically (light, art design, etc...like almost all Cronenberg's movies)
...AND brilliantly directed

[adam]

See, but I felt it had nothing to say thematically (that wasn't cliched), and that the plot was almost wholly predictable (no tension). So, without tension or a thematic statement, I felt the whole thing was kind of redundant. I like Cronenberg, so I'm open to the option that I missed something, but I found it rather unengaging.

[m.g.]

Mmm... I don't agree with your "predictable (no tension)".

Even if it doesn't really seems to be done "Ã* la Cronenberg" as it was apparently an "ordered" movie (not a director's own projet), it's again about the duality of all things (people, society, country, ...), what's true, what's wrong, what's fake, can you trust appearances, is what you see real, how are the hidden parts, etc... and I think it's again perfectly done here.

And Viggo Mortensen is again amazing (anyway, since I saw The Indian Runner, I think he's one of the best actor).

[adam]

What I mean by predictable is that the preview made it out to be something and that is precisely what it turned out to be. There were no significant plot developments that the preview hadn't really revealed. Maybe if I hadn't seen the preview I would have liked it more.

I haven't seen The Indian Runner; I take it that it is worth checking out?

[b.miller]

for me, several of the "best" movies that came out last year were pretty similar in that they weren't really anything new as far as story is concerned but they were done very very well. So as exercises in execution rather than innovation, movies like A History of Violence and Match Point really excel... even if we have seen that story many times before.

For me personally, my favorite part of Violence was the violence. Cronenberg uses the gore like a scalpel in this movie... the gore is SO realistic in the very few times that it appears that it really affected me on a gut level. it's only there when it needs to be but damn if Cronenberg does use every frame to cut into you, using it to constantly re-evaluate Viggo's character. He starts off as such a docile character that, so see little details like brains on the floor and things like that (i know there's more to it than that but it's been a while since i've seen the movie...) really changes your perception of him. Of course the two sex scenes are perhaps the most revealing of the changing relationship between Viggo and Bello, but it's really in every moment of Viggo's acting that does it. From the time the lights went down I already knew how the story would end but i distinctly remember me thinking to myself "damn, there's no way this guy is a mobster" at the beginning of the film... depsite myself even. So hey, if a guy can do that then I have to give it to him.

Still though, I think the movie is more a standard story told very well than anything else. For the amount of hype it got I can see how you'd be underwhelmed with it, Adam. I had the same exact reaction to Match Point.

P.S. if you like psychological thrillers, do not i repeat DO NOT watch the trailer for Hard Candy. Just walk into it cold whenever it opens in your city. The trailer gives away a major twist in the film and while that twist does happen pretty early, I think the movie is maybe 5x better if you walk into it cold. It's a really powerful movie and well worth watching, so if you're interested at all in this kind of stuff, try to avoid the trailer before seeing it. the movie again is Hard Candy.

[m.g.]

I don't know which preview you saw... trailers, previews, billboards, titles are not the same here & there. Sometimes, even the movie is having a different editing.

Here (in France, I mean) we had only a very short trailer, as anyway I'm a Cronenberg addict, I didn't wanted to know too much about the movie when it was in Cannes festival, as I generally believe that too much trailer, promos, articles, etc... are killing movies somehow...


The Indian Runner is probably one of the best film I saw in the '90s & I think Sean Penn is most honourable as a director (and a very good actor most of the time...)

[adam]

I really enjoyed Matchpoint, and you're right about the reasons. Such a technically superb film. Loved the opening shot.

[the mongoose]

Just saw this on DVD and I loved it.

The effects are especially great and the acting isn't too shabby either.

Palm heels to the nose rock!