A History of Violence
5/10
Now normally, I don’t like to blog about things I don’t like be it albums, bands, films, etc. but if blogging about this saves someone from wasting two hours of his or her life, I’m all for it.
This film was a bit of a disaster, despite the Chicago Reader review that talked kindly of it. There was something very special in terms of potential at first-something almost Flannery O’ Connorish about the way the first scene was shot and the feel of the film. If they had stuck with this initial feel to it and had Nick Cave do the soundtrack, it would probably be one of my favorites. But, instead you got shmaltzy piped in elevator music. It was trying to be overdramatic but ended up being incredibly generic and pretty much ruining any good idea or irony the film had.
In addition, there were definitely a few gratuitous scenes of sex and violence (and by gratuitous, what I mean is that the music was still really bad) No, seriously, I was just getting over having seen Sin City in the spring (I’m still having occasional nightmares). The gore of seeing someone’s face after having been shot is just unneeded (If I want that kind of thing, I’ll just rewatch Army of Darkness or Evil Dead II thank you very much) and there’s this scene where the wife dresses up as a cheerleader for her husband (Viggo Mortensen) before bed that sort of comes off as something I’d imagine seeing really late at night on the lifetime network. I’m only guessing, though, as I don’t have cable. But anyways, you get the picture.
And, as for Viggo Mortensen, I liked him better as Aragorn…or just on Charlie Rose setting the record straight a couple of years ago with his home-made No Blood for Oil t-shirt on. Too bad he couldn’t have picked the music for this.
Ultimately, the film fails because Cronenberg can’t figure out whether he should make this an art film with integrity or a conventional mainstream thriller. Trying to do both clearly doesn’t work. Neither does having the film try to go in a few different directions but not completely making a substantially good point in any of these said directions. You end up with a film equivalent of a car wreck-something you can’t help but watch (because you paid the money for the ticket after all, right) but don’t really enjoy or want to keep watching.
Did I mention I hated the music? Did I? Well, just in case you missed it….er I’m experiencing acute inner ear nausea only to be cured by listening to good soundtracks for the rest of the weekend. That’s all there is to it.
Oh and Cinchel liked it even less
(scroll down to the bottom)
(now playing: I <3 Huckabees sndtk)
October 9th, 2005 at 8:34 pm
‘In addition, there were definitely a few gratuitous scenes of sex and violence…
Ultimately, the film fails because Cronenberg can’t figure out whether he should make this an art film with integrity or a conventional mainstream thriller.’
You actually make it sound better than I thought it would be despite my enjoyment of Viggo. But you also confer what I dreaded would be wrong about and I thank you for that, I don’t have to see it now. the part I quoted is because it seems like Cronenberg is always doing that, I Enjoy some of the texture he brings to a film, but I feel he then spends too much time swirling around too much in the enjoyment he seems to have in depicting sex and gore for their own aesthetic appeal. The television advertisement is well edited; Cronenberg need that in his films as well, he needs a person to say “ok stop, stop now, get back to storyâ€
October 9th, 2005 at 9:31 pm
Thanks for your comment and for reading
Yeah I think honestly that overall the film was really stunted, especially the dialogue. It’s very aggravating to watch because I think he has the potential to make some really great films and for this one he definitely had the talent there.
And you know also I really liked Naked Lunch as a film so I expected more from him. I’m a little surprised A History of Violence received so many critical accolades. Also..maybe I am wrong but people who want to see a violent film thriller are probably going to be turned away by this just as much as people who want to see an art film that makes them think. By trying to do both, it fails on both levels.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
Cronie is a pretentious film snob I have recently decided – must be stopped. As Eddie Murphy in America must be stopped from making films.
I truly feel Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Don McKellar and the rest of the clique (I can’t recall all their names but its small) is directly responsible for the disaster that is Canadian filmmaking.
Its pretentious, over-dramatic and cheap. That doesn’t mean it’s any different from Hollyweird, but at least hollyweird has a talent pool that can actually access funds and are given chances to shine. Of course, with the money and politics involved, Hollywood is a different animal altogether, but Canadian filmmaking has to let go of the past, forget these talentless hacks and mine some up-and-coming talent. They keep giving these dolts a major project every year and they ALWAYS FAIL
There is no money going to young filmmakers here, its even hard for a guy like Cronie to totally finance a film from Canadian moula, but these f*ckrs are hording the pot.
they must be stopped. And everyone in the industry is saying it here. This little clique is killing our Cinema…sorry for the rant, but really, they must be stopped.
October 18th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
Did you see it btw? Here’s the thing..the more reviews I read, the more I just don’t get it. Eveyone raves about how good it is and I almost left the theater. It was one of the worst films I have ever seen. It was a glorified bad tv special that had so much potential to go somewhere but ended up going nowhere.
Do you think guys like Cronenberg just sacrifice something brilliant for commercial success or what?
Also, it sounds like in Canada, people get their film money through…would it be called grants? Do you guys have alot of private investors? There have been some great Canadian films. But I think there definitely has to have been something more worthwhile in the last few months made there than A History of Violence.
But again, some people seem to find something great about it. So I don’t get it. Please let me know if you have seen this film. I’d be relieved to know I wasn’t the only one who hated it!
October 18th, 2005 at 7:16 pm
no i haven’t seen it. after your review i halted. i’ll wait til its on cable. i can’t in good concious support these canadian filmmakers anymore. its like going to walmart. they are truly awful and cronies last few films haven’t been exceptional, neither with egoyan or mckeller. Yes most of our money is grant based, but that doesn’t mean its fully governmental. Telefilm is our biggest contributor to film making, and they are always willing to overlook major talent for this clique. What happens is, telefilm reviews your “status”, as in, what have you produced and its mostly crony type decisions, then with a telefilm investment, you are able to finance a film on either more private investment, further tax credits based on Telefilm in the first tier. Sometimes it works the opposite way, if you have huge private investment, Telefilm will notice you…its a complicated mess up here. But it is our only salvation. We don’t have a huge production base like we used to. Our industry is surviving on US productions at the moment with this little clique getting all the attention.
October 18th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
I haven’t seen any of Egoyan’s latest but I did like The Sweet Hereafter (really like the Russel Banks novel as well). As for McKellar-I have to say I am a fan of Last Night. Now that isn’t to say that these are the only directors that should be getting the majority of the funds, though, mind you.
I have to say that I think there’s a great deal of talent all around in Canada in terms of music, art, and literature but when I was there in August I wound up feeling sort of depressed because I saw opportunities for Canada to be promoting Canadians and those were being lost. Don’t get me wrong, overall it was a great trip back and there were quite a few sentimental moments for me.
Out of the current art forms, I probably know the most what is happening right now in terms of music and I was so angry when Canada’s Wonderland kept playing mainly American bands/videos. That and the fact that all of these American Eagle stores came in I saw teenagers wearing tight t-shirts that said things like, “You get these in the states.” I don’t know why anyone in Canada would not boycott this place, these things and continually be active on creating more of a sense of community. You know, like being involved in all levels, programming, theaters, etc. to try to make this happen-even writing movie theaters and telling them it is a travesty that 9/10 films they are showing are not Canadian. If enough people did it, perhaps the theaters would listen and more revenue would be generated for Canadian films. Even Canadian Idol really bothers me. Because, it started out as American Idol and it’s a crappy show and idea to begin with. The fact that Canada would follow suit makes it seem like some stupid competition. Canada is better than that. Musically, you have some of the best bands in existence and not just currently but legendary bands.
I’m sorry Jamie. You know how I feel about Canada. But there was definitely a change that I saw between the last time I went to Toronto about five years ago and now. Ottawa I think is different and I imagine many of the other cities farther from the border are as well. I just think Canada needs to keep it’s distinctiveness because Canada as Canada has something to add to the world. Canadian idol really doesn’t add anything to the world.
If you’d like, you can argue any of these points. I like hearing your perspective. If you can convince me I’m wrong, I’d be really grateful.
October 19th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
First. That’s the problem with these guys. They make ONE good film and they are given the keys to the kingdom. Yes, Last Night was exceptional, but if given enough chances, I’m sure I could make a great arty film.
You talk about the Idol shows. Remember, these are not American. Nothing really is anymore. Its all recycled television from the UK. Almost every shows etimology is somewhere else.
About the big box stores, and I think American Eagle is one, they create jobs quickly, and are cheap. These companies are every pseudo capitalist countries wet dreams. While it is devasting in every way to our culture and economy (in the long run) the conservative movement here made dam sure we would be homogenized with these corps. They have staying power. and spread like a virus.
Trudeau believed Canada should keep intact our business roots by penalizing these corps when they moved in here. %25 of their gross profit was mandated to be given to a direct Canadian competator. Not very capitalist in conservatives eyes. So the early 80’s saw companies reluctant to move in, so they began lobbying the conservatives, giving them huge donations. Thats how they came to power in the late 80’s btw. So Mulrony’s first legislation was to bury every advance in Canadian protectionism set by Trudeau and the big box stores moved in. Not only do they not have to compete anymore with Canadian business. They can remove %100 of their profits out of Canada without penalty, AND never pay taxes. So we rely on income tax and property tax alone. Which is NEVER paid. If Walmart paid their back taxes of property tax and duty for the last decade we could put all our kids through any university for 6 generations. Incredible isn’t it?
$$ talks to the poli here too. Its equally as bad now. Didn’t used to be. The equilibrium between poli and corps was usually for de-regulation and usually looked poorly at. That was the deal with conservatives. They were bought and paid for, and everyone knew it, libs not so much, but now, geezus…
Regarding Canadian theaters. %99 are American owned and operated. They won’t dare put a Canadian feature against an American one. Its that simple. The only way around this is if the CRTC implements legislation like they do on TV so that they have to play a certain % of Canadian content. Another move by the big $$ to stop this happened in the 90’s…
we take it up the a$$ here from American corps, and its killing our identity. But you would find that EVERYWHERE. When I wetn to guatemala all the kids looked american, wore american clothes, sport teams, listened to boy bands from America, even used the likeness’ of celebrities to sell cars. Its a plague wiping out the culture world. I hate it.
And they hate America down there. Imagine whats happening in less anti-american cultures…
ugh
October 19th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
“I’m sure I could make a great arty film.”
Oh definitely it’s so wrong that you aren’t getting more support when these guys are getting a huge share.
What is it with America…you know, you don’t realize how pervasive and imperialistic this country is until you travel. It’s sickening. I really like the Canadian identity because it’s made up of so many other cultures yet I’ve always felt there were less problems with racism and more open mindedness. I saw even evidence of racism when I went to Canada the last time. I was in this store at Scarborough Mall (close to where the campsite was that my family and I were staying at) and there was this older man-probably 70 with his younger son. They started yelling at the people who worked there, who were of Asian descent. I wouldn’t have thought it was having to do with their race but he made a comment about how all of “them” had come and taken their jobs, etc. which is a common argument you hear here as well and I found it incredibly disturbing. I was really upset and I told the guy who rang me up that I was sorry they had to deal with such a racist but that doesn’t exactly make it any better. I just felt ashamed to be of the same white race as the guy who was making the hateful comments.
So at some points I really felt like my whole idealistic view of Canada was sort of slipping away from me. I think the best thing about both of our countries is the diversity of people from so many other countries. But the problem is that if immigrants are not welcomed and are met with resentment, it is to everyone’s inevitable loss.
Anyhow, I think Canada has the potential to create a different identity separate from America. It certainly had it’s own identity while I was growing up and visiting all throughout my childhood and adolescence and I’m sure in some areas it still has more of a uniqueness but I really feel like more activism is needed in that respect and more Canadians taking ownership on all levels. Thanks for the political info.