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A History of Violence

Germany, United States

2005

96 Min
Color
1.85:1
English
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
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DIR David Cronenberg

EXEC Kent Alterman, Cale Boyter, Josh Braun, Toby Emmerich, Justis Greene, Roger Kass

PROD Chris Bender, J.C. Spink

SCR John Wagner, Vince Locke, Josh Olson

DP Peter Suschitzky

CAST Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Maria Bello, Ashton Holmes, Peter MacNeill, Stephen McHattie, Greg Bryk, Kyle Schmid

ED Ronald Sanders

PROD DES Carol Spier

MUSIC Howard Shore

Toronto (Gala), Cannes (In Competition)

Synopsis

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is living a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife (Maria Bello) and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana. One night, though, their idyllic existence is shattered when Tom foils a vicious attempted robbery in his diner. He takes action and saves his customers and friends in the self-defense killings of two-sought-after criminals. Heralded as a hero, Tom’s life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man (Ed Harris) who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who’s wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of supposed mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result. A History of Violence is loosely based on the graphic novel by Vince Locke and John Wagner. –New Line Cinema

Director

Original

David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father was a journalist, and his mother was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early age (he wrote and published eerie short stories, thus following his father’s path) and for music (playing classical guitar until he was 12), Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Literature after switching from the science department. He reached the cult status of horror-meister with the gore-filled, modern-vampire variations of Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977), following an experimental apprenticeship in independent filmmaking and in Canadian television programs.

Cronenberg gained popularity with the head-exploding, telepathy-based Scanners (1981) after the release of the much underrated, controversial, and autobiographical The Brood (1979). Cronenberg become a sort… read more

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Displaying 4 of 38 wall posts.
Picture of Henrik Schunk

Henrik Schunk

22May12

A tour de force by Viggo, as usual

Picture of Roscoe

Roscoe

21Mar12

A fine and intelligent film, with a lot on its mind. I wish Cronenberg had cast anyone but William Hurt in one key role -- his gimmicky over-acting schtick damn near sinks the film.

Picture of Tigrane

Tigrane

4Feb12

What makes this movie so good is the utter simplicity of its form and plot. No razzle-dazzle here. Just pure and honest themes and great performances. The final scene is for me the best example that proves that cinema is an art of images rather than words.

john saenz and 2 others like this

Zach Closs, jeffreyreeser

Picture of Glim Ho

Glim Ho

24Dec11

关于宣泄,没有比隐藏自己更好的方式

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La violencia como enfermedad (en progreso)

By Don't Get Nasty Brother on September 2, 2010

Luego de Spider (2002) o quizás desde esa película, David Cronenberg volvió a cambiarse la piel, similar a lo que pasó cuando en 1988 dirigió Dead Ringers y abandonaba en cierta medida el cine de terror…  read review

great comic adaption

By Conner Rainwat​er on May 30, 2010

A great adaption by Cronenberg. I love the tone of the movie, it’s such an odd sense of security. Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris were perfect in this and just made the movie all the more real and entertaining…  read review

Violencia o no Violencia

By DDDUDE on May 14, 2010

David Cronenberg nos entrega otra pelicula llena de violencia su nombre nos relata ya una completa Historia de Violencia , brindandonos una sordida muestra de violecia , tanto en la psiquis como en…  read review

Untitled

By Sam Cooper on July 28, 2009

Who ever said that Cronenberg was going soft? This is the follow up to Spider, which I consider to be one of his greatest accomplishments of all time. History is just as good, but in different ways…  read review

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