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InvisibleLakefingers

Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Loc: mumuland
Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg)
    #5287905 - 02/11/06 04:16 AM (17 years, 11 months ago)

To those of you that have seen "A History of Violence" by David Cronenberg:

What did you think of it? Have you seen any of his other films?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399146/


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Invisiblekoppie
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Lakefingers]
    #5287921 - 02/11/06 04:44 AM (17 years, 11 months ago)

(Small warning: There may be spoilers in this post.)

I loved it. This film has a timing unlike any I have seen before. At the end I had the feeling that the film had just started. Cronenberg seems to play with cliches of the cinematic thriller and turn them upside down. In any other film, the protagonist slaughtering the gangsters who terrorized his family is hailed as the solution of the problem but in this film it proves to be the undoing of all concerned as they now have a brutal killer in their midst.

I'm a great fan of Cronenberg and like most of his work. The hero who starts off being the victim and turns out to be the bad guy (or at least a bad guy or perhaps just a psychopath) is a theme that runs through most of his work. So while this film is very different from the perverted craziness, of say, Videodrome, Crash or eXistenZ, it's completely in character for his work. To me the only other filmmaker that comes close to his depiction of the demons inside all of us is David Lynch.

Of the other films I have seen, I didn't like Spider very much I can't really tell why, probably because it's too close to bleak British kitchen sink drama.

Scanners is probably the only Cronenberg film I have seen that left me unimpressed, but I may have to see it again to form a considered opinion on that one.


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OfflineWhiteBunny
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: koppie]
    #5288593 - 02/11/06 12:45 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

great movie but I would like to see where the story goes...

WB


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Invisibleit stars saddam
Satan

Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,571
Loc: Spahn Ranch
Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: koppie]
    #5288949 - 02/11/06 02:47 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

koppie said:
Of the other films I have seen, I didn't like Spider very much I can't really tell why, probably because it's too close to bleak British kitchen sink drama.




Me either. For a much more realistic and entertaining portrait of schizophrenia, I would suggest Harmony Korine's Julien Donkey Boy.

I thoroughly enjoyed A History of Violence, though Videodrome still stands as the ultimate Cronenberg film in my opinion. I have Naked Lunch, The Fly, and M Butterfly (which I haven't watched yet) as well. Crash is another one of my favorites by him, though I have yet to read the novel which the movie is based on.


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OfflineDarcho
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: it stars saddam]
    #5289702 - 02/11/06 07:04 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

Forgive me if I am wrong, but didn't he also do ExistenZ? If so, that was another one of Cronenberg's good films (at least I enjoyed it (or certain aspects of it)).


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Invisibleit stars saddam
Satan

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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Darcho]
    #5289729 - 02/11/06 07:13 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

Yes.


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InvisibleGijith
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Registered: 12/04/03
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Lakefingers]
    #5290152 - 02/11/06 09:37 PM (17 years, 11 months ago)

I just watched it.

It was very solid. But considering all the attention it got last year, I thought it might be better. It's a shame his earlier stuff didn't get put on like every critic's top ten list.

I thought some of it was kind of weak, such as the scenes immediately following the bust up in his front yard. Other parts, like the whole ending with William Hurt, were phenomenal. All in all, a good watch.


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InvisibleLakefingers

Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Loc: mumuland
Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) (possible spoiler here too) [Re: koppie]
    #5290822 - 02/12/06 05:26 AM (17 years, 11 months ago)

There's something about Cronenberg films that are always catchy. This one was definitely his most Hollywood-friendly. I thought the scene where Tom/Joey meets Richie was done very well--great buffoonery, conflict and timing.

Cronenberg films are usually minimalistic in their surreal way and I like that too. Some things are so plain (like at the end of A History of Violence when the family passes the food to him in order to show forgiveness (or however you interpret it), but ingenius. He manages to pull out the body language.

Quote:

So while this film is very different from the perverted craziness, of say, Videodrome, Crash or eXistenZ, it's completely in character for his work.




Yeah, I don't think I would've appreciated A History of Violence if I hadn't seen Cronenberg's other films.


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Offlineveryhoudini
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Registered: 08/18/11
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Lakefingers]
    #15248271 - 10/19/11 04:51 PM (12 years, 3 months ago)

I'm gonna bump this just because i thought it was such a great film.  Out of his more dramatic films, this is actually my favorite from him.  I believe all of his films are worth watching.  I especially like showing people who gets squimesh with the gore in his films.  But over all this and Eastern Promises are both masterpieces from him in my book.


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Invisiblecateyes
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Lakefingers]
    #15248615 - 10/19/11 06:08 PM (12 years, 3 months ago)

i thought that film was AWESOME!!! rarely do i purchase a movie on DVD, we own about just over a dozen during a ten year period... "A History of Violence" is one of them...

Kensho :psychsplit:


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Invisiblehelix
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: cateyes]
    #15271701 - 10/24/11 03:21 PM (12 years, 3 months ago)

I'm a big fan of cronenberg, especially The Fly, Spider, Eastern Promises (which has the best naked fight scene ever) and Dead Ringers. But for some reason I did not like A History of Violence too much.

There was something about the straight-forward, minimal way in which he does the thriller genre, something about the super basic-names, the super predictable writing, something about the plainness of it all that leads me to perceive the film as somewhat generic.

Now I do like that the film aims to subvert the typical action hero and show how this character would fit into real-life, with rather devastating results to the family's emotional landscape, but everything else about the film was framed and filmed in a vein that is typical of your every day thriller. I feel like if I didn't have knowledge of david cronenberg's past work, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

Different strokes :shrug: David cronenberg is certainly a fascinating director, and explores some pretty fucked up yet hard-to-look-away-from themes that really scramble up your expectations which I always enjoy :fried:

PS: I haven't seen M. Butterfly, but I will say that the play that it is based on is INCREDIBLE. Also it's based on a true story that's pretty damn surreal - a french diplomat had a relationship with a male Chinese spy dressed as a women for decades. They had "sex" and the chinese spy even faked having a kid and he never found out. Definitely the type of sexual-obsession fodder for Cronenberg
:popcorn:

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/15/magazine/the-true-story-of-m-butterfly-the-spy-who-fell-in-love-with-a-shadow.html?scp=1&sq=boursicot&st=cse


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OfflineVodsel
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: helix]
    #15296119 - 10/29/11 04:05 PM (12 years, 3 months ago)

Weird place to write a first post in the Shroomery, but one has to start somewhere...

I have the utmost respect for Cronenberg. He would easily make it into my top 10 favorite filmmakers list, and this movie makes no exception. Even if it had good reception, I think it's often a misunderstood film.

First, the core of the movie is not violence. It's identity. A common theme in Cronenberg movies, and I'm sure it was the biggest turn-on he got from the source comic book, even if he is interested in the depiction of violence.

It's a very smart film. And a subtle one. A lot of people were puzzled by the way it addresses the hero figure, the concept of justice, even the nature and nurture aspects of Joey's family. The first scene sets the rules of the game - this is what you can expect, and it will happen again. And it does. Violence is dry, harsh, sudden. Not stylized. But if you relate to Tom/joey is because of his struggle between his past and present self, not because of what he does to the bad guys.

And @aronf13, don't miss M Butterfly. It's somehow regarded as a "minor" Cronenberg movie, but it has one of the most touching endings I remember having seen in a theatre.


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OfflineFoxDie
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Re: Film: A History of Violence (Cronenberg) [Re: Vodsel]
    #15300771 - 10/30/11 06:57 PM (12 years, 3 months ago)

Love Cronenberg :smile:


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