Tom Stall has a perfect life. He is a quiet man, lives in a peaceful American town, manages a diner, is well-liked and respected by everyone, has a beautiful wife and two children. Tom's life is suddenly disrupted by a terrible event: an attempted robbery ends with the killing of the two attackers by the man. What seems to be the end of a nightmare is actually just the beginning: the event will be the origin of the relentless return of a mysterious past that will disrupt the man's and his family's life.
“A History of Violence” is a 2005 film directed by Master David Cronenberg, based on a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke and adapted for the cinema by Josh Olson. A powerful thriller, as the title suggests, with strong tones and images.
The film captures the viewer's attention right from the start, thanks to the mystery of a past that returns, a past that one must always deal with in life. Thus, the tension that will be created from the beginning to the end will be very high, especially in the first part pervaded by doubt and the desire to discover the truth.
The real substance of the American myth is called into question: a perfect man, with a perfect wife, perfect children, a perfect job in a perfect town... but what can be hidden behind so much perfection? We will be shown how behind an immaculate, winning, esteemed facade, terrible and unimaginable secrets stained with blood can hide.
Past and mystery will therefore disrupt the lives of the protagonists, Cronenberg will take us once again on a journey into the mutation of the character, a mutation that this time will focus more on the interior of the characters than on the exterior, more on their personality than on their body.
Character change also explained by two intense sex scenes, at the beginning and end of the film, which are very functional to the plot and completely opposite each other, well representing the emotional journey of Tom and Edie within the story.
But, as mentioned, focusing this time more on inner change, Cronenberg does not disregard at all, and with a title like this it could not be otherwise, to show, as per tradition, the signs of violence on the body, quite the opposite.
The entire story is characterized, in fact, by a powerful connotation of violence, first shots and details of disfigured faces and gruesome scenes are not spared. Scenes of violence endowed with a strong sense of reality, crude and true to the point of not seeming choreographed. Sounds and images will vigorously strike the viewer.
A story supported by an excellent cast starting with the protagonist, Viggo Mortensen, brilliant in showing us the two personalities of the protagonist, his crisis, his changes. A great performance capable of making Cronenberg fall in love with the actor to the point of wanting him also in his next work, the beautiful “A History of Violence”, another gem of both.
High levels of interpretation therefore for the rest of the cast from Maria Bello, excellent in the role of the unaware wife whose life will be disrupted by incredible revelations, to Ashton Holmes in the role of the son Jack, a seemingly mild boy but capable of exploding his long-repressed anger. A sublime Ed Harris gives us a “bad guy” of other times, disturbing in his apparent tranquility, the vengeful Fogharty. Last but not least, a William Hurt deliberately, and perfectly, over the top in the role of the eccentric boss Ritchie.
Cronenberg once again proves his great talent behind the camera, a rare example of beauty can be found in the silence used by the Canadian director to highlight the importance of the introductory sequence, without a soundtrack, and that of the final one lacking in dialogues but dense with meanings.
“A History of Violence” is a captivating and surprising story, the viewer will be caught in a whirlwind of emotions capable of keeping him glued to the screen for its entire duration. An excellent film that we highly recommend watching.
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