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A History of Violence (film)
Encyclopedia
A History of Violence is a 2005 American crime thriller film directed by David Cronenberg
and written by Josh Olson
. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same name by John Wagner
and Vince Locke
. The film stars Viggo Mortensen
as the owner of a diner
who is thrust into the spotlight after killing two robbers in self-defense
.
The film was put into limited release in the United States on September 23, 2005, and wide-release on September 30, 2005. It is notable for its distinction of being the final major Hollywood motion picture released on VHS
.
William Hurt
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
, while Josh Olson
was nominated for Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
) is a local restaurant owner in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana
. One night two men attempt to kill one of the employees and rob the restaurant. Tom deftly kills both robbers, and his actions make him an overnight celebrity. He is soon visited by scarred gangster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris
) who alleges that Tom is actually a gangster named Joey Cusack, who used to run with him in the local Irish Mob
in Philadelphia. Tom denies these accusations and claims he has never been to Philadelphia, but Fogarty continues to stalk the Stall family. Under pressure from Fogarty and his newfound fame, Tom's relationships with his wife Edie (Maria Bello
), teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes
), and young daughter Sarah (Heidi Hayes) become strained.
After an argument with Tom over the use of violence, Jack runs off and is caught by Fogarty. With Jack as his hostage, Fogarty and his men go to the Stall house and demand that "Joey" return with them to Philadelphia. Tom kills Fogarty's men with the same precision he used against the robbers, while Jack kills Fogarty with a shotgun in defense of his father. At the hospital, Tom shocks Edie by admitting that he is actually Joey Cusack, and that he ran away from Philadelphia to escape his criminal past and start a new life. This furthers the tensions in their marriage, and after an argument they have violent sex.
Tom receives a call from his brother Richie Cusack (William Hurt
), who also demands his return to Philadelphia. After traveling to Philadelphia and confronting his brother, Tom learns that the other mobsters whom he had offended in Philadelphia took out their frustrations on Richie, preventing him from moving up in the criminal organization. Tom offers to make peace, but Richie orders his men to kill him. Tom defends himself and kills Richie and the guards.
Tom returns home, but the atmosphere is tense and silent as the Stalls sit around the dinner table. The fate of his marriage and the future of his life as Tom Stall is uncertain, but Jack and Sarah indicate their acceptance of their father by setting a plate for him and passing him some food.
Mansion, located in King City, Ontario
, Canada.
A deleted scene, known as "Scene 44", features a dream sequence
in the diner, where Fogarty tells Tom he will kill him and his family; to which Tom responds by shooting him with his shotgun at close range. He then approaches Fogarty's lifeless and mangled body which suddenly raises its head, pulls a gun and shoots him.
intended from the very beginning to use the original story as a springboard to explore the themes that interested him, and Cronenberg admitted that he did not know the screenplay was an adapted work until he had begun discussing Olson's second draft. The diner scene that sets the story in motion is nearly identical, and the basic cast of characters remains largely unchanged. The particulars of the plot are very different, especially as the story progresses.
The protagonist's name is changed from Tom McKenna to Tom Stall; John Torrino becomes Carl Fogarty, Tom's son Buzz becomes Jack, his daughter Ellie becomes Sarah, and Sheriff Carney's first name changes from Frank to Sam. The town in which the story takes place is changed from River's Bend, Michigan
to Millbrook, Indiana
, and the origin of the mobsters is changed from Brooklyn
to Philadelphia. According to the German
press kit
, David Cronenberg and screenwriter Josh Olson changed the Italian-sounding names because they did not want the audience to anticipate Tom's mob ties too early in the film. In the film's audio commentary
, Cronenberg says that Joey and Richie were Italian in Olson's screenplay, which he changed to the Irish
surname Cusack
, because Viggo Mortensen and William Hurt would not make convincing Italians, and he wanted to keep the film away from "the Sopranos
Syndrome."
Much of the story of the graphic novel is a lengthy flashback
detailing Tom's falling out with the mob. While the film is completely sequential and makes a brief and vague allusion
to the trouble Tom caused as mob member, the graphic novel details at length a heist
perpetrated by Tom against the mob. Olson opted to focus on Tom's struggles against his past and his relationship with his family, largely to the exclusion of the details of his falling out with his brother and the Mob.
The most profound alterations of the original novel's plot concern the character of Richie and his fate. In the comic book, he and Tom are childhood friends; while in the film they are brothers (they were not brothers in Olson's original screenplay; Cronenberg changed them to brothers to give their relationship more resonance). In the novel, Richie is captured by mobsters and mutilated after the incident that sends Tom on the lam
: Richie's limbs are cut off and his eye taken out, yet he is still kept alive to be suspended from the ceiling in a harness and tortured for years. During the dramatic climax of the graphic novel Tom comes face to face with Richie, and Tom suffocates him in an act of euthanasia. In the film, Richie is depicted as Tom's brother; he is a mob boss who tries to have Tom killed. However, Tom ultimately overcomes Richie's henchmen, and subsequently kills his brother.
While in the comic, Tom's family is supportive and completely understanding, the film depicts his family struggling with the startling truth about Tom. The lengthy subplot concerning his son Jack turning to violence after his father's example does not exist in the comic, nor does the emotionally charged fight (and subsequent rough sex on the stairs) between Tom and Edie. In the comic, Edie shoots Torrino, and in the film, Jack shoots Fogarty. The comic concludes with Tom violently defeating the mobsters that haunted him, whereas the film ends with Tom's silent return to his family, a change that drastically shifts the tone of the film towards a more familial focus.
says that David Cronenberg refers to three possibilities:
to a suspect with a long history of violence; (2) to the historical use of violence as a means of settling disputes, and (3) to the innate violence of Darwinian evolution, in which better-adapted organisms replace those less able to cope. "I am a complete Darwinian," says Cronenberg, whose new film is in many ways about the survival of the fittest—at all costs.
Cronenberg did not come up with the title, however; that distinction belongs to John Wagner
.
Thematic similarities between the film and the works of Sam Peckinpah
have been much commented on: in an interview, Cronenberg did not deny this but also emphasized that there were significant differences in terms of both plot and style. Olson has acknowledged the debt the film pays to Peckinpah, especially the film Straw Dogs. He has also cited David Peoples
' and Clint Eastwood
's Unforgiven
(there is a sly reference to pig farming by William Hurt's character) and the 1947 Jacques Tourneur
thriller, Out of the Past
.
in May 2005, and was released in the United States on September 30 following a successful limited release on September 23, 2005. It also holds the distinction to be the last major film to be commercially released in the VHS
format.
claims 87% of critics have given the film positive reviews (based on 201 reviews). On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews. It was ranked the best film of 2005 in the Village Voice Film Poll
. Empire
named the film the 448th greatest film of all-time.
Rolling Stone
critic Peter Travers
gave the film four stars, highlighting its "explosive power and subversive wit", and lauded David Cronenberg as a "world-class director, at the top of his startlingly creative form". Entertainment Weekly
reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film an A, concluding that "David Cronenberg's brilliant movie" was "without a doubt one of the very best of the year". Manohla Dargis
of The New York Times
called the film a "mindblower", and noted Mr. Cronenberg's "refusal to let us indulge in movie violence without paying a price". Roger Ebert
also gave the film a very positive review, observing that "A History of Violence seems deceptively straightforward, coming from a director with Cronenberg's quirky complexity. But think again. This is not a movie about plot, but about character." He gave it 3 and a half stars (out of 4).
In his list of best films of the decade, Peter Travers named this #4, praising director David Cronenberg:
The film was also nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
and written by Josh Olson
Josh Olson
Josh Olson is an American screenwriter and director. Olson began his career working as a production assistant in the art department on the 1987 film Masters of the Universe...
. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same name by John Wagner
John Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
and Vince Locke
Vince Locke
Vincent Locke is an American comic book artist known for his work on Deadworld and A History of Violence and for his ultraviolent album covers for death metal band Cannibal Corpse.-Biography:...
. The film stars Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
as the owner of a diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
who is thrust into the spotlight after killing two robbers in self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
.
The film was put into limited release in the United States on September 23, 2005, and wide-release on September 30, 2005. It is notable for its distinction of being the final major Hollywood motion picture released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
.
William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, while Josh Olson
Josh Olson
Josh Olson is an American screenwriter and director. Olson began his career working as a production assistant in the art department on the 1987 film Masters of the Universe...
was nominated for Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
Plot
Tom Stall (Viggo MortensenViggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
) is a local restaurant owner in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. One night two men attempt to kill one of the employees and rob the restaurant. Tom deftly kills both robbers, and his actions make him an overnight celebrity. He is soon visited by scarred gangster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
) who alleges that Tom is actually a gangster named Joey Cusack, who used to run with him in the local Irish Mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
in Philadelphia. Tom denies these accusations and claims he has never been to Philadelphia, but Fogarty continues to stalk the Stall family. Under pressure from Fogarty and his newfound fame, Tom's relationships with his wife Edie (Maria Bello
Maria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
), teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes
Ashton Holmes
Ashton Holmes is an American film and television actor, best known for the role of Jack Stall in A History of Violence and Private Sidney Phillips in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. He currently appears as Tyler Barrol on the ABC drama series Revenge.-Personal life:Holmes was born in Albany, New...
), and young daughter Sarah (Heidi Hayes) become strained.
After an argument with Tom over the use of violence, Jack runs off and is caught by Fogarty. With Jack as his hostage, Fogarty and his men go to the Stall house and demand that "Joey" return with them to Philadelphia. Tom kills Fogarty's men with the same precision he used against the robbers, while Jack kills Fogarty with a shotgun in defense of his father. At the hospital, Tom shocks Edie by admitting that he is actually Joey Cusack, and that he ran away from Philadelphia to escape his criminal past and start a new life. This furthers the tensions in their marriage, and after an argument they have violent sex.
Tom receives a call from his brother Richie Cusack (William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
), who also demands his return to Philadelphia. After traveling to Philadelphia and confronting his brother, Tom learns that the other mobsters whom he had offended in Philadelphia took out their frustrations on Richie, preventing him from moving up in the criminal organization. Tom offers to make peace, but Richie orders his men to kill him. Tom defends himself and kills Richie and the guards.
Tom returns home, but the atmosphere is tense and silent as the Stalls sit around the dinner table. The fate of his marriage and the future of his life as Tom Stall is uncertain, but Jack and Sarah indicate their acceptance of their father by setting a plate for him and passing him some food.
Cast
- Viggo MortensenViggo MortensenViggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
as Tom Stall / Joey Cusack - Maria BelloMaria BelloMaria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
as Edie Stall - Ed HarrisEd HarrisEdward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
as Carl Fogarty - William HurtWilliam HurtWilliam McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
as Richie Cusack - Ashton HolmesAshton HolmesAshton Holmes is an American film and television actor, best known for the role of Jack Stall in A History of Violence and Private Sidney Phillips in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. He currently appears as Tyler Barrol on the ABC drama series Revenge.-Personal life:Holmes was born in Albany, New...
as Jack Stall - Peter MacNeillPeter MacNeillPeter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor who has starred in several TV shows and movies.His film credits have included The Hanging Garden , Geraldine's Fortune, Giant Mine, Lives of Girls and Women, The Events Leading Up to My Death, Dog Park, Something Beneath and A...
as Sheriff Sam Carney - Stephen McHattieStephen McHattieStephen McHattie is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:McHattie was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia....
as Leland Jones - Greg BrykGreg BrykGreggory Michael "Greg" Bryk is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for playing the role of Mallick in Saw V, Vickor Harris in the 2006 film Living Death, Commando #1 in The Incredible Hulk film, Lone Man in Shoot 'Em Up, Keith Rose in Poor Boy's Game, Abel in Weirdsville, Neil...
as Billy Orser - Kyle SchmidKyle SchmidKyle Schmid is a Canadian actor who starred as Henry Fitzroy in Lifetime's series Blood Ties. He has also guest starred in a number of television series including Degrassi: The Next Generation, Odyssey 5, The Zack Files and CSI: Miami.In addition he has also appeared in a number of films like The...
as Bobby - Sumela KaySumela KaySumela-Rose Keramidopulos is a Canadian actress.Kay was the first of three actresses to play Kitty Pryde in the X-Men franchise. She is the daughter of U.S. and Canadian Casting Director Juli-Ann Kay...
as Judy Danvers - Gerry QuigleyGerry QuigleyGerry Quigley was a trade unionist and political activist in Northern Ireland.Quigley grew up in the Donegall Pass area of Belfast. He studied at St Joseph's Training College before working as a primary school teacher.Quigley was appointed Northern Secretary of the Irish National Teachers'...
as Mick - Deborah Drakeford as Charlotte
- Heidi Hayes as Sarah Stall
- Aidan DevineAidan DevineAidan Devine is a Canadian film actor. He was born in England and immigrated with his family to Canada at the age of 15. He studied at Dawson College's Dome Theatre in Montreal, Quebec and began his acting career in Montreal. He would later relocate to Toronto. His 1993 breakout role came in...
as Charles "Charlie" Roarke - Bill McDonaldBill McDonaldBill McDonald is an Australian journalist and news presenter.McDonald is currently the presenter of Brisbane's Ten News at Five with Georgina Lewis....
as Frank Mulligan - Michelle McCree as Jenny Wyeth
- Ian Matthews as Ruben
- R.D. Reid as Pat
Production
Most of the film was shot in Millbrook, Ontario, and the climactic scene was shot at the historic Eaton HallEaton Hall (King City)
Eaton Hall is a large house in King City, Ontario, Canada, built in the Norman style for Lady Eaton in 1937 on a 700 acre parcel of land . Lady Eaton and her husband, Sir John Craig Eaton acquired the land in 1919 on recommendation from their friend Sir Henry Pellatt, who owned the nearby Mary...
Mansion, located in King City, Ontario
King City, Ontario
King City is an affluent, unincorporated village in King Township, Ontario, Canada, located just north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King Township, with 1,629 dwellings and a population of 4,902.-History:...
, Canada.
Alternate versions
The U.S. and European versions differ on only two fight scenes: one where Tom breaks the nose of one of Fogarty's thugs and one where he stomps on the throat of one of Richie Cusack's thugs. Both scenes display more blood flowing or gushing out of the victims on the European version. In addition, a more pronounced bone-crushing sound effect is used when Tom stomps on the thug's throat.A deleted scene, known as "Scene 44", features a dream sequence
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
in the diner, where Fogarty tells Tom he will kill him and his family; to which Tom responds by shooting him with his shotgun at close range. He then approaches Fogarty's lifeless and mangled body which suddenly raises its head, pulls a gun and shoots him.
Adaptation
The film is loosely based on the original graphic novel. Screenwriter Josh OlsonJosh Olson
Josh Olson is an American screenwriter and director. Olson began his career working as a production assistant in the art department on the 1987 film Masters of the Universe...
intended from the very beginning to use the original story as a springboard to explore the themes that interested him, and Cronenberg admitted that he did not know the screenplay was an adapted work until he had begun discussing Olson's second draft. The diner scene that sets the story in motion is nearly identical, and the basic cast of characters remains largely unchanged. The particulars of the plot are very different, especially as the story progresses.
The protagonist's name is changed from Tom McKenna to Tom Stall; John Torrino becomes Carl Fogarty, Tom's son Buzz becomes Jack, his daughter Ellie becomes Sarah, and Sheriff Carney's first name changes from Frank to Sam. The town in which the story takes place is changed from River's Bend, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
to Millbrook, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and the origin of the mobsters is changed from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to Philadelphia. According to the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
press kit
Press kit
A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials of a person, company, or organization distributed to members of the media for promotional use...
, David Cronenberg and screenwriter Josh Olson changed the Italian-sounding names because they did not want the audience to anticipate Tom's mob ties too early in the film. In the film's audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
, Cronenberg says that Joey and Richie were Italian in Olson's screenplay, which he changed to the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
surname Cusack
Cusack
Cusack is an Irish family name of Norman origin, originally from Cussac in Guienne , France. The surname died out in England, but is common in Ireland, where it was imported at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century....
, because Viggo Mortensen and William Hurt would not make convincing Italians, and he wanted to keep the film away from "the Sopranos
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
Syndrome."
Much of the story of the graphic novel is a lengthy flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
detailing Tom's falling out with the mob. While the film is completely sequential and makes a brief and vague allusion
Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
to the trouble Tom caused as mob member, the graphic novel details at length a heist
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
perpetrated by Tom against the mob. Olson opted to focus on Tom's struggles against his past and his relationship with his family, largely to the exclusion of the details of his falling out with his brother and the Mob.
The most profound alterations of the original novel's plot concern the character of Richie and his fate. In the comic book, he and Tom are childhood friends; while in the film they are brothers (they were not brothers in Olson's original screenplay; Cronenberg changed them to brothers to give their relationship more resonance). In the novel, Richie is captured by mobsters and mutilated after the incident that sends Tom on the lam
On the Lam
"On the Lam" is a song by Kele Okereke, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the band Bloc Party, released as the third single from his debut solo album The Boxer. The music video was released on October 8, 2010, with the digital EP being released on October 25....
: Richie's limbs are cut off and his eye taken out, yet he is still kept alive to be suspended from the ceiling in a harness and tortured for years. During the dramatic climax of the graphic novel Tom comes face to face with Richie, and Tom suffocates him in an act of euthanasia. In the film, Richie is depicted as Tom's brother; he is a mob boss who tries to have Tom killed. However, Tom ultimately overcomes Richie's henchmen, and subsequently kills his brother.
While in the comic, Tom's family is supportive and completely understanding, the film depicts his family struggling with the startling truth about Tom. The lengthy subplot concerning his son Jack turning to violence after his father's example does not exist in the comic, nor does the emotionally charged fight (and subsequent rough sex on the stairs) between Tom and Edie. In the comic, Edie shoots Torrino, and in the film, Jack shoots Fogarty. The comic concludes with Tom violently defeating the mobsters that haunted him, whereas the film ends with Tom's silent return to his family, a change that drastically shifts the tone of the film towards a more familial focus.
Interpretation
The film's title plays on multiple levels of meaning. Film critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
says that David Cronenberg refers to three possibilities:
to a suspect with a long history of violence; (2) to the historical use of violence as a means of settling disputes, and (3) to the innate violence of Darwinian evolution, in which better-adapted organisms replace those less able to cope. "I am a complete Darwinian," says Cronenberg, whose new film is in many ways about the survival of the fittest—at all costs.
Cronenberg did not come up with the title, however; that distinction belongs to John Wagner
John Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
.
Thematic similarities between the film and the works of Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
have been much commented on: in an interview, Cronenberg did not deny this but also emphasized that there were significant differences in terms of both plot and style. Olson has acknowledged the debt the film pays to Peckinpah, especially the film Straw Dogs. He has also cited David Peoples
David Peoples
David Webb Peoples is an American screenwriter.-Life and career:Peoples was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Ruth and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist. He studied English at the University of California, Berkeley...
' and Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
(there is a sly reference to pig farming by William Hurt's character) and the 1947 Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur was a French-American film director.-Life:Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film director Maurice Tourneur. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school as an extra and later as a script clerk...
thriller, Out of the Past
Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
.
Release
A History of Violence premiered at the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in May 2005, and was released in the United States on September 30 following a successful limited release on September 23, 2005. It also holds the distinction to be the last major film to be commercially released in the VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
format.
Box office
The film started with a limited release in 14 theaters and grossed $515,992 at the box office, averaging $36,856 per theater. A week later, it went on a wide release in 1,340 theaters and grossed $8,103,077 in its opening weekend. During its entire theatrical run, the film grossed $31,504,633 in the United States and $60,334,064 worldwide.Critical reception
The film was received very positively by critics. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
claims 87% of critics have given the film positive reviews (based on 201 reviews). On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 reviews. It was ranked the best film of 2005 in the Village Voice Film Poll
Village Voice Film Poll
The Village Voice Film Poll is an annual polling by The Village Voice film section of more than 100 major film critics for alternative media sources. Although the majority of the critics work for the alt-weeklies, a number are former Voice critics who now work for the mainstream media or have...
. Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
named the film the 448th greatest film of all-time.
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
critic Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
gave the film four stars, highlighting its "explosive power and subversive wit", and lauded David Cronenberg as a "world-class director, at the top of his startlingly creative form". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film an A, concluding that "David Cronenberg's brilliant movie" was "without a doubt one of the very best of the year". Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film a "mindblower", and noted Mr. Cronenberg's "refusal to let us indulge in movie violence without paying a price". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
also gave the film a very positive review, observing that "A History of Violence seems deceptively straightforward, coming from a director with Cronenberg's quirky complexity. But think again. This is not a movie about plot, but about character." He gave it 3 and a half stars (out of 4).
In his list of best films of the decade, Peter Travers named this #4, praising director David Cronenberg:
Is Canadian director David Cronenberg the most unsung maverick artist in movies? Bet on it... Cronenberg knows violence is wired into our DNA. His film showed how we secretly crave what we publicly condemn. This is potent poison for a thriller, and unadulterated, unforgettable Cronenberg.
Awards and nominations
Won
Nominations
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The film was also nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.
See also
- List of films based on English-language comics