French cinema magazines

A History Of Violence

David Paul Cronemberg is born on the 15th of March 1942 in  Toronto (Canada). He is the son of a musician and an book writer and editor. He graduated from the University of Torontowith a degree in literature.Cronenberg gained popularity with Scannerrs (1981).Cronenberg  released Videodrome (1983), a shocking investigation of the hazards of reality television. We also find such imaginary stories in The Dead Zone(1983) and The Fly (1986), both bright examples of a personal filmmaking identity. Such profound statements on modern humanity and ever-changing society are prominent in the provocative Crash (1996) and in the virtual reality essay of eXistenz (1999). In Spider (2002) and A History Of Violence (2005), Cronenberg explores the human contradictions and idiosyncrasies. In 2008 he shot Eastern Promises. The film deals with the Russian Mafia in London.

A History Of Violence iis the story of a mild-mannered man, named Tom Stall, who becomes a local hero through an act of violence, he lives a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana. His life turns upside-down when he kills two cold-blooded killers in his bar to protect his waitress, becoming a local hero and being shown in the front page of the local news and on TV. The next day, a gangster, Carl Fogarty comes to the town, calling him Joey Cusack and telling that he was a former gangster. Carl and his men threaten his family.  Tom decides to defend them, and violence is released in a chain reaction.
The movie is an adaptation of the graphic novel: A History Of Violence. The film’s title plays on many levels of meaning. It can be a suspect with a long history of violence or to innate violence of Darwinian evolution. This movie is about truth and redemption. It is well acted and beautifully photographed. Cronenberg enjoys creating disturbing situations and imagery, and wants to get under your skin and to stimulate your mind on as many levels as he can.