David Cronenberg: A History of Violence

David Cronenberg: A History of Violence

I have to admit I have some respect for David Cronenberg. In the Canadian arts industry, movie people tend to fall into one of two camps (except for Quebec) - you realize that you're truly talented and the only way for that talent to be fully harnessed is to high-tail it to Los Angeles; or you have little talent (you could still high-tail it to L.A.) but can come up with morbid and confusing dreck that you can con assorted funding agencies into handing you a living on the grounds that you are really the greatest thing since the 1950's French New Wave. Cronenberg falls somewhere in the middle - he actually goes out and gets funding from people who are willing to invest rather than dole out tax money just because they have to, and he keeps his residential base in Canada (although that might depend on how Canadian you think Toronto is.)

That being said, the buzz factor on his new film, "A History of Violence" is pretty favorable - particularly in Canada (although the Canadian criticazzi better not find out that the film is actually American-financed.) Sorry to let the cat out of the bag but.....why? The best thing I can say is that "A History of Violence" is probably Cronenberg's most "commercial" (read: simplistic) work since "The Fly" with the caveat that I'll bet the farm it won't do even a quarter of the box office of the Jeff Goldblum-Geena Davis thriller. Yes, even with the more realistic concept of what happens to a man's head when a bullet goes through it.
Let's start right-off. David - enough with the "naive female lead character gets off on violent men" sub-plot. You've done it to death. "Dead Ringers"...."Crash".....now Maria Bello gets mucho hot and heavy in a staircase shortly with her husband (played by Viggo Mortensen) after noticing substantial evidence that he is hardly a small-town hack who discovered cool ways to fire off a shotgun.

Next point - gangsters. David - the portrayal of gangsters has become more complex ever since HBO started this series called "The Sopranos". Heck, they became more complex when "The Godfather" was released in 1972. William Hurt's Richie Cusack was something best left to some old James Cagney flick. That was some serious miscasting. And I doubt I will be the only person saying this. At the Toronto Film Festival screening I attended, most of Hurt's scenes were met with laughter which I highly doubt was the intent.

Final point, David - realism. Look, I don't know what kind of small towns you visited, but if there was a family constantly harassed and threatened by urban gangsters, the sheriff would probably be ordering round-the-clock security outside the house (after all, small-town police rarely have any work to do other than to seek the perfect donut.) And it doesn't matter if it's the bully involved, if some kid beats up anybody to a pulp, he's going to get a lengthy suspension if not an outright expulsion.

In the meantime, if I want cartoonish violence.....I'll stick with Fox News.

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