The master of the specific subgenre called body horror and the man who put out such classics as Dead Ringers and Videodrome , the Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg seemingly stepped out of his dis comfort zone and delivered one of the best movies of the first decade of this century when he made the film cleverly and multilayeredly called A History of Violence. Deserved recognition also came from the institutions, as screenwriter Josh Olson received an Academy Award nomination, just like William Hurt did for his supporting role. From a filmmaker of such pedigree and competence, and led by one of the greatest actors of today, Viggo Mortensen, we could say we expected nothing short of what was ultimately delivered. Tom Stall is a kind and gentle small diner owner in a tiny town in Indiana. A loving husband and father of two, he gets his life turned upside down when he confronts and kills two criminals robbing his diner and threatening his employees. He immediately becomes the talk of the town, hailed by all as a real American hero. The undesired popularity and media exposure, however, brings unwanted attention from the East Coast, as a mob big shot and his henchmen soon arrive claiming Tom is actually Joey, a criminal from Philadelphia who left the mob around two decades ago and tried to secure a completely new life for himself.
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Sign In. Edit A History of Violence Showing all 33 items. For the sex scene on the stairs, David Cronenberg was concerned about the two actors getting hurt on the hard wooden steps. He asked his stunt man whether or not he had any stunt pads to soften up the stairs. The stunt man laughed, saying that in the twenty years he had been working as a stunt man, no director had ever asked him for stunt pads for a sex scene. Pads were not used for most of the scene however, and in the shot when Edie is naked on the bed with bruises visible on her back, make-up was used to hide the amount of bruises that Maria Bello received from the scene. During an interview, Viggo Mortensen stated that during the shooting of the first bar scene with Ed Harris he could not stop laughing, and as a result, the scene had to be re-shot several times. Due to Viggo Mortensen's behavior, Ed Harris completed the scene without pants; he only wore his underwear, yet this cannot be seen as the bar table impedes our view. Thus, Viggo Mortensen had to act seriously while Ed Harris was not wearing any pants, and this is the scene that is used in the movie.
A History of Violence Cast and Crew
Inspired by The Farewell director Lulu Wang 's call to action at the Independent Spirit Awards, we celebrate women filmmakers working in their field. Watch the video. Title: A History of Violence A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family. In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea. A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house.
Cronenberg's dedication to his art is impressive, but of course the entire story, quotes and all, was apocryphal. I checked. Even so, it is a testament to his vision as well as his film's visceral intensity that this fabrication didn't seem totally off the wall. As the mad genius behind freakouts like "Videodrome" and "Naked Lunch," dispatches from the id laden with protuberances, gasping orifices and all manner of goo, Mr.
