A History of Violence

Wow! Canadian master David Cronenberg tackles violence, human nature, and the treasured American myth of self-reinvention in this masterful psychological shocker, part classic Western and part film noir thriller, based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. Family man and model citizen Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) runs a modest café in a small Indiana town when one day his quiet life is turned upside down. Committing an heroic (and astonishing adept) act of deadly self-defence against two sadistic thugs, Tom becomes the subject of national media attention, and finds his lawyer wife Edie (Maria Bello) and their two kids looking at him with new eyes. Less welcome are the attentions of sinister, scar-faced Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), a gangster from Philly who arrives in town insisting that Tom is actually a hit man named Joey who wronged him years ago. A History of Violence was voted the best film of 2005 in critics’ polls conducted by Film Comment and The Village Voice, and was nominated for two Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay (Josh Olson) and Best Supporting Actor (William Hurt). “A droll and ruthless meta-thriller . . . Beginning with Dead Ringers (1988), or even The Fly (1986), Cronenberg has been, film for film, the most audacious and challenging narrative director in the English-speaking world” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice). Colour, 35mm. 96 mins.