Movies

A History of Violence Review

This is one of David Cronenberg's more normal movies (if that's at all possible). I'm going to assume we've all seen the trailers for the movie, so I won't summarize it. Quite simply this is a profoundly thought-provoking movie. The central theme of the movie (apart from the plot) is the prevalence of violence all around us and how it affects all our lives. One example: in the movie Aragorn's (sorry Viggo Mortenson's) cook is describing how his girlfriend stabbed him in a fit of rage. His response? He marries her. After the trigger event (Viggo killing two deliberately evil people) we see the ripple effects of the event. His son finally beats the crap out of the school bully. He has a very rough shag session with his wife and so. The ending really captures the main idea of the movie: the idea that we must often use death and violence to make peace. Hopefull I didn't give too much away, but I would highly reccommend seeing this movie. As you watch it, think philosophically about the images you will see.