A History Of Violence (2005/New Line Blu-ray)
Picture: B-
Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B
After some very challenging work with Spider, David Cronenberg surmised many by doing two Gangster
films. What surprised many is that they
were excellent and both also had one of the big new stars of the day, Viggo
Mortensen hot off of the Lord Of The
Rings franchise. They were also
against the many films the genre had seen since 1990, most of which were better
earlier on than later. It was also
something how Cronenberg’s edge was at home with the sudden violence of the
genre and it all started with A History
Of Violence.
Mortensen plays Tom Stahl, who has a beautiful, happy
family, owns a diner and lives in a peaceful neighborhood. It is a great life and everything is going
just fine, until one day, he has to get in the way of what could be a fatal
event, prevent it and lands up getting more attention than anyone doing the
best thing in a bad situation would or should.
A dangerous mob boss from Philadelphia (Ed Harris) believes he might be
a deadly assassin who has disappeared and decides to pay Tom a visit.
So is Tom really this killer or are the gangsters just
sore someone they were not finished with got away? That is the mystery for a while and Josh
Olson’s screenplay effectively parallels this with other subplots and ideas in
making a great statement about violence and society that actually works. Maria Bello is great as his wife and William
Hurt received a Supporting Academy Award nomination for his chilling role as a
mob boss.
The film holds up very well and was overlooked by critics
and audiences alike, but thanks to its stars and the success of Eastern Promises (which was not a sequel) bringing up this film again, it is a title
definitely deserving of Blu-ray release.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is a bit of a disappointment, with
cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (Cronenberg’s longtime cameraman/collaborator)
having done such great work here (the 35mm print looked great) deserves better
treatment. Sadly, more than a few New
Line titles have had too much grain removed from them, but it is really
noticeable here. Why do they keep doing
this after al the complaints? Well, it
backfires here, but I did still find some good shots here and there. The DTS HD Master Audio (MA) 5.1 lossless mix
is interesting by being quiet in many places, yet really kicks in during key
moments, offering a more subtly complex sound mix than many may have caught,
but this is a Cronenberg film and Howard Shore’s score is a plus.
Extras
include a feature length audio commentary by Cronenberg you definitely should
hear after seeing the film, Acts Of
Violence Minidocumentary Gallery, the original theatrical trailer, Deleted Scene: Scene 44 and three featurettes:
Violence’s History: United States Version
vs. International Version, Too
Commercial For Cannes and The
Unmaking Of Scene 44.
For more
on Eastern Promises, you can start
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7627/The+Gangster+3-Movie+Collection
And
despite the picture limits, this is still the best A History Of Violence.
- Nicholas Sheffo
