A History of Violence
- Thread starter sean campos
- Start date
dustino
Well-known member
I, too, had a horrible audience when watching this movie. I saw it on a Sat. night which I NEVER do usually. In this case, I had a friend in town and had to be a good host. I usually stay away from theaters on the weekends.
In this case - the problem was idiotic adults with the maturity of early teenagers - sadistic teenagers at that. There were some gangbanger types (probably wannabe thugs more than anything) who looked to be in their mid-twenties cheering and laughing at every violent and sex scene. They were cheering the "rough sex" scene saying "yeah, that's how you take care of your *****!" and other nasea-inducing statements. Obviously made the movie less pleasant and also reinforces many opinions from an earlier thread here discussing how much of mainstream hip-hop culture glorifies the worst stereotypes of urban blight. These kids were a perfect example.
In this case - the problem was idiotic adults with the maturity of early teenagers - sadistic teenagers at that. There were some gangbanger types (probably wannabe thugs more than anything) who looked to be in their mid-twenties cheering and laughing at every violent and sex scene. They were cheering the "rough sex" scene saying "yeah, that's how you take care of your *****!" and other nasea-inducing statements. Obviously made the movie less pleasant and also reinforces many opinions from an earlier thread here discussing how much of mainstream hip-hop culture glorifies the worst stereotypes of urban blight. These kids were a perfect example.
John C Lyons
Veteran
really sucks that so many of you had a bad audience experience during this movie. sorry to stereotype here but frankly i am surprised that any of these groups you each mentioned were even interested in this movie. damn, i guess wait for dvd then many post more of your thoughts. and thartley that is majorly f'd up about the children, really, what the hell is wrong with people?!
I was blown away by the graphic sex and the graphic violence -- I think it was all done well, I was just shocked at something realistic in the post-Nipplegate era 
Has anyone read the comic it was based on?
http://www.rzero.com/books/HistoryOfViolence.html
Has anyone read the comic it was based on?
http://www.rzero.com/books/HistoryOfViolence.html
ExtremeSleuth
Veteran
I loved this movie. All the action was neccessary and not over done. The dialogue in my opinion was good for the most part. Cronenberg did a great job at this.
Just caught this tonight. I thought it was excellent. Very subtle, and the pacing of the film was like magic.
[SPOILER] I thought the second sex scene was believable. I thought the conflict was in the fact that she was having sex with Tom and Joey, an interesting contrast to the roleplay scene. [/SPOILER]
The writing was very good, the performances were tight, and the violence had an almost sterile antiseptic feel to them. I enjoyed the violence, but it was almost painterly, especially the pools of blood under the dead bodies. Beautiful stuff.
I really recommend this, there's been a lot of emphasis on Spielberg films in here lately, and this film was just a solid piece of filmmaking. See it, enjoy it, get pumped and inspired. I was. I'll probably catch this again in a couple days.
[SPOILER] I thought the second sex scene was believable. I thought the conflict was in the fact that she was having sex with Tom and Joey, an interesting contrast to the roleplay scene. [/SPOILER]
The writing was very good, the performances were tight, and the violence had an almost sterile antiseptic feel to them. I enjoyed the violence, but it was almost painterly, especially the pools of blood under the dead bodies. Beautiful stuff.
I really recommend this, there's been a lot of emphasis on Spielberg films in here lately, and this film was just a solid piece of filmmaking. See it, enjoy it, get pumped and inspired. I was. I'll probably catch this again in a couple days.
xl70e3
Skywalker
Finally caught this yesterday. Had some free time, but couldn't get friends out and knew this was not a movie to watch with a girl, so ended up watching it alone (which I actually enjoy doing from time to time). But for some reason also found myself sharing it with a horrible audience. And that's 2:35pm screening on thursday. A group of 35-something adults, that acted like a bunch of high-schoolers... Not something I would expect going to see Cronnenberg's picture. Really, really awful.
However, I did like the movie anyway. Solid and mature. Well acted, paced and scripted, although maybe I expected a somewhat more interesting twist than the one we got. Violence... I thought I was prepared for it, but damn was it graphic.
There were only 2 things I didn't like:
First is the father-son relationship. I can understand Tom's wife feelings, when she finds out he had been lying to her since the first day, but I really don't see what the deal is with Jack all of a sudden freaking out. It's not like something has changed between him and his dad...
Second is the sex. All the over-realistic violence had it's place in the movie to show just how ugly it is, to show what Tom had been running from. But sex? The scene on the stairs is fine, it was approriate, read Isaac's above comment. But the 69 one? What for? And then the full frontal by Maria Bello... Once again, what for? I usually don't mind nudity, but found that totally unnecessary.
However, I did like the movie anyway. Solid and mature. Well acted, paced and scripted, although maybe I expected a somewhat more interesting twist than the one we got. Violence... I thought I was prepared for it, but damn was it graphic.
There were only 2 things I didn't like:
First is the father-son relationship. I can understand Tom's wife feelings, when she finds out he had been lying to her since the first day, but I really don't see what the deal is with Jack all of a sudden freaking out. It's not like something has changed between him and his dad...
Second is the sex. All the over-realistic violence had it's place in the movie to show just how ugly it is, to show what Tom had been running from. But sex? The scene on the stairs is fine, it was approriate, read Isaac's above comment. But the 69 one? What for? And then the full frontal by Maria Bello... Once again, what for? I usually don't mind nudity, but found that totally unnecessary.
Hear ya, I thought the 69 one established roleplay being a part of their relationship early on, and they're pretending to be naughty. Of course later on there's no pretending and the irony is that Tom had been roleplaying his new identity the whole time. I think that's what made the second scene conflicted. Was Bello sleeping with Tom, or Joey? I think both. And which did she love?
I thought the father son relationship was interesting because the son is presented as a pushover, and then he discovers that violence is a part of his wiring. It was like a dormant side of the son suddenly woke up.
What's really interesting is that duality between Tom and Joey. I don't think Tom can survive without the violent side of Joey. Joey is what ends up protecting and saving Tom's life and family. Without Joey, Tom would've died in the diner.
I thought the father son relationship was interesting because the son is presented as a pushover, and then he discovers that violence is a part of his wiring. It was like a dormant side of the son suddenly woke up.
What's really interesting is that duality between Tom and Joey. I don't think Tom can survive without the violent side of Joey. Joey is what ends up protecting and saving Tom's life and family. Without Joey, Tom would've died in the diner.