In a message dated 10/10/05 6:05:33 AM,
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net writes:
> Although I don't think it quite pulled off the
weighty social commentary
> it seemed to shoot for (pun intended, of course), I
really enjoyed the
> movie, A History of Violence. In fact, I
thought it was better than the
> graphic novel it was based upon.
>
> I re-read the book a week or so before seeing the
movie. I enjoyed it,
> as I had when I read it when it first came out, and
thought it would
> make a great movie. I like Cronenberg and
looked forward to seeing what
> he'd do with a more naturalistic/realistic story (no
bugs).
>
> The film made some interesting changes. The
first half was roughly the
> same as the book's first third, although it went
deeper into character
> and the effect of the violence and its aftermath
upon them, especially
> the son, who really wasn't much more than a child to
be protected in the
> book. I was especially impressed with Maria
Bello's expanded role as
> the wife finding out she may not know her longtime
husband nearly as
> well as she thought.
>
> The movie pretty much jettisoned the second,
flashback, third of the
> book, only hinting at a very different backstory,
with relatively
> innocent characters becoming far less pure.
The second half of the
> movie was almost entirely different. This is
the section that tries to
> raise some big questions about viewers finding
violence cathartic and
> whether or not people (especially once bad people)
can be redeemed or
> whether we ultimately revert to our "true"
characters. As I said, I
> don't feel the film quite carries off the weighty
ideas it raises (the
> later violence isn't quite as hard to cheer as they
seem to intend it to
> be), but I give it big points for raising
them. More importantly, the
> message never gets in the way of a good
story.
>
> Mark
>
> ps -- also interesting that they change the
gangsters names from being
> Italian, and they're from Philadelphia, not
Brooklyn.
>
I saw it and both the director and screenwriter who adapted
the graphic novel spoke after
I too thought it was an improvement over the graphic novel,
which seemed a bit familiar to me. the switch to Irish
gangsters helped. Cronenberg the director said it was due to
getting Ed Harris cast. he played Irish more convincingly
than Italian
thought the first act of the movie was just marking time
however. the last act was where the big improvement took
place
my 2 cents
John Lau
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite
Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/kqIolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 10 Oct 2005 EDT