We just got back from the movie A History of Violence. It was (no surprise) ... pretty violent.
We first get a peek at the picture of an idyllic family. Maybe too idyllic. It doesn't seem real that any family is that perfectly harmonious, at least not these days (or maybe I'm too jaded). But this serves perfectly as the sugar coating to the strange and distasteful layer beneath that slowly comes to light as the story unfolds. It's the story of a man trying to keep his family safe as violence circles around them spiralling inwards, demanding attention.
Thematically the movie speaks to a person's history as what defines them (you can't run from your past), and how violence begets violence. Well acted and well written, the visuals are at once both gripping and disturbing.
Here's a funny thing though, as the credits are rolling the end music comes in and it's very reminiscint of music from the Lord of the Rings -- Howard Shore giving the nod to Viggo perhaps?
★★★★☆
4 stars out of 5