Hasitha Fernando on the story behind A History of Violence as the film celebrates its 20th anniversary…
To say A History of Violence is one of David Cronenberg’s most accessible efforts would be correct. However, it would be remiss of me not to describe it as one of the filmmaker’s finest outputs as well. The movie explores many thought-provoking themes but at its core it is an exploration of the nature of violence and its corrosive impact on those involved. As the gripping psychological thriller celebrates its 20th anniversary we take a look at its behind-the-scenes story…
David Cronenberg was unaware that the script was based on a graphic novel
The primary originator of the body horror genre, David Cronenberg has mesmerized and repulsed audiences the world over with his gnarly visuals and visceral storytelling for over five decades with movies such as Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly. From the 2000s to the 2020s, however, the talented auteur has been involved with more grounded affairs as evidenced by Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method. It was during this time period that Cronenberg crafted the critically acclaimed A History of Violence. The film was based on the graphic novel penned by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke and originally published by Paradox Press in 1997 and picked up later by Vertigo Comics, both of which are imprints of DC Comics. Ironically Cronenberg, who considered superhero comics juvenile in nature, was unaware that the script written by Josh Olson was an adaptation of a property published by DC Comics.
Thomas Jane and Harrison Ford were considered for the lead role
Three time Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen made his feature film debut with a minor role on Peter Weir’s 1985 thriller Witness. Through the late 90s Mortensen was involved in several efforts such as The Portrait of a Lady, G.I Jane and A Perfect Murder, but it was with his breakout role as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy that the talented actor received international attention. For Cronenberg’s A History of Violence Mortensen adopted a method approach to get into character and this involved bringing props for the diner as well as the Stall home from his journey into the American Midwest. Prior to Mortensen’s casting Punisher actor Thomas Jane and Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, were considered for the role of Tom Stall. However, both actors turned down the role and as a result Mortensen was cast in the lead role.
Viggo Mortensen wasn’t pleased with the initial draft of the script
The screenplay written by Josh Olson was only loosely based on the original graphic novel. It was Olson’s intention from the beginning to use the original source material as a foundation to explore a narrative and the themes he was interested in. But one individual who wasn’t too pleased with Olsen’s initial draft was Viggo Mortensen. The performer only agreed to come aboard after meeting with director David Cronenberg and having an amiable discussion with him. Although he remained uncredited Cronenberg contributed extensively to rework the final shooting draft of the screenplay. Cronenberg described the film’s story as “a meditation on the human body and its relationship to violence”.
William Hurt received an Oscar nomination for just 10 minutes of screen time
The late William Hurt had an extensive career in the big screen spanning several decades receiving three Academy Awards nominations for Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a Lesser God and Broadcast News. For his fourth and final Oscar nomination Hurt received his nomination for just 10 minutes of screen time, playing Mortensen’s gangster brother Joey Cusack in A History of Violence.
About that controversial sex scene in A History of Violence
The sex scene that transpires between Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello on the stairs was not only a controversial one, but also a tricky one to pull off for Cronenberg. The filmmaker was genuinely concerned about the well-being of the two performers and if they’d get injured during the shooting of that scene. Cronenberg even asked his stunt guy whether he had any stunt pads to soften up the stairs. Although some amount of padding was used when making the scene Maria Bello did end up sporting quite a bit of bruising which the make-up department had to hide in the shot where her character was lying naked in bed.
Ed Harris played a practical joke to get a scene done
Ed Harris is one of those actors who’s able to leave a lasting impression even if their screen time is limited to a cameo role, which is what he pretty much does in A History of Violence. Landing critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations with movies like The Truman Show, Apollo 13, Pollock and The Hours, Harris has been in the industry in supporting roles since the early 1980s, even marking his mark in small screen affairs such as Empire Falls and Westworld. During the shooting of the first bar scene with Harris, Mortensen would not stop laughing making it necessary to shoot the scene several times. Due to Mortensen’s behavior Harris decided to play a practical joke and shoot the scene in his underwear without wearing any pants. Thankfully, they were able to successfully finish shooting the scene without Harris having to take off his underwear as well!
A History of Violence was the last movie to come out on VHS format
In the present day and age where physical media has all but disappeared thanks to digitization and the rise of streaming services, VHS has become more or less an obsolete media format. With the switch from analog to digital taking place somewhere in the early 2000s it is widely believed that A History of Violence was the last major motion picture to be released in the VHS format back in 2006, according to a 2008 report that appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
A scene was cut because it was deemed too “Videodrome-y”
Released in 1983, Videodrome was Cronenberg’s first effort to receive the backing of a major Hollywood studio. Although a box-office bomb, the film was showered praise for its special effects wizardry, nightmarish visuals and Cronenberg’s direction, going on to become a major cult-film. Cronenberg wanted to include a violently surreal scene reminiscent of his work on Videodrome in this movie but decided against it when assembling the final cut of the film. This deleted scene dubbed “Scene 44” featured Ed Harris’ Fogarty having his chest graphically blown open by Tom’s gun shot, and Fogarty responding in kind despite sporting a grievous injury. The making of this particular sequence, titled “Unmaking of Scene 44”, appeared on the special features of the flick’s home media and was made available on YouTube later on.
Supporting cast members truly committed to their respective roles
Similar to the principle cast of the film, the supporting cast members too committed to their respective roles to make the film a truly memorable one. The actors who played the two robbers that enter Tom’s diner came up with their own backstory of how they were travelling together in the first place. According to the performers, the elder of the two was the uncle Leland Jones (Stephen McHattie) taking his young nephew Billy Orser (Greg Bryk) out for a drive in the country side, following the latter’s release from jail. The scene where Orser rubbed his hands down Charlotte’s breast in a crude manner was thought up by Bryk and actress Deborah Drakeford.
Box office victory, critical acclaim and awards wins
Made on a production budget of $32 million A History of Violence went on to make $61.4 million at the worldwide box-office making it the highest-grossing Cronenberg film to date. The effort also won over film critics when it debuted and as of writing boasts a solid 88% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.9/10. Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert gave the flick a positive review writing, “A History of Violence seems deceptively straightforward, coming from a director with Cronenberg’s quirky complexity, but think again. This is not a movie about plot, but about character.”
The movie ended up on multiple year-end ‘best of’ lists including being ranked the best film of 2005 in the Village Voice Film poll and also named the best film of the year by film critic Mark Kermode. In retrospective lists Empire named the effort the 448th-greatest film of all time in 2010, and Rolling Stone ranked A History of Violence 33rd in their “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century” list. At the following year’s Academy Awards the film nabbed two nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay categories whilst being nominated in the latter category at the BAFTAs and the former category at the Golden Globes for Maria Bello.
Since its release A History of Violence has been acknowledged as one of the greatest films of the 2000s and one of Cronenberg’s finest outputs. Viggo Mortensen himself praised the feature calling it, “one of the best movies [he’s] ever been in, if not the best”, and that’s certainly saying something.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
