A History of Violence

—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections

There is a common expression that says, “You can never escape you past.� In many ways we seem to believe in it wholeheartedly. It supports genetic predisposition. It reinforces the defining nature of childhood. It holds up a firm belief in justice and rightful consequences. At the same time, however, we also seem to hope that this is not always the case. We encourage underprivileged children to rise above their family history. We eagerly read self help-books and visit psychologists. We believe in the self-made man, in rags to riches stories, and in the plausibility of picking yourself up by your bootstraps.

In the movie A History of Violence, director David Cronenberg tells a story in which one man and his family must face this dilemma of the influence of our past. On the surface, it seems that the answer is easy. After family man Tom Stall’s defensive killings of two would-be murderers, publicity quickly brings his past and several angry characters from it to his doorstep. Yes, it is a past he has been disconnected from for a long time. It is a past that no one in his immediate present knows about. But, sitting at his dinner counter, parking outside of his house, and driving around his town, his past has clearly caught up with him and shows no intention of letting him escape.

Faced with his reemerging past, Tom must decide how to face it. He tries to ignore it, to deny it, and to send it away. The thing is, no one from his past has any intention of letting the past go, everyone is determined to exact revenge, and violence and death are the only options they are willing to offer Tom. Having intimately known the men that he is facing, Tom knows that they are not kidding. And, with only those options, Tom does end up using violence in response.

After watching A History of Violence, many might say its story proves that we cannot escape our past. Through Tom’s violent actions and even his son’s, it almost shows that violence runs through our blood; that as long as blood runs through our veins, violent people will always be violent people. Many people might say it proves that some people are just bad people and will always be bad people.

I, however, would have to strongly disagree. Yes, the movie does show that past is difficult to escape. It does reveal that consequences do have a way of catching up with us. But, through Tom’s actions, the movie also seems to pose an even more important question about past. Even if we can’t completely escape our past, even if we can’t completely avoid consequences, does that past have to control who we choose to be and how we choose to live in the present?

Each time Tom kills, a variety of people accuse him of just becoming who he really is, a violent man. They question and denounce the caring father, loving husband, and caring townsperson he has been for the last 20 years. Tom, however, firmly states that who he once was “has been dead for a long time.� And I believe him.

Some people might disagree with me. He does exact some very gruesome acts of violence reminiscent of the violence we are lead to believe defined his past. But, as much as the physical characteristics of his present actions might resemble his past, the emotions that surround each action seems to separate his present violence from his past.

In Tom’s past and in the present of the men who are pursuing him, violence is seen as way to preserve reputation. It centered on revenge and power. It is about preserving status, and, in the end, it is all about self.

For Tom, however, his violence is shown as something very different. He tries to avoid it. He pleads with those around him to just make peace. And, when he uses it, he does so not for power, not for reputation, but in an attempt to preserve a life centered around love and to preserve the lives of those he loves. Even when Tom defends his own life, selfishness seems distinctly absent. In the same way that a new mother once told me that she only fears death now that she has a child to love and care for, Tom seems to value his life and seek to preserve it not for himself, but so that he can love and care for just those people who are now his life.

At the same time that Tom uses violence to preserve that which he values, he also seems to recognize its destruction, a quality which none of his former acquaintances seem to possess. It angers him. It brings him to tears. And, as he washes blood from himself after his final killings and returns home to his family, he shows that the person he truly desires to be is a father who loves his children, a husband who loves his wife, and a man who knows what a blessing a life of love and family is compared to a life of violence and revenge.

In a world where his son has trouble looking at the future with any better prediction than—“we grow up, we get jobs, we have affairs, and we become alcoholics,� Tom knows the person he has managed to become and the loving relationships he has filled his life with are things of great value. Although Tom’s past acquaintances see nothing but downsides to the commitments of marriage and family, Tom sees nothing but an upside he will never take for granted—a love that helped him become who he is and a love that, however difficult, has stood by him and will stand by him when he returns home.

While we may not be able to completely escape negative pasts, in the story that unfolds in A History of Violence, Tom Stall shows us that we need not be defined by them. Yes, our pasts can hurt us. Yes, they can hurt those around us. But, with the ability to let go of a need for vengeance and to realize the value of love, we need not be controlled and defined by them.

In the same way that Tom returns home to his family at the end of the movie, we too have a life of love and value that God will always have ready and waiting for us to return to or join for the very first time. Yes, there may be awkwardness, there may be difficulty, and we may need to deal with negative pasts at various points in our future. But, as Tom’s family shows us, even in pain, even in difficulty, amidst love and in its pursuit, we can overcome any past and be who we and God truly desire and know us to be.

—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections