The first drive-in movie I remember seeing as a kid was the gore-fest, low-budget classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. It turned me into an instant horror buff and I still get goosebumps whenever I see Bela Lugosi's Count Dracula, Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera or Boris Karloff's Frankenstein Monster. And when it comes to violence, I can handle it if it's an integral part of the story and artfully handled as in such films as THE GODFATHER trilogy, FATAL ATTRACTION, CLOCKWORK ORANGE, PLATOON, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS or BONNIE & CLYDE. It even can work in comedy, be it slapstick like The Keystone Cops and WHAT'S UP DOC or dark humour like DR. STANGELOVE and HAROLD & MAUDE or anything by the Coen brothers! But gratuitous horror, sex and violence have never impressed me. I remember being barely able to watch SMOKIN' ACES and THE HILLS HAVE EYES II and had it not been for the fact that I was interviewing the casts, I probably would have walked out. As it was, all I wanted to ask the stars was why they felt such bloodbaths were necessary in the first place. It seems like the older I get, the more I crave family-friendly fare like HAIRSPRAY, NO RESERVATIONS and heck...even UNDERDOG.
Interestingly, three new movies have some extremely violent content...but I wanted to use this space to let you know not to let it stop you from checking them out at the cinema. And while Hollywood-types get the notoriety for churning out violence, it should be noted that all the directors helming these features are NOT American.
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is a long but lovely film adaptation of the excellent book by Ron Hansen. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck portray the title characters respectively and, of course, it is impossible not to tell an accurate version of the Old West's most notorious killers without violence. Direction by Australian Andrew Dominick, earnest acting performances and breathtaking cinematography more than balance the tough-to-watch moments.
Soft spoken Irishman Neil Jordan unleashes two hours of graphic violence and vengeance in his excellent new thriller, THE BRAVE ONE starring sublime Jodie Foster and affable Terrence Howard. For every instance of brutality, there is absolute plotline merit and Foster's mesmerizing performance assures that the caliber of the storyline is elevated far beyond standard "shoot ?em up" films. As much as you might want to look away at times, you cannot take your eyes off her. And finally, my favourite from the Toronto Film Festival (which also won the top prize there), the crime drama EASTERN PROMISES will certainly make you wince with its depictions of murder, rape and assorted other acts of violence. But all the components of great filmmaking are evident throughout and, as the brilliant Viggo Mortensen explained to me, in the hands of Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, everything came together to make a wholly compelling piece of celluloid art. If you're old enough to buy a ticket, by all means do so!
So what I'd like to hear from you are your picks for the most Appropriate and Inappropriate use of violence in films...?
