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Reviews
A History of Violence (2005)
If only.....
*** Spoilers included!***
"A history of violence" is a movie that could have been something. It is one of those movies where the word "if" has a special meaning when thinking about what you have seen. The story is quite simple. "Man lives in a small place and is the ideal husband. Man kills two men trying to rob his café. Man is contacted by gangsters who claims that he is a violent criminal running away from his past. Man turns out to be a violent person and goes on a killing rampage. Man goes back to his family." Well, if you ask me this sounds like a rather clichéd story. And that is the trouble with this movie. It is a history of clichés hidden beneath scenes of graphic violence and some poor sex scenes. (The people who cry out about the sex scenes in this movie should see "Baise-moi" and "Irreversible" to see how sex can be used with a purpose in a movie. In "A history of violence" the sex-scenes seems awkward and without a real point.)
You will not waste your time if you see this movie, but neither will you remember it in one years time. It is the little things that prevents this movie from reaching the top. The scenes where Cronenberg could have made a difference, but where it ends up with something predictable.In short it is a craftsman's movie and well made from a technical point of view, but it is not the movie of an artist.
Ai-Fak (2004)
The cruelty of rural life
Though the story takes place in rural Thailand it tells a story that could take place in small communities all over the world. In short the movie is about a young man who comes home from his military service to find his father married with a beautiful but crazy young woman.He is attracted to her, but dosn't make any advance towards her. And when his father dies he tries to look after the woman with respect both for her and the memory of his father. But people in his community thinks he has an affair with her and makes them suffer a harsh condemnation for behaving outside of the social norms of the village. It is a well made movie with credible performance from the main actors and with moments you'll think about after having seen the movie. Being a a thai movie it will probably never reach a wide international audience, but it is well worth seeing if you should come across it.