I saw David Cronenberg's A History of Violence on Friday and was very very impressed. I haven't been the biggest fan of Cronenberg's films in the past, eg. I didn't like Crash (Cronenberg's Crash, not the excellent one that was in theatres this summer), so I feel confident recommending this film to other people who aren't Cronenberg fans. In fact, I might be so bold as to declare A History of Violence the best film I've seen this year.

It's a deceptively simple story that examines the violence that's underneath the surface of everyone. I enjoyed that scenes - normally violence scenes - which would normally be climatic in other movies aren't, instead they lead into the significant climatic scenes. Obviously the violence scenes are climatic but they're not the focus on the film, rather they direct the viewer to watch what plays out afterwards.

A History of Violence reminded me of the popular claim that violence is increasing and it's way worse now than it used to be. (By the way, I hate when people claim that "things aren't as good as they used to be.") I'm certainly not a historian, but I've taken enough history to be impressed by the significance that violence has always had in human society. Nowadays we just have increased technology so we can make bigger and more lethal weapons. I don't actually support violence or war but I'm also not so blinded by idealism that I ignore the continual presence of violence in human existence. It just occurred to me that the title of the film also suggests that violence is not just a contemporary issue rather it has a history.

I don't want to say too much more without being spoilery. However there is this excellent review in the Globe and Mail by Rick Goen that really beautifully analyzes the film.

With A History of Violence on my mind I watched last Monday's episode (English, Fitz or Percy) of Prison Break this evening. Although the first couple of Prison Break episodes had some violence in them, the last couple of weeks have been all about strategy. Interestingly, there's clearly lots of violence seething beneath the surface but everyone is keeping it together so they can attain their goals.


My favourite part of any episode is when Michael (one of my many tv boyfriends played by the mesmerizing Wentworth Miller) is focusing on the escape. I liked that he's testing his escape plan (very Scientific Method), and even though I figured out that he was going to sneak back into Pope's office via the air vent it was still fun to watch. I was totally worried about Michael during his 1st test run because it was a suspenseful scene not just because Wentworth Miller makes me weak in the knees.

A couple of good points:

1. The sappiness. I'm a sucker for sappy stuff particularly in this kind of context (tough guys) so I loved when Michael said to Lincoln: "Have a little faith."

2. We finally get the answer as to how Michael and Lincoln are related (same mom), and psychological motivation for Michael's actions when Lincoln says: "He's been abandoned his whole life. Dad, Mom -- she died young -- and now me. I abandoned him a long time ago. That's why he's here."

3. The storyline about Michael's potential transfer addresses many viewer's questioning of the plausibility about Michael ending up in the same prison as his brother.

4. I like that Michael and Sucre have formed a friendship - Michael likes him enough to leave him the screw and an origami bird. I loved their exchange about Sucre's cousin stealing his girl, very funny!

Michael: I thought you said your cousin was moving in on your girl.
Sucre: That’s my other cousin, but thanks for bringing that up, jackass.

5. The show's obvious critique of the death penalty (other than the whole premise):

Tancredi: I’m supposed to give you a physical this evening. Let me apologize in advance for the heavy dose of irony we’re about to participate in.
Burrows: It’s all right, just doing your job.
Tancredi: Yeah, well letting the State know that you’re healthy enough to execute is not why I went to medical school.

The weak areas:

1. Veronica and the overly helpful - so potentially dubious - lawyer. I can't believe it took her so long to realize that he may have tipped off the creepy CIA guys. That storyline started to seem so obvious that I wondered if it was a ruse and that we'd find out her apartment was bugged, but I sadly think it really is the hit-you-over-the-head scenario.

2. So the creepy CIA guys threaten the Warden and when he doesn't do what they want, they do .... nothing? After they killed that woman in the woods, I was imagining that the Warden would arrive home and his wife would be dead or at least they'd already told her about his secret son. Don't get me wrong, what happened on the show was certainly less upsetting it just didn't seem that believable (considering the CIA guys' past actions).

Bottom line: I'm still hooked on Prison Break and can't wait for tomorrow's episode, and not just because of my not-so-secret love for Wentworth Miller.