The history of mankind, the history of violence

Missouri 2022-04-19 09:01:33

On a hot and annoying summer afternoon, two men left the hotel where they stayed. One of the older men went to the counter to check out, and the other young man was waiting in the car, with various summer insects in the background. Ming, the young man was a little impatient, and started to slowly drive the car to the counter. Finally, the middle-aged man came out. It seemed that everything was normal. The two were about to leave. At this time, the middle-aged man weighed the water bottle and found There was not much water left, and he gave the young man a wink . The
young man cursed in a low voice. He picked up the kettle and walked into the house where the middle-aged man had just left. Thinking of it, I walked slowly to the front of the water dispenser. Maybe I played with some decorations in the house during the process. At this time, I saw several corpses lying nearby in the background, and the focus was even a little blurry. The young man began to fill the water. After a little girl who had apparently slipped out of the door, she was frightened and cried by the scene. The young man was taken aback and quickly appeased the little girl, while his left hand stretched out to the pistol on his back waist, as if giving a toy to the little girl. Girl-like aiming above the little girl's forehead
is the opening scene of David Kronenberg's violent effect. I described it from impressions. There may be some differences in it, but it is basically the atmosphere. This opening points out the whole film. The main theme of this opening is the ubiquitous violence.
This opening is probably the most frightening opening I have ever seen. The reason is not the exaggerated violence, nor the blood and the corpses. His horror lies in the "violence". "Daily", the two of them slaughtered the owner of the house and even the young children, but without the slightest emotional reaction in the process, they followed the convenience store to buy a can of Coke as casually, or even a bit of a standardized behavioral reflex, while the camera Language is the use of violence as a background, as insignificant as a yawn. When the corpse scene appeared for the first time, the director did not even want to focus on the camera, as if it was just an irrelevant scene in the background. Paintings that matter, infusing violence like this into every breath and rhythm of life, is the message that David Cornenburg's film is trying to convey.



Humanity has been a history of violence since the beginning of its history. If Kubrick's description is correct (I believe it should be not far from it), the dawn of human civilization was carried out on a thigh bone that killed its own kind. Even if this is impossible to test , From the point of view of modern recordable history, who said that the beautiful big mushroom cloud that can kill hundreds of thousands of people at a time is not the representative image of the development of modern scientific and technological civilization to the peak.
Human beings cannot escape violence, and human beings are also Violence is inseparable. Even in a modern society that has been peaceful for a long time, violence can still be seen everywhere. My friend Crouching Axe once clearly pointed out that the existence of the police is the evidence of the normal use of violence. The reason why the police have become our agents of violence Man, I think there's another level of meaning...is to alienate violence from self, and it's not just that we feel comfortable when we do violence to others - because it's not directly from me. Erasing it from daily life and creating an illusion of security without violence - even if there are still endless murders and massacres in society, but if it does not happen in front of you, it is just like the war in the Persian Gulf, which is far away and Unrealistic. Those images can still be like a can of Coke. Drinking it is very full and exciting, and if you hiccups, everything is gone
. Now the Konenberg film is processed in reverse. The reason why this film is abnormal, ---Because he does not regard violence as an abnormality, (society's handling of violent incidents always emphasizes his abnormality) It is just one of many human behaviors, just like eating, drinking and sleeping. In fact, compared to violence, security is more like a flimsy illusion. Whether it is the history of human beings or the nature where all things survive, it is actually a world in which the strong prey on the weak and use violence to control violence. Therefore, mankind has spent thousands of years of civilization trying to erase the traces of violence, but it has always been in vain. As long as they are bloody human beings, they all implicitly expect to see violence with their own eyes and experience the thrill of violence, which comes from conquest and survival. instinct.
And Tom Steyer played by Viggo Mortensen is the epitome and metaphor of this image. Tom tries his best to erase the existence of Joey. Joey is his violent past and Tom's essence, just like the underworld boss makes fun of Tom. , no matter how disguised it is, the bloodthirsty nature of human beings cannot be hidden. Tom's history of confronting Joey's violence in the past is the history of modern human beings facing their own violence. Desperately trying to cover up and pretending that it doesn't exist, the history of violence always It will come again and again. However, violence is not shameful, when it is to maintain the safety of his own home. Ignoring violence is equivalent to being the real self, and can only live falsely.

There is an obvious contrast in the film. The group is the son of the protagonist Tom. He has been under the shadow of the threat of violence because he provoked a gangster at school. When the first crisis appeared, the son of the protagonist was resolved with words full of cleverness. The second crisis ended with his out-of-control violent counterattack. Of course, it was influenced by Tom's violent incident, but it also proved that the factor of violence was lurking in everyone's heart, just like when the first crisis was lifted, the protagonist's The son is trembling in front of Locker, whether it is the protagonist's son or the audience, not only trembling because of fear, that trembling is also accompanied by the excitement of violence, and the tension of anticipation of violence
The violent agent in the film---the police, Obviously, it is useless, because the ubiquitous violence can only be prevented by itself, and can only be stopped by means of violence
. The family worked hard to eat as usual, but everyone knew in their hearts that it was impossible to be the same again. When you see the real world clearly, how can you return to the illusory life in the illusion. They finally accepted the father's return At home, but they were trembling and restless, as if they had returned to the primitive nature. The disguise of civilization had been stripped away.

Even Joey's brother could order Joey to be killed in cold blood after a warm reunion. Michael, who is not the godfather, struggles with guilt for the tragic killing of his brother, just for the sake of higher power (or revenge), under the law of survival, even the family, the last habitat, will eventually fall, killing himself for the sake of power. Man, this isn't just a movie story.
Maybe Cornenburg told us a fact we pretended we didn't see,
you and I—
In fact, they have always secretly harbored the desire to kill and bite each other.

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Extended Reading

A History of Violence quotes

  • [Richie talks to Joey about the business]

    Richie Cusack: What am I gonna do? You bust up a made man's place. You killed some of his guys. You take his eye. Jesus, Joey... you nearly took out his left eye. Barbed wire, wasn't it? That's disgusting. You always were the crazy one.

    Tom Stall: Not anymore.

    Richie Cusack: Yeah, I heard. You're living the American Dream. You really bought into it, didn't you? You've been this other guy, almost as long as you've been yourself. Hey, when you dream, are you still Joey?

    Tom Stall: Joey's been dead a long time.

    Richie Cusack: And yet here you sit... big as life. You know you cost me a lot of time and money. Before you pulled that shit with Fogarty, I was a shoe-in to take over when the boss croaked. A shoe-in. It was made very clear to me, Joey. I had to clean up your mess, or nothing was ever gonna happen for me! You got no idea how much shit I had to pull to get back in with those guys. You cost me! A hell of a lot, Joey. A hell of a lot!

    Tom Stall: Looks like you're doing all right over here.

    Richie Cusack: Yeah, I am, I am. I'm still behind the eight-ball... because of you. There's a certain lack of respect, a certain lack of trust. The boys in Boston are just waitin' for me to go down.

  • [Tom gets a phone call in the middle of the night]

    Tom Stall: Hello?

    Richie Cusack: [voice] Hey, Bro-heem. You're still pretty good with the killing. That's exciting.

    Tom Stall: Richie?

    Richie Cusack: [chuckles; voice] Yeah, it's Richie. What do you say, Joey? Are you going to come see me? Or do I have to come see you?