Director David Cronenberg and screenwriter Josh Olson attended this year’s Comic Convention in San Diego, and I was fortunate to interview them both at this event. Their new film, A History of Violence, will be released September 30, 2005. Because the title doesn’t really define what this movie is about, I was pleasantly surprised to discover it’s an intense, clever, captivating and well-made drama. Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello co-star as a man and wife with two children who live a quiet, happy life until Mortensen’s character foils a vicious attempted robbery and kills two criminals in self-defense.  

QUESTION: David, what made you return to these more graphic, pulp movies?

Cronenberg: I think Crash (1996), which is about as independent as they come, was pretty graphic, and a little bit pulpy and Naked Lunch was too. Each movie is a unique thing for me…it takes on a life of its own. For example the gore shots in History of Violence, which are not many, are there for a very specific reason and the reason has to do with the movie.

QUESTION: Was there a conscious decision to make sure you weren’t copying the graphic novel this film is based on?

Cronenberg: No, I never knew there was a graphic novel involved. My investment was in Josh’s script.

Olson: I was hired by New Line to adapt the book. I kept the basic structure of the novel in the opening and then turned it into something else along the way so by the time you’re done, we’re at a completely different place. When I got a phone call from New Line that David Cronenberg wanted to do this film...I thought they were joking. I couldn’t believe it.

QUESTION: What did you each see in Viggo that was right for this film?

Cronenberg: The project had been in development for some time and everybody had an opinion about who should play what roles. Viggo was certainly on my short list, but he wasn’t the only one. As we developed the script, the character changes as the dynamics change. It becomes clearer who would be good and what the tone of the movie is. You know Viggo’s just the perfect guy. I mean, not only as an actor but just where he is in his career and everything. Lord of the Rings, which is why he’s famous, has very little to do with his role in this movie. But other movies that he’s done, like A Walk on the Moon with Diane Lane. He’s very gentle, tender and sexy.

Olson: I was a huge fan of Viggo’s. He’s got the sort of quintessential type of American classics look -- he reminds me of Kirk Douglas sometimes in darker films that he did. I’m always on the prowl for guys who can play the roles Clint Eastwood played thirty years ago. Viggo’s that kind of the guy.

QUESTION: David, what’s more challenging -- a smaller indie or a studio film?

Cronenberg:  I think on “aintitcool.com” somebody said, “Oh my God, Cronenberg might become relevant again.” (he laughs) It was obvious that this had more commercial potential than Spider or Crash. This movie cost $32 million, which is the most expensive movie I’ve ever made; it’s with a studio and they have expectations that it’s going to make some money. But, I’m trying to make the movie, as it is the best version of it -- I’m not trying to force something into it that’s not going to go.

QUESTION: The cinematography is incredible; have you worked with Peter Suschitzky before?

Cronenberg: Yes, since 1988. Dead Ringers was the first. And you know, he shot The Empire Strikes Back -- not too many people are aware of that -- which is the only good looking Star Wars movie as far as I’m concerned. He also shot The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

QUESTION: Could you both talk about the violence angle and how it relates to other issues?

Olson: I tend to approach stuff from a more intuitive level particularly when the subject of themes came up. It was always in my mind that if this film was done right, it would fit in with movies that sort of discuss America’s history.

Cronenberg:  I’ve heard people think this is a documentary. What are we talking about? The human condition? I think all levels are there, the personal one, the national one, and the universal -- are all sort of being discussed without it being too overt, but it’s all there. You can take this movie very politically if you want or you can take it very philosophically and it works on all those levels.

QUESTION: The film has some intense sexual scenes. Any comments about them?

Cronenberg:  In Josh’s original script there were no sex scenes and I added the two sex scenes. I thought that they were necessary and very important to add. He had never written sex scenes before he said, so he was a little shy, but he did a good job.

QUESTION: Did the studio ever express any concerns over the sex and violence?

Cronenberg: It was always a discussion but not a concern. It was a nice collaboration with the studio. Questions are the kind of questions that an actor would ask, you know, “will the scene on the stairs be perceived as a rape” because it’s not supposed to be a rape.

(Click here for the ReelTalk review of A History of Violence. John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel is available at comic shops and bookstores everywhere.) 

Photo: David Cronenberg on the set of A History of Violence. Photo Credit: Takashi Seida/New Line Productions

Read Diana Saenger's reviews of classic films at http://classicfilm.about.com.