The Best Portrayal of the Reality of Violence in a Movie?

DrumSteve

Re-watched Unforgiven there recently. What struck me was the way that killing is dealt with in the film and how it effects the individual characters, especially against the backdrop of the Wild West.

It struck me that this was the best potrayal i'd seen where the characters struggled to kill even though they had to... (and the one person who didn't kill anyone was lynched).

This scene in particular stuck with me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5LkbZFfKx4

Now contrast this to one of the greatest scenes in action movie history. Totally unrealistic though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxYmEYBLgBE

I was also going to post the ending to A History of Violence but I think commando will do haha

Any other recommendations?

pickarooney

Irreversible?

Funkfield

Nil By Mouth.

Also, Once Were Warriors.

Both about violence and family. Not easy watching. Great movies though.

DrumSteve

Funkfield wrote: »

Nil By Mouth.

Also, Once Were Warriors.

Both about violence and family. Not easy watching. Great movies though.

Yeah Nil By Mouth was ****ed up... winston was excellent in that.

Warper

Funkfield wrote: »

Nil By Mouth.

Also, Once Were Warriors.

Both about violence and family. Not easy watching. Great movies though.

Nil by Mouth was the first film that popped into my head too. The scene where he batters the wife is brutal.

Good shout on Once were Warriors too.

As for The Unforgiven, no.

Sad Professor

I don't think violence in films is ever realistic unless it shows the full consequences of that violence. For example, in Born of the Fourth of July you see the effect a single bullet can have on a man's life. Violence isn't just about blood and guts and horror, it has deeper implications for those who survive it and their family.

Irréversible (which I watched recently) is pretty realistic imo, but only because of the second of half, which puts the violence in context by exploring who the people involved were. If not for that, I probably would have considered the violence of the first half to be somewhat exploitive. As I think Ebert said, the second half of the film gives you time to reflect on the violence rather than just swiftly moving on from it as most movies do.

hidinginthebush

I'd have to agree with Once Were Warriors, the violence in that absolutely shocking and very real. Jake the Muss' comes across as a complete maniac, great film though!

Is it just me or do the more low-budget indie films that tend to have the more real violence? For example the bit where Vinnie Jones

is slamming the guys head in the door

in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is terrifying and very believable. The only big budget film I can think of where the voilence seems real is Saving Private Ryan, particularly

where the medic dies

or where [spoiler]Adam Goldberg gets stabbed by the German/COLOR]/spoiler[COLOR=Black . But the whole film in general is very believable in it's portrayal of violence.

IamMetaldave

pickarooney wrote: »

Irreversible?

I was going to say the very same thing.

Richard Dower

Southland, season 3 episode 4.

rednik

One that sticks out for me is the Roy Scheider knife scene in Marathon Man.

Olivier continually forcing the blade up into Scheider's ribs is very real and done with such force. Then seeing Scheider at the door of Hoffman's apartment looking in need of a transfusion quickly. Brilliant.

Dave!

Alot of WW2 films have disturbing portrayals of violence. Schindler's List is good (

I'm thinking of the scene where Amon Göth shoots the boy with a rifle from his balconey

), but the Pianist is probably a bit more upsetting. There's a scene where

they tip a man out of his wheelchair, out the window and into the street

. Horrible

mikhail

Sad Professor wrote: »

I don't think violence in films is ever realistic unless it shows the full consequences of that violence. For example, in Born of the Fourth of July you see the effect a single bullet can have on a man's life. Violence isn't just about blood and guts and horror, it has deeper implications for those who survive it and their family.

That reminds me of In Bruges. McDonagh (the writer/director) said he'd seen so many cool shoot-outs on film, but never anything about the stray bullets. Anyone who's seen the film will know what I mean, so I'll say no more for fear of spoilers.

Dyr

What experiences of violence are you guys basing all this on? I'm not qualified to judge what a realistic portrayal of extreme violence would be like because it's something that I've never really experienced myself.

I guess people mean a realistic depiction of what they think violence might be like

Sad Professor

I guess many people have watched online videos of various shocking stuff that has been recorded or caught on camera and from that have formed the belief that they know what real violence is like. But a lot of the time I think it just comes from watching movies, where there's a tendency to consider disturbing depictions of violence to be realistic. When in actual fact, I think a lot of passes for "realistic" violence now days is greatly exaggerated because the audience is so desensitised that they don't believe anything else.

krudler

Violence for me is all abuot the context, Will Smith bloodily gunning down a few dozen bad guys in Bad Boys 2 isnt violent at all as its over the top and cartoonish, something like Once Were Warriors is, especially the first time Jake beats up his wife, as its brutal and it happens in real life (I know people get shot in real life but they're not usually in a multicar chase along a bridge in Miami spewing one liners)

Morlar

' Rise of the footsoldier' is one that springs to mind. The scene in the pizza shop. The randomness, viciousness and senselessness of the whole thing rang true, even if the movie didn't linger too long with consequences or aftermath.

Surly

Without wanting to go into details, I've experienced some scary violence first-hand, and would say that Shane Meadows gets it right a lot of the time.

There are scenes in This Is England (both the film and 86) and A Room For Romeo Brass that still scare the crap out of me. He has a knack of capturing that unhinged rage that consumes people when they lose control of themselves, and the paralysis it strikes into (some of) its victims.

Boo Radley

The violence in 'This is England' was shockingly realistic in the scene towards the end. I was impressed how it was handled in that it communicated the true horror often associated with such acts.

DrumSteve

Boo Radley wrote: »

The violence in 'This is England' was shockingly realistic in the scene towards the end. I was impressed how it was handled in that it communicated the true horror often associated with such acts.

If you talking about

the rape scene

then definitely... that guy was terrific in that scene. The pair of them were.

Boo Radley

DrumSteve wrote: »

If you talking about

the rape scene

then definitely... that guy was terrific in that scene. The pair of them were.

I was referring to the film not the '86 mini-series.

DrumSteve

Boo Radley wrote: »

I was referring to the film not the '86 mini-series.

Where

he knocks the crap out of Milky

? That was grim

Boo Radley

DrumSteve wrote: »

Where

he knocks the crap out of Milky

? That was grim

That's the one, it's pretty damn grim. I haven't seen the '86 sequel but unfortunately I now know of a spoiler due to a poorly labelled post

chuky_r_law

pickarooney wrote: »

Irreversible?

irreversible still disturbs me, even though its quite a while since i saw it.

another film i saw, which was apparently an influence on gasper noe, is 'angst'(1983). shockingly realistic

DrumSteve

Boo Radley wrote: »

That's the one, it's pretty damn grim. I haven't seen the '86 sequel but unfortunately I now know of a spoiler due to a poorly labelled post

It was spoilered...:-)

Boo Radley

DrumSteve wrote: »

It was spoilered...:-)

It was spoilered in relation to my post, i.e. 'This is England' not 'This is England '86'. Hence why I read it.

O Tim

If you ignore all the fourth wall rattling, then Funny Games offers a pretty realistic simulation of violence and its consequences.

Another mention for Irreversible. Appropriately heightened and really well executed (excuse the pun).

Recently saw the disturbing and excellent Hunger, which feels brutally realistic, while smartly side stepping any overt partisan endorsement or Braveheart-esque representation of good vs. evil.

Also gonna throw in Evil Dead 2. Simply because "who's laughing now?" is the best 5 seconds I've ever seen in cinema.

Heckler

I think the war violence in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers set a new standard for war films especially. Whereas before when a soldier got shot you'd get the grimaced face, outstretched arms or chest clutching, in these two especially it was someone running, gets shot and just drops like a stone.

From alive to dead in a heartbeat with no inbetween.

Can't watch any war films made before those two without comparing.

O Tim

^ Full Metal Jacket's "sniper" scene is faily harsh.

bnt

I haven't seen any of the films mentioned yet - not sure that I want to, TBH. I'm also one of those fortunate enough to have seen little violence in my time, but from what I have seen, it can be both shocking and banal. It's not ... interesting: it's just sad. It doesn't come with an announcement or an ominous soundtrack, and "justice" is an elusive concept. So I'd look at movies that deal with that aspect.

Most times, I don't need the movie to depict the actual violence. The suggestion can be enough - both for the characters and the audience. Sleeping With The Enemy depicts domestic violence, but it would have served no purpose to show Julia Roberts suffering repeated abuse, in my opinion: what she did about it was more interesting. (Dunno about the ending, though - did she really get away with killing him, with no consequences?)

One film that seemed to try to depict violence realistically, it seemed to me, was A History of Violence, with Viggo Mortensen as an apparently normal guy who attracts too much attention after foiling a robbery. You could say it's about violence and its repercussions.

ChunkyLover_53

The kerb scene in American History X, I knew nothing of that scene before I first saw it so it was a complete shock to me on first seeing it, the noise of it alone still makes me shiver.

also the scene after he is attacked in prison, I think its a prison guard or someone says "he recieved 30 stitches'....but you only see 6 stitches above his eye...ouch.

Again another mention for Irreversible, except what boils my blood is

when you see a guy walk into the hallway/walkway thing, he stops for a second realises whats happening and then runs off!:eek:

Honorable mention for A Clockwork Orange and Romper Stomper for the Home Invasion Scenes.

And Finally Star Wars...possibly the only true acts of violence in the whole series that actually make you say to yourself 'the Empire are dicks' is the scene in the original where Luke returns to find

Uncle Owen and his Aunt burned to a crisp

and in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin returns to the Jedi Academy & finds the Younglings, they ask him whats going on and

he just stands there and powers up his Lightsaber

DazMarz

Boys Don't Cry features particularly harrowing scenes of extreme sexual violence and murder, which rip apart the lives of several people in the film. The brutality with which the violence is meted out to a person who dared to be different, who dared to be who they wanted to be is starkly presented and is very graphic. There is nothing glorified about it, it is shown as it would have happened in true life (the film is based upon a true story). The heinous effects that sexual violence has upon its victims is shown and shown very realistically (even in the aftermath, the police are shown to be harsh, disbelieving and callous).

Tipsy McSwagger

Saving Private Ryan when the German soldier slowly shoves the knife into the allied soldier is very hard to watch.

RGDATA!

mikhail wrote: »

That reminds me of In Bruges. McDonagh (the writer/director) said he'd seen so many cool shoot-outs on film, but never anything about the stray bullets. Anyone who's seen the film will know what I mean, so I'll say no more for fear of spoilers.

loved In Bruges and i'm a fan of McDonagh but he mustn't have seen Pulp Fiction, which is what came to mind instantly for me when I watched that scene in In Bruges

MiloYossarian

I recently watched a film called I SAW THE DEVIL, and it has the most shockingly realistic stabbing sequence I've ever seen.
I've stabbed a lot of people in my time and have always been let down by the stabbing I've seen on telly. It just wasn't stabby enough.

Otis Driftwood

The scenes of violence in Larry Clarkes Bully are very realistic.Alot of it is more pyschological (s/p) than outright violence which makes it pack more of a punch.

Johnny Derpp

Rambo IV and A History Of Violence I thought were not only realistic but violently realistic.

Sad Professor

It's a while since I've seen it, but I recall A History of Violence as having a very cartoonish/comic bookish depiction of violence. Blood flying everywhere, but anything but realistic. I remember laughing during some of the violent scenes, especially the latter ones. Like Robocop, I thought it was meant to be somewhat satirical.

rednik

In the two shootings during the robbery in the diner, one is a run of the mill shooting but the other is very realistic and when you see in the aftermath the wound it is very real.

diddlybit

chuky_r_law wrote: »

irreversible still disturbs me, even though its quite a while since i saw it.

I couldn't even finish that scene, walked out in tears. Horrible. Straw Dogs had the same effect.

ShowMeTheCash

Let me in, the remake of let the right one in.
The bullying in the school really being the horrific part of the movie.

goose2005

The fistfight in "From Russia with Love" is very good, especially considering its era.

Raekwon

I thought the

razor blade assassination

scene in A Prophet was brilliantly executed, so much so that I felt nauseous watching it.

Manchegan

It's easy to forget what a shock it was to see cold-blooded hitmen discussing fast food, foot massages and epiphanies. Oh, and having to clean up after blowing someone's head off.

Snake Plisken

Again another mention for Irreversible, except what boils my blood is

when you see a guy walk into the hallway/walkway thing, he stops for a second realises whats happening and then runs off!:eek:

That was put in on purpose by Noe

read somewhere that represents the viewer and how most of us would walk the other way rather then get involved, as it looked like a pimp beating up one of his girls

Just a really disturbing film, Noe used the same pulsing sound that police use to disperse crowds it makes u feel sick. Also the fire extinguisher scene in la Rectum was pretty realistic. One very powerful movie

Zadkiel

The Killer Inside Me

when Lou visits Joyce I was quite disturbed by that.
The fact that there was no emotion in him when he was beating her.

I'll second Nil by Mouth too. Kathy Burke's make up job was very realistic

howamidifferent

+1 for the kerb scene in "American History X".
Everytime I watch that film I feel equally sick in my stomach at the thought of it being done by a human being to another human being. To me, that complete lack of empathy is the personification of pure evil.

Mellor

ChunkyLover_53 wrote: »

The kerb scene in American History X, I knew nothing of that scene before I first saw it so it was a complete shock to me on first seeing it, the noise of it alone still makes me shiver.

also the scene after he is attacked in prison, I think its a prison guard or someone says "he recieved 30 stitches'....but you only see 6 stitches above his eye...ouch.

That's what I was going to say too.

RGDATA! wrote: »

loved In Bruges and i'm a fan of McDonagh but he mustn't have seen Pulp Fiction, which is what came to mind instantly for me when I watched that scene in In Bruges

Which scene in Pulp Fiction are you talkign about, not sure now it relates to In Bruges tbh

mikhail

Mellor wrote: »

Which scene in Pulp Fiction are you talkign about, not sure now it relates to In Bruges tbh

I presume he means the

spur of the moment shooting in the car

in Pulp Fiction in reply to my "stray bullets" comment. I think perhaps he misunderstood what McDonagh meant, possibly because he hasn't seen In Bruges for context.

leeroybrown

It was mentioned earlier in the thread but the one that springs instantly to mind is the scene where Vinnie Jones

slams the car door repeatedly on someone's head

in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I thought it captured unhinged senseless violence brilliantly.

ziedth

Ya American History X all day long for me. Like was mentioned above I didn't know about it before insaw the film and I was shaken after watching it.

Slightly off topic but I was looking at this special forces guys book before he is a consultant on various films and he said by far and away the most realistic fight scene between two people who would have been trained in how to kill hand to hand was John Cusack fighting in the hallway in Grosse Point Blank. I always thought that was interesting.

matt-dublin

Any of the violent scenes in American history x