Soundtrack Review: A History of Violence

A History of ViolenceShore, perhaps best known now for his hours of instrumental work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, delivers a subtle score that consistently underlies Cronenberg’s movie, about one family’s ideal suburban life turned upside down when it appears that patriarch Tom (Viggo Mortensen) has a secret, hidden past as a contract killer.“The main character, Tom Stall, struggles with his own capacity for violence,” Shore explains. “The composition and its counterpoint were constructed to reflect Tom’s dual nature…the film portrays the consequences of violence and its effect on family and community.”Violence even gets is own track on Shore’s soundtrack – “Violence,” which echoes other tracks with it slow build, seeming peaceful and gradual until erupting into a momentary explosion, and then falling back into a false sense of security.One of Cronenberg’s other themes is that of role-playing, demonstrated early in the film as Tom and his wife Edie (Maria Bello) pretend to be high-schoolers in the early throws of love, and later on, as Edie questions Tom’s true past. One of the most shocking scenes is a violent sex scene that serves as a release for the two of them. Shore’s accompaniment to the scene, “The Staircase,” is one of the standouts on the soundtrack. Tough and with jagged rhythms, the track also serves as a love song for the couple’s ever-more-bizarre relationship.Though there is no catchy riff or truly memorable suite like some of Shore’s past work, Violence has a very rich score. Shore’s work here is quite intuitive and merges perfectly with the complex themes of Cronenberg’s great film.