While this list in no way seeks to glorify violence, it does acknowledge the fact (one that often proves to many a filmmaker’s justification/excuse) that it is as much a part of life as it is the movies. And, as an inescapable part of our daily lives, we should expect to see it reflected back at us on the silver screen. Yet when this is the case, it is usually no less shocking.
Like most things, there is an art (some may be so bold as to say ‘beauty’) to the presentation of violence-as it seems that it will never lose that raw, discomforting power over the viewer. It divide an audience. It demands attention. And it makes us sit up and listen, when, more of than not, we would rather look away.
Below are some of the most extreme examples; many giving credence to the much used claim of ‘once seen, never forgotten’.
CONTAINS SPOILERS…
10. The Untouchables
Brian de Palma’s 1987 crime drama follows notorious gang leader Al Capone (played by Robert De Niro) as he smuggles liquor into prohibition-era Chicago. Upon discovering that not every cop can be bought, he instead turns to intimidation; threatening Agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and his family unless he drops his pursuit. Yet Ness, leading Capone to believe that one of his own men may have drawn him near. And so, having held a dinner for his sharp-suited subordinates, he starts proceedings by professing his enthusiasm for baseball. He then picks up a baseball and holds it aloft.
As his men applaud, he circles the table and rolls out a speech laden with baseball metaphors. The message, he is clear to point out, is the importance of loyalty, of uniformity, of playing as a team. “Baseball!”, he exclaims, “A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For Individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field- what? Part of a team. Teamwork. Looks, throws, catches, hustles; part of one big team”, to which the men mumble in agreement.
But then Capone suddenly stops talking, takes a step back and swings the bat into the back of a gang member’s head. The first blow knocks him flat out and the second splatters his blood across the table like spilled wine. The next two, presumably, are to make sure nobody missed the point. It is alleged that this scene is based on a real-like incident, in which Capone beat and then shot three men whom he believed to be conspiring against him.
9. Casino
Keeping with De Niro and his weapon of choice, Martin Scorsese’s cut-throat crime drama sees the rise of Same ‘Ace’ Rothstein, a Mob casino boss headed to the top. The only trouble is, his ‘protection’, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), is drawing unwanted attention with his quick, violent temper. As time goes on, their relationship grows increasingly frayed- to the point where, following an attempt on his life, Ace instantly suspects Nicky. Having had enough of this live-wire liability, Sam’s bosses are quick to step in…
They strike a deal with Nicky’s men, promising them mercy if they turn in their leader. And so they arrange for Nicky and his brother Dominick (Phillip Suriano) to meet them in a remote cornfield, which should surely ring alarm bells in any mobster’s mind. Nicky is knocked to the ground by his former associate Frankie (Frank Marino), and forced to watch as the men set upon his brother with metal baseball bats. After beating him senseless, they turn their attention to Nicky, before throwing both men into shallow graves and burying them alive. Scorsese certainly isn’t one to shy away from violence; with the bloodied bats raining down on Dominick’s body, a metallic clang echoing from every blow. Yet what lends this shocking scene a clever twist is the realisation that the attach had interrupted Nicky from providing the film’s narration; the bat to the legs cutting his off mid-sentence.
8. Django Unchained
Like Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino has produced some of the most memorable scenes of onscreen savagery. Indeed, it’s difficult to settle on just the one. There’s the part in Reservoir Dogs in which Mr. Blonde ties up and tortures a terrified cop. There’s the bit in Kill Bill Volume 1 wherein The Bride repeatedly slams a heavy hospital door into Buck’s head. And there’s the ‘Bear Jew’ scene from Inglorious Basterds… but I think we’ve had enough baseball bats for now (it is three stikes and you’re out, after all). And so we turn to his most recent work, where we arrive at the compound of plantation owner Calvin Candie (a devilish Leonardo Dicaprio); a man who entertains his guests, and himself, with a nice spot of ‘mandingo fighting’ by the fire.
For the uninitiated, the spectacle sees two slaves fighting each other to the death. purely for no other purpose that the owner’s amusement and for no other prize that the survivor to be declared the winner. And although the guests may avert their gaze, the audience are denied the privilege. Instead, the camera follows this blood sport to the very end. The slaves’ grunts and screams fill the air, with the impact of every punch reducing their bruised bodies to sandbags. Bones break, ribs crunch – and the finishing blow is certainly not for the squeamish. While lacking the visceral shock of the narrator (Edward Norton) beating up Angel Face (Jared Leto) into a bloody pulp in Fight Club, this scene is made all the more uncomfortable by the basic, bottom-line fact that we’re watching a white man forcing two black men to give their lives for his pleasure.
7. This Is England
Shane Meadows’ 2006 film focuses on the working-class Midlands of the mid-Eighties, providing both a study of skinhead subculture and the nascent nationalism that threatened to overshadow it. Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a scrappy twelve-year old who, feeling jaded and alone, falls in with a group of skinheads. When Combo (Stephen Graham), an aggressive and unabashed member of the National Front, is released from prison, he is introduced to a new bou that the group has nicknamed Milky (Andrew Shim). At a party, Shaun, Combo, and Milky are smoking and lazing about upstairs, with Milky reminiscing on his West Indian upbringing. He speaks of a large, loving family – all the while Combo listening intently and offering an encouraging smile. And when Milky invites him for dinner, you can see the tears forming in Combo’s eyes; as though genuinely humbled, or as though what happens next is somehow beyond his control.
Having heard enough of this idyllic life, Combo addresses Milky in a voice barely above a whisper, “You’ve got everything, you, haven’t yer? Got the whole fucking perfect package, haven’t yer?” and now his line of questioning suddenly becomes somewhat accusatory. Shane can see where this is heading and tries to turn Combo awa. But by now it’s too late, and Milky, watching Combo grow increasingly agitated, draws out a wide, victorious grin. Combo lets loose a tirade of racial slurs, while repeatedly punching and stamping on his head. He then rushes a distraught Shaun out of the room before turning on the two other gang members who had been sitting by with an uncomfortable uncertainty upon their faces, as shocked by the attack as the rest of us. It’s and incredibly hard scene to watch and, as the room falls claim once more, you’re left there, mouth open, as the the film staggers to a close.
6. Killing Them Softly
In Andrew Dominik’s heavy-handed neo-noir, Ray Liotta plays Markie Trattman; the man who cried wolf. Having ‘held up’ his own poker game in order to run off with the money, Markie unwittingly makes himself the prime suspect if such an event were to happen again. So when two small-time crooks get wind of the scam, they know they will be off the hook. On a dark and rainy night, justice befalls poor Markie in the shape of two knuckle-cracking mobsters at the side of his car. He pleads for his life, with stammering apologies and the panic ever growing in his eyes, but they aren’t listening. What follows is on the most realistic scenes of violence ever committed to the big screen.
Even for the genre it’s a tough watch, exacerbated by a curious sound mix in which every blow sounds like shattered glass. As a bruised and beaten Markie is punched into the ground, his teeth tumbling from a broken jaw and his blood snatched by the lashing rain, witnessing the man’s last few breaths becomes almost unbearable.
5. The Raid: Redemption
One of the most shocking and spectacular scenes in Gareth Evans’ ultra-violent martial arts maelstorm can be summed up in the phrase “two-against-one”, although this says nothing of the carnage contained within. As a SWAT team swarms a Jakarta tower block, the resident crime lord and his henchmen unleash one wave of fury after another until every floor is littered with bodies. And their secret weapon, a one-man army known as Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), can make the entire building tremble; tearing his way though just about everything: his feet a blue, his fists a machine gun. When putted against protagonist cop Rama (Iko Uwais) and his brother, he turns a video game showdown into a gladiatorial fight to the death; long, brutal, and relentless. He also turns a tired action trope into the most exhilarating action sequence ever squeezed into a taut ten minutes.
The three men are smashed head-first into the walls and floor, their screams echoing around the bare, grey cell. Just when things appear to have reached a bloody end, with Rama slamming a broken fluorescent light tube into Mad Dog’s neck, the action is pumped up to another level. You worry that, despite the spray of red-dotted across the floor, Mad Dog may actually be invincible – immortal, even. For he’s significantly stronger than before, an unbelievable force of nature. Yet the brothers’ inspired teamwork sees them breaking every bone of their opponents body; first his arms, then his back, and then, finally, his neck. Dragging the jagged light tube across his jugular may seem like overkill, but is there another word that can encapsulate the entire film?
4. Drive
Our unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling) arrives as something of a shining knight; protecting young mother Irene (Carey Mulligan) from the men hunting down her husband (Oscar Isaac). Naturally, this only draws attention to himself. The new draws ever closer, to the point where the threat suddenly appears on his very doorstep. Standing in an apartment elevator with Irene, he catches sight- the slightest of glimpses- of a gun barrel glinting in a strangers jacket pocket.
He steps towards Irene for a long and languorous kiss, before turning around, grabbing the stranger’s head and slamming it into the elevator doors. The man has no time to react before he’s pushed into a corner. There, the Driver kicks him and stomps on his head. Repeatedly. After a sickly squelch, the camera briefly shows the extent of the damage; a head squashed like a grade. Irene cowers, reeling from the realisation that the man who saved he life is as much of a monster as those who pursued them. The elevator doors open, she takes a backwards step outside and silently, but shivering, walks away.
3. The Killer Inside Me
What makes the violence in Michael Winterbottom’s 2010 adaption so unflinchingly upsetting is the fact that, for the most part, it is directed at women; or rather, one woman – a prostitute called Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba). Although she displays a sadomasochistic streak, Joyce is forever at the mercy of Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck); a vile, sniveling sociopath. She lives in fear of Lou’s temper, and attempts to assuage him with a plan to extort $10,000 from a man with whom she is having an affair with. Rather than consider this the perfect vengeance for his previous crime, he instead places his hands, shrouded in black leather gloves, on her face and playfully tweaks her nose. If only he had stopped there.
The following scene is, without doubt, one of the most controversial and discomforting in recent years- a sight that should make everyone shudder. But what makes it truly the stuff of nightmares is the sight of Joyce’s bruised lips and black eyes juxtaposed with Lou’s false apologies and empty “I love you’s”. A year later, this scene makes and unwelcome return, of sorts, in Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur; in which Olivia Colman played victim to her abusive husband (Eddie Marsan). Both filmmakers have taken incredibly difficult subject matter (a topic still considered taboo) and produced some of the most devastating scenes of movie violence. Devastating because, rather than play it for cheap, tasteless tricks, they’ve simply shown it for the horror it is.
2. Irreversible
When Nicolas Winding Refn was directing the above ‘head-stomp’ scene in Drive, he sought the advice of Gaspar Noe; clearly a connoisseur of such matters. For Noe’s 2002 Irreversible, a film already famous (or, rather, infamous) for its nine-minute rape scene, has another contender for controversy. In a Parisian gay club called The Rectum, Pierre (Albert DuPontel) believes he has seen the man who had sexually attacked his ex-girlfriend Alex (Monica Belucci) earlier that evening. He pushes him to the ground, reaches for a fire extinguisher and, amidst an apathetic crowd, repeatedly smashes his face beyond all recognition. His features are quickly flattened like clay, his eyes hollowed out with every blow. It’s an astoundingly bleak scene; grim, grotesque and breathtakingly graphic.
All the while, the camera refuses to cut away. And it’s made all the more shocking when we consider the film’s non-linear narrative has presented us with the revenge before the rape. And of course, as we arrive at the bigger picture far, far, too late- we can see that it’s the wrong man.
1. Kill List
Uwe Boll’s 2007 horror Seed contains an extended scene in which an elderly woman is shown strapped to a chair and bludgeoned to death by a masked man. Although the sight of a hammer clashing with flesh is, understandably, terrifying to begin with, such repetition and over-the-top gore quickly renders the film into a video game; needlessly shaking the frame with every blow. At the end of its five-minute duration, any shock or subtlety has long since gone. It may be an oddly inappropriate adjective to reach for but, yes, it is boring. Perhaps this is Boll’s commentary on an increasingly desensitised audience, or perhaps it’s just not a very good scene. Who can say?
There are further questions to be asked of Kill List, a film best watched through the gaps between your fingers, but those are the ones that will keep you awake at night. The story follows ex-soldiers Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) as they become contract killers for a client whose hit- list includes some seemingly unconventional targets. Far from being your typical crime thriller, there’s something much more unnerving waiting for us in the finale… But first, the list. After deciding to pay a house visit to Target Number Two, a man known only as The Librarian (Mark Kempner), Jay and Gal tie their victim to a chair and subject him to the most horrific torture imaginable. Given what they know about him, (or perhaps more accurately, what they’ve been led to believe) such violence is seemingly justified. Cigarette burns to the neck are one thing, but the introduction of a hammer is quite another.
Because of its everyday, domestic setting, the film detaches itself from the multi-angled, super-stylised sheen of torture porn and instead favours a more naturalistic feel. As a result, you feel as though you’re right there in the kitchen with them, panicking, pulsing and complicit in their crime – and yet, of course, you’re equally as helpless. Just when you think/hope you are to be spared the final blow, director Ben Wheatley reminds us that he has other ideas. But what makes this scene so utterly chilling, so indelibly etched into the back of your mind is the curious, and frustratingly unrealised, question: why did the man beaten to death in his own home, the man who immediately resigned himself to two strangers on a tip-off, the man who committed unspeakable (and, for an audience, unseen) horror; why did this man look his killers in the eye and splutter a heartbreakingly earnest ‘thank you’?
