When it comes to comic adaptation this is probably the best visually. The comic book style is really good. But the story is uninspiring because the heroes (if you can call them that) are only slightly better than the more evil and disturbing villains. The characters are living in an amoral world-with no sense of moral right and wrong. They want to pursue justice but they have nothing to set up as a standard, no motivation for doing good. Each of the three vignettes is about revenge against some wrong committed against the heroes "loved" ones (always female, by loved I mean someone they are sexually attracted to). In the end, there is no redemption in their actions or for their lives. For the characters, death is the only escaping the pain and evil that surrounds them. It is all rather stoic, they would rather feel nothing than the pain of loss and the risk of really loving.
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Sometimes I worry that I've lost the plot. My twitchin' muscles tease my flippant thoughts. I never really dreamed of heaven much until we put him in the ground, but it's all I'm doing now - listening for patterns in the sound of an endless static sea. ~ Conor Oberst
This site is now (mostly) an archive of my writing on film from November 2004 - May 2008. I will link to my articles elsewhere and post the occasional Twitter review.
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We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say-and to feel- ‘Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.’ You’re not as alone as you thought. —John Steinbeck
5 comments:
I think you misunderstand the film. It is essentially three stories tied together by a location or character.
The setting of the movie is one of total depravity (I'm not using that in a theological sense). It's not amoral, it's totally immoral -- the question is one of degree. I think the questions raised in this movie are intriguing: When, if ever, do the ends justify the means? Is it okay to save an innocent's life at the expense of the life of a truly evil person? If one does kill to achieve justice, should that person still reap the consequences of his or her actions (be that jail or death)? If one is surrounded by evil, can one become temporarily evil to overcome their surrounding, and to what degree do they become what they are overcoming in the process? Do "degrees" of evil actually exist, or are they merely rationalizations to justify our actions?
Admittedly, it's a really gritty movie, and the style is atypical for Hollywood, the latter of which only elicits a "horray!" from my camp. I would probably rank it a high-end 5 or a low-end 6.
From the viewers perspective it is indeed immoral. But when you hear what the characters say about their own actions you wonder if they actually know what is right and wrong. It seems that the whole culture of Basin City is corrupt, all imprisonment in the film is only wrong from that characters point of view. If they are living in an immoral world than there are no innocent lives in the film, because all of the characters are somewhat flawed. There are "degrees" of evil only becuase we live in a complex world, where there are always more choices than right or left. But I think in the film there is only right and wrong from a survivalist mindset-actions are determined by each characters drive to live(or live vicariously through those they saved).
I've not seen the film, but I've read all of Miller's comics, and those I enjoy. I think part of it is because I'm a noir obsessive, but also because I was always struck by the questions Miller raises. Lots of critics are slamming the movie because of "yadda too violent" or "whatever misogynistic," but I think Miller was questioning the characters' choices and their actions while telling them. It's almost like he was playing devil's advocate with both sides of the moral compass.
What really appealed to me about this film was the visual effect. I really enjoyed the gritty narrative as well. Although I haven't read any of Miller's comics I didn't appreaciate his portrayal of women. All the women in the movie were prostitutes of some sort. Their independance was controlled by men. The majority of the violence in this movie was also directed towards women. I felt these issues were more disturbing then any immoral action or lack of right in wrong.
Memory sure is becoming cheaper these days. I wonder when we will finally reach the rate of 1 cent to 1 Gig.
I wait for the day when I will finally be able to afford a 20 terabyte drive, hahaha. But for now I will be content with having a 32 GB Micro SD in my R4i.
(Submitted using WhatPost for R4i Nintendo DS.)
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