Sin City (2005)
a review by
Wahid Sharif
Through his twelve years of feature filmmaking, Robert Rodriguez has displayed the kind of talent and passion for film that great filmmakers have the from the moment they first pick up a camera to create fascinating images on celluloid. Although his filmography has been pretty solid (The irresistable "El Mariachi" in particular), there's been the sense that he needs the kind of material that enhances his already unique vision and style. Keep in mind, this is a filmmaker who made his first film for only $7,000 and throughout his career, he's made his films cheaply by Hollywood standards, and yet Hollywood could take a lesson from Rodriguez on how to be creative with little money, cutting out all the waste, and staying under budget. His latest film "Sin City" is the kind of film that the Hollywood studios either wouldn't make, or they would make it with an insane budget of nearly triple figures, and the finshed product wouldn't be as exciting and faithful to the source material. Rodriguez makes this film for $40 million dollars, stays completely faithful in the adaptation the comic books by Frank Miller, gets some of big name actors to take paycuts, shoots most of the film in an Austin, Texas studio in front of a green screen with special effects added later, and the result is one of the most visually stunning and creative films in years - a film that I'm sure will be studied in film schools for a long time. From Frank Miller's stories and drawings, this film is literally a storyboard come to life that displays elements hard-boiled film noir from the 40's and 50's as well as a surrealist style that Luis Bunuel would be proud of.
The film, set in a place called Basin City (and shot in glorious black and white) tells three interconnected stories. The first one involves an ex-con with a disfigured face named Marv (played by Mickey Rourke, who has the face and voice for film noir) whom after a night with a beautiful hooker named Goldie (James King), wakes up next to her dead body. With the law and just about everyone after him, Marv goes out to avenge her death. The second one involves another criminal named Dwight (The always great Clive Owen) and his battle with a corrupt cop named Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) and that battle leads to a tense situation between the leader of the city's hookers (Rosario Dawson as Gail) and the police. The third story involves an aging cop named Hartigan (Bruce Willis) and his battle to protect a young girl named Nancy from the clutches a pedophile named Junior (Nick Stahl), who's father happens to be a powerful politician (played by Powers Booth, who has a monologue in this film that's filled with so much truth about Americans in general. It's a perfect example as to why George W. Bush sadly got re-elected again. Oh well). Bracketing these stories are interludes involving a mysterious person (Josh Hartnett) and his exploits.
The stories in "Sin City" are pretty standard, given the fact we see beheadings, castrations, and other forms of brutality (albeit some of it deserved). You won't be too surprised at how the stories turn out, especially if you're a fan of film noir. What's great about this film as that it captures the essence of noir with the voice-over narrations, the imagery in it's balance between light and shadow, the shady characters, the betrayals, the violence (and there's a lot of it here), and the chance for redemption - whether it be by love or other means. All the actors in this film are absolutely perfect in their roles, with the exception of Rosario Dawson whom I feel is very talented ( and very easy on the eyes) but here, her role requires her to be tough and scary as well as vunerable (given her character's history with Dwight) and I just didn't feel that she came off as beliveable. Her performance was like watching a little girl playing dress-up and trying to act tough. To me, a better choice for this role would have been British actress Naomie Harris, who has proven in past roles ( "28 Days Later" in particular) that she can play a character like this.
However, that complaint along with the fact the the story inlvolving Mickey Rourke ( although it's solid - especially the moments involving Elijah Wood's character, Kevin) isn't as strong as the stories involving Clive Owen and Bruce Willis (Willis has sweet chemistry with Jessica Alba as the adult Nancy, who ends up being a stripper) are just minor complaints, and it doesn't really take away from the brilliance of the film. Rodriguez has created a world on film (with the help of co-director Frank Miller) unlike one has ever seen. To me, it ranks with films like Kubrick's "2001" as being one of the great visonary films. It's a feast for eyes, and for once in his soild career, Rodriguez has made a film that's a feast for the soul as well.
GRADE: A
Wahid Sharif
moodybastard_717@hotmail.com
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