Sin City (2005)
A lot of people, and by that I mean
film geeks and movie critics, are going to call "Sin
City" the next "Pulp Fiction," or the new "Pulp Fiction."
This isn't so much because the Robert Rodriguez/Frank
Miller film tries to emulate or even rip-off the Tarantino
classic. Rather, the films are both fresh, innovative
and visually stunning pieces that are unlike anything
that has come before them. "Sin City," like "Pulp
Fiction" before it, seems capable of taking American
filmmaking to the next level. If my prediction is
correct, there will be a lot of films in the next
few years that look a lot like "Sin City" and every
film festival across the country will soon feature
horrible and sophomoric rip-offs of the film concocted
by film students who think they are being cool and
clever themselves. At least some of them will be smart
enough to think they are paying homage to a film that
will, within less than ten years time, be considered
a modern American classic.
Every frame, every 24th of a second
in "Sin City" is an amazingly awesome adventure into
the visually fantastic. This film is made up of simply
one ingenious, glorious, utterly cool scene after
the next. What Rodriguez has done here, riffing off
Rick Linklater's "Waking Life" animated ingenuity,
is nothing short of groundbreaking. The images are
unique, fascinating, and artistic. While several films
of late have taken the graphic novel and made it into
an "art film" ("Ghost World" and "American Splendor"
for example), Rodriguez has taken the graphic novel
and made it into a graphic novel on film, a graphic
novel come seemingly to life. The effect is revolutionary
from a cinematic point of view. When you look at "Sin
City," you are looking at the future of film.
We're not talking about computer
animation, which has been pioneered by Pixar, or CGI
effects, which George Lucas has brought to the forefront
of American pop culture. We're not even talking about
pioneering CGI blue screen effects. Films like "Sky
Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and the independent
festival fave "Able Adams" have come before this film
and done that. Rodriguez takes all of this plus the
artwork of Frank Miller, who co-directed the film,
and creates an entire "other" world here. He combines
Miller's vivid imagination with good acting (which
neither "Sky Captain" nor "Able Adams" had) and a
visually stunning palette and creates a world of darkness,
crime, murder and prostitution. He also creates the
first CGI film noir that mixes animation and CGI with
live action in innovative and creative ways. You simply
have to see "Sin City" to see just how remarkable
this film is.
All this film geek hyperbole I exude
may seem fantastic and typical of the type of "journalism"
you have been seeing about "Sin City" but the typical
usually becomes so for a good reason: It's true. Still,
I am not willing to argue with anyone who faults the
film for being far too violent, sophomoric in its
storytelling, or simplistic in its approach to plot.
This is, after all, based on a graphic novel, a glorified
comic book. The plot here involving a child molester,
the church, corrupt government officials and the vengeance
served upon them by moralistic cops and ninja hookers
(yes I said ninja hookers!) is pretty silly and typical
stuff. It is indeed the type of story that makes graphic
novels appeal to high school and college aged males.
That is with out a doubt the market for this film.
I often thought the film was far too simplistic and
moralistic for my taste while watching it yet could
not deny the power of the images or the overwhelming
notion that this is the sort of film that is going
to have fratboys cumming in their pants. This is the
type of film that starts revolutions in film schools.
The plot here does play with chronology,
ala "Pulp Fiction," and often has deep and excessive
sub-plots to act as tangential stories throughout
the film. Again, this is pretty typical for a film
based on a graphic novel. Ultimately, of course, the
film's desperate angles all tie up nicely at the end
and the story evolves into a coherent and focused
complete whole. This script, while appealing to the
male youth psyche, is also consummate and hardly has
any structural flaws.
With familiar names like Bruce Willis,
Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl, Elijah Wood, Clive Owen,
Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel,
Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen,
Brittany Murphy, and Rutger Hauer to put on the poster,
"Sin City" has enough high-wattage star power to help
draw attention to itself. And while the acting here
is uniformly good, even with the script being fairly
basic, it's quite a joy to watch so many of our favorite
actors in this revolutionary film.
But the true standout in the cast
is Mickey Rourke who makes "Sin City" one of the most
powerful "redemption" stories in ages both on and
behind the screen. After years of wallowing in obscurity
and cult status, occasionally earned by worthy appearances
in films like "Barfly," Rodriguez's "Once Upon a Time
in Mexico" and the underrated "Spun," Rourke seems
poised to emerge as one of darlings of independent
American cinema who has earned his right to a full-fledged
comeback.
With the advent of computer technology
and such strong interest in using the science to create
amazing visual images for the cinema, the animation
business has boomed in the art of filmmaking. Two
of Austin's most important and prominent independent
filmmakers have now become the most important figures
in the American animation revolution. Rick Linklater's
computer animated video, which was pioneered for his
film "Waking Life,"
will be used in his forthcoming adaptation of Philip
K. Dick's beloved sci-fi cult novel "A Scanner Darkly."
Linklater's work in this field seems destine to explore
the existential mind in modern society in both profound
and interesting ways. Rodriguez, a far more tactile
and tangible filmmaker, has opted to explore redemption
of the soul using this same interest in technologically
advanced animated filmmaking. Together, their groundbreaking
work is far more than enough proof needed to highlight
the fact that Austin is without a doubt the most important
epicenter in independent filmmaking in the new millennium.
Like "Pulp Fiction," "Sin City" may be the film that
in the future becomes known as the one that reinvigorated
American cinema by starting a full-scale independent
revolution.
Notes:
Miller has a cameo as a priest.
Quentin Tarantino is credited as
Special Guest Director. He worked on the car chase
sequence. Rodriguez directed the film with the graphic
novel author Frank Miller and the full title of the
film is "Frank Miller's Sin City." Rodriguez decided
to quit the Directors' Guild of America when they
refused to let him share credit with Miller for directing
the film. This forced Paramount, who only uses DGA
directors, to drop Rodriguez from his next project,
"John Carter of Mars.
Elizabeth Avellan, Rodriguez's wife,
is one of the film's producers as is his wont.
Score by Graeme Revell, John Debny
and Rodriguez. The director also takes credits for
cinematography and editing.
Filmed primarily in front of blue
and green screens in Austin in 2004.
Miller shot the first scene of the
film with Hartnett to use to convince Miller to work
with him on the project.
A sequel is in the planning stage
and may star Johnny Depp who worked with Rodriguez
on "Once Upon a Time in Mexico."
The role that went to Stahl was
turned down by Leonardo DiCaprio. Michael Douglas
and Kate Bosworth also declined to be in the film.
Viewed at a press sneak in Austin
in March of 2005. I saw Victor Diaz of News 8 Austin
there (a real hottie) and we talked for several minutes.
He told me that Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly" had
been moved to March 2006, a year from now. "The Austin
Chronicle" on 3/31, the day that "Sin City" had a
premier at the Paramount in Austin, printed that the
date change is official and the time is needed to
work on post production of the film. The article also
stated that Bob Sabiston who pioneered the computer
technology for the animation process Linklater is
using has parted ways with the director. The split
was described as amicable and it was said that the
two men remained friends. This is a sure indication
that the disagreement here is over money. At the screening
I attended, I also saw Harry Knowles and his cronies.
I talked with Bob Ray and his Wife, (Bob's film "Hell
on Wheels" about the Texas roller derby girls is due
out soon) as well as Martin of the cable access review
show "The Reel Deal, and Tim and Karrie League, owners
of the Alamo Drafthouse. Tim and Karrie's new location
on South Lamar is open and I still haven't had a chance
to go check it out. They told me that the downtown
location, which will eventually close because of the
high cost of renewing their lease, will still be open
for two more years.
