Wednesday, April 06, 2005
EAST v. WEST
Over the weekend, I saw Sin City and the Korean film Oldboy. Both films are about revenge, so I thought I'd write about them together.
Sin City is based on the comic books, (no, I won't call them graphic novels,) by Frank Miller. I noticed that several reviewers pointed out that the film's scenes often look like they were lifted directly from the comic books. I thought this was strange for two reasons. First of all, I wondered if these reviewers had actually read Sin City or if they had at best looked at a few of its pages online or in publicity materials. Whatever the case, my bullshit detector started tingling. I just didn't see these critics persuing copies of Sin City at screenings and making notes. The other, more serious, problem that I had with these critics was the air of praise and admiration that they had for this extraordinarily faithful transfer from comic to film. I don't see why this is praiseworthy in and of itself. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be comic book movies and there shouldn't be movies that look like comic books, I just don't see why a film that looks exactly like the comic book it was based on should be singled out for praise. Wouldn't it have been better if the movie had looked like the comic book, but had some originality and vitality of its own?
The biggest reason that I had a problem with critics praising the way that Sin City looked, is that I didn't think it looked all that special. I really can't remember a single thing about its visuals. Sin City was dark and noirish, that's about all that I can tell you. I don't remember anything about any of the backgrounds or foregrounds or interiors or exteriors. I wonder how hard it was to come up with the look of Sin City anyway. In every shot it has to be night in a city. That's it. I know many people don't like the recent Star Wars films, but if you're looking for scope and detail in digital animation, you couldn't really do any better.
Even worse than Sin City's bland noir rip-off animation were its boring storylines. Each of the three main stories had a standard revenge plot, but since they all had to be compressed into the film's two hour framework there was no room for plot or character devlopment. Basically, each character told you why they were going to get revenge and then went out and got it, typically in the most gruesome manner possible. Indeed, Sin City is a repellently violent film, with the violence taking the place of interesting plot developments. I mean, after all, if you can't think of anything else to happen, why not have people tortured to death and then fed to dogs? To make matters worse, each story is narrated by its lead actor in the most embarassing pulp-fiction tough guy prose imaginable. The narration alternates between being laugh and cringe inducing. Each narrator sounds the same too; they might have wanted to try giving each character a distinctive voice.
The only good thing about Sin City were the performances of some of its actors. Mickey Rourke was compelling and sympathetic, Clive Owen was charismatic, Bruce Willis was understated as usual, and Benicio Del Toro was great playing the human equivalent of a slug. I thought it was nice that these actors were able to transcend the blue-screen emptiness that surrounded them.
Now, Oldboy.
Oh Dae-Su is a Seoul businessman being held in a police station due to a high level of intoxication. It's unclear, but he seems to have been in some kind of physical altercation. He is loud and boisterous, but the police let him go when a friend agrees to take him home. Oh wanders off to make a phone call on the street and then, in a sudden cut, wakes up in what appears to be a hotel room. He soon discovers that he is imprisoned in this room. He has a TV, from which he learns that he is presumed to have murdered his wife. The only thing that keeps Oh going during this time in the room is his desire for revenge on whoever has put him there. Fifteen years go by until Oh wakes up one morning on the roof of his prison, a free man.
He then sets off to find the person or persons responsible for keeping him locked up for so many years. Rather quickly he finds himself in front of a Japanese restaurant where a homeless man hands him a cell phone and a wallet full of cash. Oh enters the restaurant and strikes up a conversation with Mido, the sushi chef, a pretty young woman. After consuming an entire live octopus, Oh passes out and wakes up in the apartment of the chef, she has taken pity on him and brought him home. Oh tells her his story and she agrees to help him track down the people that imprisoned him. (If this sounds implausible, don't worry, all is revealed at the end of the film.)
It quickly becomes clear that the man behind Oh's imprisonment wants to be found. In fact, he introduces himself to Oh not even half way through the film. Oh spends the rest of the film figuring out the identity of his tormentor and then, once he has accomplished this task, meets him for a final confrontation.
I'm not sure what to make of Oldboy. It certainly took the idea of revenge much more seriously than Sin City. Oh Dae-Su notes several times during the course of the film that his quest for revenge has changed him, and not for the better. He realizes that he is not really himself anymore, but just a thing consumed by revenge. Similarly, the villain of the film, Woo Jin Lee, remarks near the end of his film that his life will have no purpose once he has had his revenge on Oh.
Oldboy's concern for the destructive power of revenge is certainly admirable compared to Sin City's countless conscienceless murders, but I thought its concern was less than sincere, as Oldboy is itself extremely violent. Even if a film says all the right things about what a terrible thing revenge is, you can't help but be suspicious when its main character beats up a gang of thugs with a hammer or dispatches a duo of henchmen with a toothbrush. The film tells us that revenge will destroy you, but pretty much wallows in violence.
With that said, I would recommend Oldboy, but only to the non-squeamish. It's one of the more disturbing movies that I've seen in a long time and one that has stayed with me after seeing it. ¶ 8:33 AM
Sin City is based on the comic books, (no, I won't call them graphic novels,) by Frank Miller. I noticed that several reviewers pointed out that the film's scenes often look like they were lifted directly from the comic books. I thought this was strange for two reasons. First of all, I wondered if these reviewers had actually read Sin City or if they had at best looked at a few of its pages online or in publicity materials. Whatever the case, my bullshit detector started tingling. I just didn't see these critics persuing copies of Sin City at screenings and making notes. The other, more serious, problem that I had with these critics was the air of praise and admiration that they had for this extraordinarily faithful transfer from comic to film. I don't see why this is praiseworthy in and of itself. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be comic book movies and there shouldn't be movies that look like comic books, I just don't see why a film that looks exactly like the comic book it was based on should be singled out for praise. Wouldn't it have been better if the movie had looked like the comic book, but had some originality and vitality of its own?
The biggest reason that I had a problem with critics praising the way that Sin City looked, is that I didn't think it looked all that special. I really can't remember a single thing about its visuals. Sin City was dark and noirish, that's about all that I can tell you. I don't remember anything about any of the backgrounds or foregrounds or interiors or exteriors. I wonder how hard it was to come up with the look of Sin City anyway. In every shot it has to be night in a city. That's it. I know many people don't like the recent Star Wars films, but if you're looking for scope and detail in digital animation, you couldn't really do any better.
Even worse than Sin City's bland noir rip-off animation were its boring storylines. Each of the three main stories had a standard revenge plot, but since they all had to be compressed into the film's two hour framework there was no room for plot or character devlopment. Basically, each character told you why they were going to get revenge and then went out and got it, typically in the most gruesome manner possible. Indeed, Sin City is a repellently violent film, with the violence taking the place of interesting plot developments. I mean, after all, if you can't think of anything else to happen, why not have people tortured to death and then fed to dogs? To make matters worse, each story is narrated by its lead actor in the most embarassing pulp-fiction tough guy prose imaginable. The narration alternates between being laugh and cringe inducing. Each narrator sounds the same too; they might have wanted to try giving each character a distinctive voice.
The only good thing about Sin City were the performances of some of its actors. Mickey Rourke was compelling and sympathetic, Clive Owen was charismatic, Bruce Willis was understated as usual, and Benicio Del Toro was great playing the human equivalent of a slug. I thought it was nice that these actors were able to transcend the blue-screen emptiness that surrounded them.
Now, Oldboy.
Oh Dae-Su is a Seoul businessman being held in a police station due to a high level of intoxication. It's unclear, but he seems to have been in some kind of physical altercation. He is loud and boisterous, but the police let him go when a friend agrees to take him home. Oh wanders off to make a phone call on the street and then, in a sudden cut, wakes up in what appears to be a hotel room. He soon discovers that he is imprisoned in this room. He has a TV, from which he learns that he is presumed to have murdered his wife. The only thing that keeps Oh going during this time in the room is his desire for revenge on whoever has put him there. Fifteen years go by until Oh wakes up one morning on the roof of his prison, a free man.
He then sets off to find the person or persons responsible for keeping him locked up for so many years. Rather quickly he finds himself in front of a Japanese restaurant where a homeless man hands him a cell phone and a wallet full of cash. Oh enters the restaurant and strikes up a conversation with Mido, the sushi chef, a pretty young woman. After consuming an entire live octopus, Oh passes out and wakes up in the apartment of the chef, she has taken pity on him and brought him home. Oh tells her his story and she agrees to help him track down the people that imprisoned him. (If this sounds implausible, don't worry, all is revealed at the end of the film.)
It quickly becomes clear that the man behind Oh's imprisonment wants to be found. In fact, he introduces himself to Oh not even half way through the film. Oh spends the rest of the film figuring out the identity of his tormentor and then, once he has accomplished this task, meets him for a final confrontation.
I'm not sure what to make of Oldboy. It certainly took the idea of revenge much more seriously than Sin City. Oh Dae-Su notes several times during the course of the film that his quest for revenge has changed him, and not for the better. He realizes that he is not really himself anymore, but just a thing consumed by revenge. Similarly, the villain of the film, Woo Jin Lee, remarks near the end of his film that his life will have no purpose once he has had his revenge on Oh.
Oldboy's concern for the destructive power of revenge is certainly admirable compared to Sin City's countless conscienceless murders, but I thought its concern was less than sincere, as Oldboy is itself extremely violent. Even if a film says all the right things about what a terrible thing revenge is, you can't help but be suspicious when its main character beats up a gang of thugs with a hammer or dispatches a duo of henchmen with a toothbrush. The film tells us that revenge will destroy you, but pretty much wallows in violence.
With that said, I would recommend Oldboy, but only to the non-squeamish. It's one of the more disturbing movies that I've seen in a long time and one that has stayed with me after seeing it. ¶ 8:33 AM
