So perhaps my cup runneth over when it came to Sin City last week, hence me devoting another column to the movie. It’s rare to have a film where so much is going on, from terrific source material to absolutely fantastic work by a cast and crew. You just want to be able to cover as much of the subject as possible. Sin City is one of those movies that you think will never come to pass, and then when it actually happens, it ends up being one of those unforgettable film moments.
I’m hoping that the movie will start a trend for Director Robert Rodriguez who, up to this point, has had some main stream success with his Spy Kids movies and has had some serious credibility amongst the Independent movie scene because of the amazing low budget/high results ratio that he’s been able to employ in his features such as El Mariachi and Desperado, but really isn’t taken very seriously as a film maker. Much like one of the directors he idolized as a child, John Carpenter, Rodriguez is considered more of a Cult or Popcorn movie director, when from his earliest examples the man has shown some real brilliance behind the camera.
Rodriguez simply prefers to make films that he would like to see instead of trying to impress with serious dramas. Unlike his contemporary Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez hasn’t received a crazy amount of critical praise, though his films are made with as much wit and sophistication. Admittedly, many of his films aren’t written with the depth that Tarantino brings to his movies, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t rich experiences. If a studio would somehow give him a Michael Bay-sized budget on a picture, who knows what the director could come up with.
Unfortunately, Rodriguez’s passion for Sin City may have hurt his chances of doing huge blockbusters or other serious work. During the filming of Sin City, Rodriguez was adamant in giving Sin City creator Frank Miller an equal directing credit for the film version. This apparently goes against the rules of the Director Guild of America, who has waived this rule in favor of the Coen Brothers before, and resulted in Rodriguez resigning from the DGA. This may hurt the director in the future, as most studios require a director to be a part of the Guild in order to direct pictures for them. Already Rodriguez lost the opportunity to direct the Sci-Fi/Fantasy epic John Carter of Mars because of this decision.
On the other hand this showed the passion that Rodriguez had for Sin City’s source material and for its creator, Frank Miller. By not letting this go, he showed that he wouldn’t compromise in his vision for this film in anyway. In the end, it was the director who won out and made the film that no one thought possible, even Miller himself.
Frank Miller’s Sin City Starring Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl, Jaime King, Rosario Dawson, and Devon Aoki. Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
I’ll admit that when I heard the lineup for Sin City, I was initially disappointed. Not in the casting in anyway, but the story lineup. Of all the Sin City books, my favorite has always been A Dame to Kill For, a story that takes place before The Hard Goodbye and features both Marv and perennial Sin City hero Dwight McCarthy. I love the McCarthy character; a modern day version of Phillip Marlowe, trying to keep his demons at bay, and constantly being kicked around and used because of the good nature he possesses seep down. While I was happy that I’d see Dwight in the movie, I was disappointed that the story he was represented in would be The Big Fat Kill, which I thought was easily the worst of the stories featuring him.
What I didn’t count on was Rodriguez and Miller taking this story off of the page and giving it a new life on screen. Like Dwight’s killer with a new face, The Big Fat Kill got a whole new chance on screen and didn’t disappoint. While watching this story unfold, the realization came to me that while A Dame to Kill For may be one of the best stories of the series, its scope was not big enough, not giving enough of the series characters time to shine. When the story was over, many of the characters I’ve known and loved would get their full due on film, where if I’d had my way we’d have had to wait for another movie to get them all in.
First and foremost, the biggest reason for the success of The Big Fat Kill onscreen lies with the film’s casting of Dwight McCarthy. Clive Owen is positively smoldering as Dwight, his demeanor like a coiled snake that is ready to be let loose. He let’s out his fury for only a few moments, and when he does you can see the death in his eyes. Early on in this piece, he holds a man’s head underwater and there is nearly complete emptiness in his face, as if he blacks out when he lets the monster inside of him loose. He doesn’t enjoy what he is doing; it’s simply a part of him that cannot be contained. Where Dwight struggles is trying to use this fury in order to try and help people instead of being destructive. As the plot of The Big Fat Kill is set in motion, we see how Dwight gets to put his demons to good use.
Now to really discuss this story in depth is to require spoilers, because it’s nearly impossible to discuss the events of the film without them. It’s too difficult to talk about the great work that goes on in this film without revealing a few major plot points. I apologize for this, but that’s the way it has to be.
So going on, after Clive Owen, the film’s most important performance involves Benicio Del Toro as Jack Rafferty, a scumbag lowlife, who likes to muscle women and catches Dwight’s ire. With a little help from Greg Nicotero, Del Toro completely disappears into Rafferty, taking him right off the page and onto the screen. His low growl and crazy eyes reveal a man who wants to be dangerous, but needs to get a mean drunk on and be backed up by his friends and weapons to do any real damage. It’s this difference that separates him from Dwight, who is as dangerous as he appears and doesn’t need help in backing it up.
The plot is set in motion when Rafferty and his pack of goons take their frustrations down to the section of the city named Old Town, which is introduced in The Hard Goodbye. The prostitutes of Sin City run the Old Town territory under their own laws. Unfortunately, by the time Jack finds out about this, it’s too late. By the time Jack meets Old Town regulars Miho (Devon Aoki) and Gale (Rosario Dawson), it’s all over but the crying for Jack and his crew.
The slaughter of Jack and his men is a terrific example of how Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez were able to become a cohesive unit on this film. Miller concentrated mainly on turning Devon Aoki into the picture death in Miho, a diminutive Japanese assassin, who does her talking with her Hattori Hanzo swords. In actuality, these swords were acquired from Quentin Tarantino’s garage, but the director has said that it would make sense that Miho would use the deadly weapons. For Aoki, she never really reaches the level of menace that say, Chiaki Kuriyama’s Gogo Yubari, but she is pretty awesome. Miller concentrated on making the actress into Miho, and Rodriguez stages amazing camerawork and CGI with which to bring fourth her fury properly on screen. With decapitations and severed limbs galore, Jack’s men are hacked apart with brutality and quite a bit of humor. Benicio Del Toro makes Jack’s last moments alive quite memorable, as his posturing and tough guy persona can’t hold up when the chips are down. Rafferty becomes a bumbling moron, and sets the tone for one of the best scenes in the entire film.
Where the film may suffer a bit is its dialogue sequences, but not in a sequence in which Dwight has to transport and hide the bodies of Rafferty and his crew. Del Toro again shows his brilliance turning as Rafferty’s corpse starts dissing Dwight and filling him with doubt about his mission. The slice in his neck even impairs his speech, making this scene completely surreal. The scene is the only one in the film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who shows off his gift for gab in beautiful fashion, making you almost like Jack as much as you do Dwight because of his one-liners and over the top delivery. It’s almost a shame the sequence even has to end, but then the story takes other insane turns to refocus the audiences attention.
With different groups vying for Rafferty’s head (literally) in order to take down the girls of Old Town, the movie becomes an action packed screwball comedy. Rodriguez and Miller give The Big Fat Kill an even larger quotient of dark humor than the book possesses, imbuing Jack’s severed head a personality of its own and giving you a laugh right when you need it. The bloodbath that ensues should be enough to satisfy any fan of the film’s creators.
My only disappointment ended up coming from a single page that was left out of the book (other than my base disappointment of Rosario Dawson’s Gale being clothed on screen in a scene, where she is not in Miller’s pages), where Dwight discusses the need for picking the right location for battle. The page in the book was the first appearance of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, as Dwight discusses how it was the Hot Gates that gave them their advantage in battle, and is shown in contrast to the alleyway that Dwight chooses for battle. Of course, now that I’ve seen 300, this disappointment is a little null and void, but I was unaware I would get to see the Spartans in all their glory when Sin City hit theaters.
I also love the casting and appearances of some of Sin City’s best characters. I couldn’t end this column without mentioning the awesomeness of Rosario Dawson’s Gale, Dwight’s valkyrie, and the embodiment of the Dwight’s need to let go and let his emotion take him over. She is most precious to him in this story, which becomes evident later on. Dawson plays her like a cat, always baiting Dwight into giving her attention while staying strong in the presence of others. Michael Clarke Duncan is also a fantastic bit of casting as Manute, the mod enforcer who has to take down Dwight and his ladies. I can’t wait to see him in A Dame to Kill For and watch him and Mickey Rourke’s Marv go one on one.
The Big Fat Kill ends up a terrific bit of storytelling from Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino. This is good old trashy fun, with deadly hookers, samurai women and an awesome hero. The segment is so good, that I’d argue it’s the only story of the three that manages to surpass its source material. The segment also provides a terrific spectacle before coming back to the personal conflicts of That Yellow Bastard, which unfortunately I’ll have to put off for another week. So see you guys next week for more Sin City fun.
Picture Credits: Cinema.com, horror.about.com, darkhorse.com, impawards.com
