In a message dated 5/16/05 9:06:17 AM,
gsp.schoo@murderoutthere.com writes:
> I had the same sense from Sin City,
> though I didn't see much about this in press reviews
or even on RARA AVIS.
> Maybe my memory is selective. Anyway, I thought the
movie was a
> post-feminist lampoon of hardboil, even as it
hammered all the notes. I'm
> referring specifically to the romantic notion of the
tough-guy white knight
> who, by implication, must rescue the fair damsels.
The women in Old Town
> seemed quite capable of looking after themselves.
But the pic was noirish
> in that it was sometimes the efforts of the morally
righteous tough guys
> who screwed up the women's working arrangements to
begin with. I am
> curious, I've not read the comics on which the movie
is based, but is this
> true to the theme of the books?
>
the movie is essentially a live action, animated version of
the graphic novels. everything that is both positive and
negative about the film is a direct result of the completely
faithful and skillful translation of material originally
conceived as a serialized comic book story
>
> And miker said:
>
> "Noir oftentimes is associated with a pessimistic
determinism, a lack of
> power to exert any meaningful control over
life."
>
> I don't think this goes quite far enough. I think
noir deals with the
> attempt to exercise power, and its ineffectiveness
to produce substantive
> change. The powerful ARE effective, but corrupt
because that is the nature
> of power. Those who would fight the corruptions of
the powerful must gain
> or use some form of power themselves in order to do
so, and so are either
> unsuccessful and/or become corrupt themselves. This
is what dooms them.
> This is the human condition, and so noir is
existential
>
I go along with Miker. often in noir the only attempt to
exercise power is to affect change in the protagonist's own
life, which is often quite small. the protagonist is doomed
because his or her moral compass is often DOA. thus their
actions to improve their lot only lead to their doom. the
powerful often have nothing to do with their sad little tales
in the least, except perhaps as an unobtainable brass
ring
I do agree that noir is existential
John Lau
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 16 May 2005 EDT