Seven Nation Army
Apparently today is the day of films that break one of the cardinal rules for successful blockbuster films: anti-heroes as protagonist. Now there are films with "villainous" or "criminal" protagonists, but there are few films that develop a protagonist who is truly an anti-hero.
Bonnie and Clyde is a fascinating film. There's so much character to it. The characters are somewhat sympathetic, but they are never redeemed. Partly they are made sympathetic by the setting (1930s dustbowl era). The setting is never an excuse, though. You never get the impression that the situation is totally beyond their control. And they have a romance, but certainly not a conventional romance. Instead, it seems totally real. She is desparate for his approval and affection; the more that he witholds his attentions, the more she desires it. Alternately, he is overly narcissistic. He feeds off her adoration of him. This completely co-dependent relationship is not candy-coated and makes an interesting film so much more personal. This film is a strong argument for montages, though, since both the passage of time and the nature of their exploits is very vague. I felt like I just saw the good scenes of a film that was a lot longer.
Lord of War was not what I was expecting. I've seen "Adaptation," but I expected this to fall along the lines of "National Treasure" as far as Nicholas Cage films go. Instead, it's extemely violent, disturbing, and political. It might be too kind to say that the movie allows you to draw your own conclusions, but I think inherent in the genre of anti-hero-as-main-character is the inability to completely direct an audience's moral response to a character. (This is probably what really bugged me about "Blow" when I saw it). So it's hard to say what you'll take away from this film. It certainly serves as a scathing indictment of US hypocrisy in international relations. This is not so much true of the heavy-handed monologue at the end, but more in the way that the film serves as an allegory for how the US government behaves internationally. All in all, a much more excellent film than I was prepared for.
Bonnie and Clyde is a fascinating film. There's so much character to it. The characters are somewhat sympathetic, but they are never redeemed. Partly they are made sympathetic by the setting (1930s dustbowl era). The setting is never an excuse, though. You never get the impression that the situation is totally beyond their control. And they have a romance, but certainly not a conventional romance. Instead, it seems totally real. She is desparate for his approval and affection; the more that he witholds his attentions, the more she desires it. Alternately, he is overly narcissistic. He feeds off her adoration of him. This completely co-dependent relationship is not candy-coated and makes an interesting film so much more personal. This film is a strong argument for montages, though, since both the passage of time and the nature of their exploits is very vague. I felt like I just saw the good scenes of a film that was a lot longer.
Lord of War was not what I was expecting. I've seen "Adaptation," but I expected this to fall along the lines of "National Treasure" as far as Nicholas Cage films go. Instead, it's extemely violent, disturbing, and political. It might be too kind to say that the movie allows you to draw your own conclusions, but I think inherent in the genre of anti-hero-as-main-character is the inability to completely direct an audience's moral response to a character. (This is probably what really bugged me about "Blow" when I saw it). So it's hard to say what you'll take away from this film. It certainly serves as a scathing indictment of US hypocrisy in international relations. This is not so much true of the heavy-handed monologue at the end, but more in the way that the film serves as an allegory for how the US government behaves internationally. All in all, a much more excellent film than I was prepared for.