Frank Miller’s Sin City
Three (and a half) stories are woven together in an extremely bleak and violent tale of corruption, vice, and revenge in Basin City. Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is a cop about to retire but has one last job to do: to save a little girl taken hostage by a sadistic paedophilic torturer. Marv (Mickey Rourke), a deformed brute, seeks revenge for the killing of Goldie, a hooker who had been nice to him. Dwight (Clive Owen) and the ladies of the night of Sin City have to cover up the killing of a corrupt cop (Benicio Del Toro).
The visual effects of the film are stunning. It’s a graphic novel come to life. It’s not so much black and white of the 30’s and 40’s noir films, as the black and white of pen and ink, with occasional splashes of color like a brilliant red dress, or blue eyes. But it’s not just the visual effects, it’s the story. It’s the noirest or noir and the pulpest of pulp, with the main character of the segment narrating his way through the story. It’s an extreme version of Raymond Chandler, grittier, bleaker, and even more savage.
Fantastic.
