Simulating Sin City

I finally saw Sin City. Although I had not read much of the Sin City graphic novels, I remain a huge fan of Frank Miller's work with Batman. Still, while my comic book interests remain in a period of hibernation, I would not dare venture into territories where I am not up-to-speed in fear of lightsaber burns and a D8 + 1 damage to my armor class. Therefore, today's post remains from the perspective of a tardy filmgoer.

A colleague in the musicology department and I traveled to the neighborhood art theater, perhaps the only venue in the city still playing the movie. Even though such an action-packed picture is best suited for stadium seating, gigantic screens, and THX sound, I figured the local cinema would do its best to satisfy any digitally spoiled customers. I was wrong. To my surprise, the film ran in their smallest theater with a screen that couldn't hold its own against some flatscreens on sale at Sears. I don't think there were even enough seats in the theater to accommodate the starring cast of the movie.

Visually, I was extremely impressed. The black and white cinematography contributed to the nostalgic feel of the setting, and the subtle introduction of color harked back to Spielberg's accomplished Schindler's List while simultaneously mocking the sappy color bleeding of Pleasantville. My biggest criticism is that the picture failed to pique my interest in the plot(s). Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (who is listed as a special-guest director) rattled the film world with their movies over a decade ago. However, they have not moved on. The popularity of Reservoir Dogs and the El Mariachi films has made their excessively violent, yet cool and comical, style cliche. For many who are aware of my current obsession with 1940s film noir, you can understand where my tastes have recently been chiseled. The suspense of these classics gains effectiveness in carefully unraveling the plot slowly, so that the arrival of the climactic close comes as a shock. Sin City is too dependent on unworldly, non-stop action to drive its stories. Of course, the film is only a stylized noir, replete with voice over narration and a sultry tenor-sax soundtrack (credited to Rodriguez). The framing of individual narratives adequately follows the comic book tradition, but unfortunately the result seems more like a feigned imitation of Pulp Fiction's segmentation than a faithful reproduction of the graphic novels.