I remember reading that post, and thinking about a way to respond to it...and here it is, years later.
I wasn't as viscerally upset by Sin City as you (and other friends of mine) were, but I can certainly understand how others would be. My complaints with the film were more abstract, and I spent a while trying to figure out why, after seeing it, I felt vaguely empty, and maybe even a bit cheated.
And I definitely agree that while ultraviolence in a film can be put to good use in a variety of ways, the violence qua violence of Sin City made it feel hollow and pointless.
One of the most disappointing things is that the film (and the comics, too, I suppose -- though I've read many of the comics, and find them pretty compelling) could have been much more interesting and subtle -- I think my footnotes 5 and 6 are the most insightful things I have to say. And those tie in to your assertions about how other directors are able to use violence to make a variety of larger points.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-11-02 05:55 pm (UTC)I wasn't as viscerally upset by Sin City as you (and other friends of mine) were, but I can certainly understand how others would be. My complaints with the film were more abstract, and I spent a while trying to figure out why, after seeing it, I felt vaguely empty, and maybe even a bit cheated.
And I definitely agree that while ultraviolence in a film can be put to good use in a variety of ways, the violence qua violence of Sin City made it feel hollow and pointless.
One of the most disappointing things is that the film (and the comics, too, I suppose -- though I've read many of the comics, and find them pretty compelling) could have been much more interesting and subtle -- I think my footnotes 5 and 6 are the most insightful things I have to say. And those tie in to your assertions about how other directors are able to use violence to make a variety of larger points.