I am so tired of having to roar about the latest provocation-of-the-day from some Islamic barking moonbat that I really need to write about something else… so how about a paean to one of my favourite artists?
As a big, no, huge Frank Miller fan, delighting in the way he has darkened up an entire art form, rescuing it from both Disneyfication and political correctness, it is interesting to see how his influence has started to spread into other areas of the arts. However I was apprehensive that when I heard that Sin City was going to be turned into a movie… “unfilmable” was all I said when I heard. I was completely wrong and Sin City was a tour de force, unlike the attempt to translate Miller’s Elektra onto the screen, which was a disappointing mess inspite of featuring one of my favourite actresses.
So with the debacle of Elektra in mind, my reaction was rather dubious when I heard they were going to make 300 into a movie… oh me of little faith… having just watched the trailer, well, I am not used to having a film clip lasting 1 minute and 46 seconds sent a shiver up my spine quite like that. This is clearly one to watch on the largest screen possible.
Frank Miller has been one of the leading people adding a harder edge to US comics since the 1980’s, reclaiming a place in a medium in which I have always felt France and Japan lead the world. That he is now proving a source of interesting movies for Hollywood just increases my admiration for the man.
yeah, had much the same reaction to the trailer. as in: speechless followed by … hot DAMN!
Yeah…looks good.
They’ll get my $10.
How many of you have read Stephen Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire”?
Looks great, thanks for the pointer, Perry! (Okay, I now have to convince Mrs Pearce to either go or let me go on my own.)
Not familiar with Frank Miller but that “shiver up the spine” thing? It’s caused by a sudden rush of testosterone. I watched the trailer and it hit me too.
haha, that trailer sure is a testosterone explosion alright, Albion! But it’s amazingly well made and I’ll probably go see it based on that too.
Bloody hell, is that a cartoon?
Nate – yep, I read it and it’s good. Pressfield managed to put together a cracking read without over embellishing what we know of Thermopylae.
Molon Labe.
Is it available in a format other than Quicktime?
Wow… is this some timely reminder of standing firm and stemming a tide of, er, middle-eastern types wanting to run amok in Europe?
Alas Perry, it would seem your desperate attempt to escape from That Topic has failed. That did make me laugh out loud, sorry.
Now, if they could manage the same look and power for a production of “The Dark Knight Returns.”
FYI, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are in pre-production for the next installment of Sin City(Link)
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I was also amazed and pleased at the movie “Sin City”. Now, Frank Miller on one of the most inspiring stories of history.
I have visited Thermoylae twice. Both times, I sat for hours, re-running Herodotus’ narrative in my mind’s eye. One of the most important moments in Western history.
This is gonna be good !!!
CFM
CFM, interesting, I have also been to Thermopylae (only once though).
I do not think 300 will be all that historically accurate (for example they should be wearing greaves and breastplates, and why no crests on the helmets other than for Leonidas?), just as the original Frank Miller graphic novel was not exactly a history text book but that does not mean it will be any less of a gripping movie if the trailer is anything to go by!
Sin City is a magnificent film. I was dumbstruck with awe when I first saw it, especially the story with Mickey Rourke and the one with Clive Owen. It was as if the dark and violent criminal noir of Dashiell Hammett or Micky Spillane had been fused with the old 2000AD comics. I could have watched more of the same for months on end.
That is without doubt the most perfect desription of Sin City I have read. As I said, a tour de force.
A much longer (but lower quality) trailer can be found here. Judging from some of the costumes this is definately not for those seeking a pure history lesson. Kick-ass looking none the less.
“I do not think 300 will be all that historically accurate . . .”
Alas, movies (and in my opinion most modern documentaries) very rarely are historically accurate. Nor are they true to ancient literature. When watching the recent “Troy,” I wanted to strangle the script-writers for so butchering the Iliad. Of course, If they’d made it to my standards, the producers would have lost their socks. Such is life in the post-modern world.
As you pointed out, Frank Miller’s work is unique, and his vision of this story should be great testosterone-charged fun with an ancient theme. Art.
CFM
When watching the recent “Troy,” I wanted to strangle the script-writers for so butchering the Iliad.
I was too busy wondering how the ten year siege had ended after about a week.
Picky, picky, picky! Don’t forget that the men of that time were probably all less than 5″ tall too.
I don’t care.
I cannot freakin’ wait for this movie.
This does look awesome.
This very good essay by Frank Miller suggests that this film may very well be “about” an attack from the Middle East that threatens to overrun the West. It is clearly something that is on his mind.
If you cannot be allegorical in a comic book, or its film adaptation, where the Hell can you be?
A civilization that does not prefer death to slavery will be enslaved.
Miller apparently understands that.
“Spartans! Tonight we dine in Hell!”
Homer is historically accurate? What was wrong with Troy was crassness and blandness. We don’t complain about historical or epical non-conformity in Troilus and Cressida.
I will freely admit that some of my friends told me that Sin City is incredibly violent and it put me off from watching it. Maybe I am getting squeamish in my later years.
Johnathan, Sin City is incredibly violent, but it is the violence of a comic book (albeit a very grown up comic book). It even looks like a comic book. It’s worth watching just because it is the most perfect translation of comic to film ever made. It’s on my must see (again) list and my must buy (eventually) list. Looks like 300 is going to be another one.
On the subject of historical accuracy: If a story is good enough and well told then it holds a truth which goes beyond mere historical fact and speaks to something in the human soul. Who cares if the spartans are wearing the wrong get up? As long as its a good yarn, I certainly don’t.
I have the original miniseries of 300 packed away somewhere. I need to fish them out.
I’m not sure I would associate the Elektra movie with Miller though. I don’t remember if he created the character or not but it’s basically a Marvel Comics movie. They ripped off Miller’s ideas for the Daredevil movie and I definitaly wouldn’t say Daredevil was a Miller movie. Still, they’re both better then Robocop 3 which he wrote.
Frank Miller, great writer, great artist. But I would say for all the great stories he wrote, he, along with others, pretty much ruined the American comics industry as a whole. I like me some dark edged stories too, but then when it all becomes like that you end up with crap like Marvel’s Civil War. Blech!
Perry: FM has been ace even since he was an artist on Daredevil (and later a writer) way back when.
There is a good anecdote as to why he wrote the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns. Apparently, he wanted a new apartment on the Upper East Side (or somewhere), couldn’t afford it, so said to DC that if they paid him that amount, he would write the sequel. Job done.
Elektra (with my fave artist, although a bit liberal politically, Bill Sienkiewicz) is a fantastic series of comics. I cherish my originals.
The time I saw the first trailer for Sin City I knew it was going to rock. 300 has the same effect. I can’t wait.
*sigh* s/even/ever/
Oh YES!
Timely and inspiring.
Holy sheep dip batman…a movie I might actually want to see! It looks pretty nifty. I rather enjoyed Sin City but then again I rather like anime so it was not too much of stretch. 300 looks pretty stunning; but that big cat looks so CGIed its cronic…a game of the movie is inevitable.
I was really irritated by the all-CG-set of Sin City, and 300 looks like it’s using the same technique. Maybe all-blue-screen makes production cheaper? The entire movie looks like it was shot through a gauze film. Because the image is so unreal, I am constantly reminded that I’m watching a crafted piece. No immersion = no suspension of disbelief = much less enjoyment.
Still, retelling Thermopoyae for popular consumption is a good thing.
OT – Bill Sienkiewicz is an amazing artist (can’t comment on his politics–don’t know).
Jeremiah, I could not disagree with you more and neither could Frank Miller, who deplores adding ‘realism’ to things which are by their nature unreal.
You probably do not like impressionist art either I assume, which is fair enough, but some of us do.
All I can say is, from the trailer, those Spartans sure look under-armored.
I mean, bare chests might sell tickets, but all I see is “suicidal” – Spartan picked elites ought to at least have breastplates.
The fact that Miller is re-telling Herotodus’ account of Thermopylae means that literally millions of people will be exposed to history that has been banished from PC schoolbooks for generations. Subversive.
“Rome” and “Deadwood” are doing similar work. I would love to see a movie or (better yet) mini-series based on the Anabasis!
Loved Miller’s Sin City movie – great fun to watch. Based on the trailer, this should be also, but I’d really prefer to see an accurate film of Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire” Without a doubt, “Gates” is one of the best novels I have ever read in any genre.
Jeffrey: I know exactly what you mean. I remember vividly, 10 years ago when I was in West Virginia staying at an aunt’s bed and breakfast — in the house library was an antique book named something along the lines of “A Young Man’s Reader” or some such, and in there amongst a rather impressive collection of “manly” stories was my first introduction to Thermopylae and Leonidas. What young man could NOT be inspired by such a tale? I feel almost ashamed that I hadn’t been introduced to such earlier in my life/education.
Sigivald: Agreed. One of the points that Pressfield really hammers home is the armor used by the hoplites…something like 70 pounds (do you Brits still use pounds for weight?) altogether.
And of course, I agree whole heartedly with Cap’n Dan. For anyone interested in Thermopylae, Gates of Fire isn’t 100% accurate — but *wow* is it good. The battle scenes are absolutely stunning — not a general’s overview — but the chest heaving, lungs burning, arms aching up close and personal view of the hoplites. Definitely one of the best books that I have ever read and one that I think I’ll be re-reading soon. (By the way, I don’t get a commission on selling Gates of Fire books…really…I don’t. 😉
Loved Gates of Fire and you will too. A good story and well told. It’ll put some hair on your chest, and a swing in your walk. I burned for a movie based off it, but I don’t think 300 will disappoint. It’s not historically accurate, no.. it’s art. It’s a punch in the gut. I’m getting a five o’clock shadow just thinking about it.
*While we’re talking about the Greeks… I want to plug a book I think you’ll like. _War Music_ by Christopher Logue. It is from several of the books of the Iliad.. extremely good, extremely strange. Very powerful, with an almost cinematic quality to the scenes.
Ah! Delighted to learn of the 300 film via Samizdata. Many thanks! Loved the mini-series.
This reminds me of one of my proudest possessions – I happily own Frank Miller’s first-ever Daredevil comic … Issue No. 158 with Deathstalker. It’s sitting peacefully in a parental closet, since buying it at the newsstand with allowance money, never to be sold, but treasured for generations. Time to haul it out and read it again on my next visit, and consider the entire arc of Miller’s career …
Thanks Perry. It is visually splendid and a stirring story. From 6,200 Greek warriors, just the 300 Spartans and the 700 Thespians fought to the end.
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Wenley, we have ΜOΛΩΠΛΑΒΕ lurking someone in our sidebar.
Interesting thing about Impressionism, that technique helps illustrate my point.
The thing I find awesome about Impressionist paintings is that you can look at the painting from 20 ft, 10ft, 5ft, 1ft, 6inches, and see different things every time. It’s amazing to pick out the details of the paintings–entirely separate at the closest examination–that end up working together to form new colors and shapes as the larger picture comes into focus.
Similarly, the picture at the top of this blog reminds me of the 300 comic book. On the page of a graphic novel, that type of image is terrific to look at. There are brush-strokes, washes and lines and all sorts of detail. I love that stuff.
The problem comes with the current standard used when moving that graphic novel picture to the big screen via computer graphics. The CG stuff doesn’t have much detail past a certain resolution. I think this is for reasons of expense rather than techincal capability. It seems just too expensive, today, to do really, really detailed CG for the whole frame, for the whole movie. It’s cheap to get the broad strokes and the big picture, and that helps convey the desired meaning, but it is simply not as rewarding to look at.
I feel that this all-CG stuff looks instantly dated, like a B-movie. Maybe 300 is being done on a shoestring budget and I’m just being cranky–after all it is better to get the movie out at a low budget, than to not make it at all. There are all sorts of good things about the story, the graphic novel and the movie itself. But if using CG is an artistic choice, I think it’s a bad decision.
I understand FM’s point about realism, and I don’t really care about realism. I want detail.
Fair enough and I understand you point, but it is an aesthetic choice and I do not feel as you do (as witnessed by my recent praise for a new movie made in the style of a 1925 silent movie) 🙂
Looks great, although truth be told I’d rather see the march of the ten thousand put up on the big screen.
Who knows, Hank, maybe if this movie rocks and rakes in the dosh, shield-n-spear movies will be ‘in’ and the Anabasis will be next… I just hope Oliver Stone gets nowhere near it after his ‘murder’ of Alexander.
Too bad it’s only in Quicktime, I’d love to see it.