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Buena Vista Home Entertainment / 2005 / 124 and 147 Minutes / Unrated / Street Date: December 13, 2005
Much has been made of how director Robert Rodriguez shot Sin City with a high definition 1080p24 camera on a green soundstage and then created his virtual world in CGI. One might come away with the impression that this was a first, which of course, it was not. Kerry Conran similarly created his visually dazzling world the year before in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. And both filmmakers were shown the way by George Lucas, who used the technique extensively in the Star Wars prequels. And like Lucas, who rehearsed CGI technology as he experimented during the making of his Young Indiana Jones series, Rodriguez seems to have honed his skills with the Spy Kids films.
If Conran created a fanciful, almost surrealistic world populated by impossible machines that were inspired by the weekly serials of the ‘30s and ‘40s, Rodriguez has taken his cues directly from the dark, graphic novels of Frank Miller. In fact, it's been reported that no storyboards were drawn for this production; Miller's panels were all that Rodriguez required. The striking visuals are in high contrast black and white with selected coloration, much as Spielberg did with the child in the red coat in Schindler's List. Sin City's tone is a remarkable extrapolation of noir; it's hyper-noir. The dialog smacks of pulp, but is sufficiently constrained to avoid mockery. It maintains a delicate balance between highly stylistic and caricature. It is simply dark, cynical, and misanthropic. The world of Sin City is corrupt beyond measure and populated with characters no less a victim of their environment than a product.
Corruption extends from the top (Powers Boothe's Senator Roark), to the church (Rutger Hauer's Cardinal Roark), to the police (from the detective on the street, like Benicio Del Toro's Jackie Boy, to highly ranked officers, like Michael Clarke Duncan's Manute). Hookers control the red-light district, freed of their pimp and mob oppressors by kickbacks and favors to the force. The ostensible leader of the women is Gail (Rosario Dawson). Among her confederates are a Samurai-like warrior with swords to match, Miho (Devon Aoki), and naive young prostitute with terrible judgment named Becky (Alexis Bledel cast against type). Survival is difficult in this harsh world. The men must make alliances. They must choose between good and evil. Few chose the former. The strong tend to fall into three categories: hero; antihero; and, villain. Sin City tells the tales of three such men in three individual vignettes.
Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is the rare honest cop. Nothing will stop him from putting an end to a child molester's reign of terror, no matter how well connected the fiend might be. He will be asked to sacrifice much as his life becomes intertwined with victim Nancy Callahan (played as an adult by Jessica Alba). Hartigan finds that depravity and evil run in the family, and when he's ultimately confronted with the Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl), he'll discover just how much he's willing to give to remain true to his dedication.
The most striking vignette in the film is the story of Marv (Mickey Rourke), a grotesque and powerful thug who finds an unexpected emotional connection. And when it's taken away from him, his revenge is merciless. Marv's only ally is his parole officer; Lucille (Rodriguez regular Carla Gugino) is remarkably understanding, overlooking his violations and providing medication that helps him avoid slipping into a psychotic break. At first, Marv seems damn near invincible, but he may have met his match in the nearly supernatural Kevin (Elijah Wood in another example of casting against type). Rourke's performance is truly impressive; he's created an iconic character that is both repellent and sympathetic.
The third vignette revolves around a tough guy with a heart of gold, Dwight (Clive Owen). While enjoying a casual involvement with a waitress named Shellie (Brittany Murphy), he's inexorably drawn deeper and deeper into a lethal situation that could destroy the power balance in the red light district. Unless he acts swiftly and with great care, the mob and the pimps will return to control and torment the women. His more enduring relationship with Gail (Rosario Dawson) is highly motivating.
There are other notable performers in the film, Josh Hartnett and Michael Madsen appear in small roles, but the most significant character is the film's style. Rodriguez manipulates the audience with swatches of color: blue or green eyes, red sheets, whiter than white blood, redder than red blood, and the sickening flesh tones of the Yellow Bastard. So dark is the entirety of Sin City that one is left with the impression that it must be located above the Arctic Circle during the months of winter night. The exaggerated contrast creates a visual edginess; backgrounds are frequently consumed by deep blacks resembling singularities that capture all light.
Frank Miller was on the set, providing such close guidance that Rodriquez wanted him to share director's credit (a contentious issue that caused Rodriquez to resign from the Director's Guild, joining such notables as George Lucas). Quentin Tarantino was invited to direct a sequence. Rodriquez wanted to introduce him to the wonders of digital filmmaking. (Tarantino's sequence is the conversation in the car between Clive Owen's Dwight and Benicio Del Toro's Jackie Boy.) Tarantino's participation is more than appropriate, having single-handedly resurrected dark and lured cinema.
Rodriguez's production and costume design nearly span the last eighty years, creating a timelessness that places Sin City in a universe quite apart from our own. His compelling pulp is a wonderful feast for the eyes.
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