[Aesthetic homework] Quentin Tarantino and his "Sin City"

Suzanne 2021-10-19 09:52:03

Some people say that Quentin is a genius. The so-called "ghost" means "ghost knows what he is thinking".
In the history of modern cinema, Quentin Tarantino is a director who can't get around. Violent aesthetics, non-linear narrative, American independent film revolution flag bearer... There are too many labels surrounding him, and people are arguing about him and his films. In this article, the author tries to use seven key words to analyze the film "Sin City" filmed by director Quentin in 2005 with Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez.

Key word one: ring structure
Director Quentin made a blockbuster with the ring structure of "Pulp Fiction" in 1994. And in "Sin City", which is the first time in ten years, Quentin played a non-linear narrative again.
Traditional linear narratives always take the development of events as clues and advance the story step by step in a normal time sequence. Directors and screenwriters who are tired of telling stories step by step begin to explore different types of structures. A typical example is "Shards of Memory" directed by Christopher Nolan. Through flashbacks and editing techniques, a simple story is told in suspense.
And Quentin is undoubtedly a master at playing structure. Both "Sin City" and "Pulp Fiction" use multi-line narrative methods to disrupt the time sequence, let the protagonists of different chapters shuttle each other, and tell the three-part short story interestingly.
The characters in "Pulp Fiction" revolve around the gang boss Ma Sha. Three chapters tell the story of the robbers Ma Sha's subordinates encountered in the coffee shop, Ma Sha's subordinates and their mistress, Ma Sha and the old boxer. And the subordinate who was the protagonist in the first paragraph was beaten to death after only showing up in the third paragraph. This arrangement is undoubtedly very novel. After the audience has watched the film and understood the whole story, they will have the strange feeling of looking down at the fate of all living beings from the perspective of God. The beauty of the ring structure is that since the time sequence of the whole film is disrupted, you can understand the whole story no matter from which part of the film you start. The ending of the film echoes, and the multiple front and back photos of the whole film also increase the cycle and sense of completion of the "ring".
The structure of "Sin City" is much looser in comparison. The three stories are not directly related, and the protagonist does not appear directly in the story except for Nancy. However, if you look closely, you will find that the characters in the stories in the three feature films are connected to a certain extent.
Three long films can be summarized as follows: The
first paragraph Hardigan & Nancy villain: Little Rock (Yellow bastard) the
second paragraph Ma Fu & Gotty (Wendy) villain: Kevin (glasses man)
third paragraph Di White & Gore villain: Jack (Bad Cop)
In the first paragraph of Hardigan and Nancy’s story, the villain Rock (Yellow bastard)’s father is Senator Rock, and Senator Rock’s elder brother is Bishop Rock. Appears in the second story of Ma Fu and Gotti. Gotti provided sexual services to the clergy headed by Bishop Rock and was brutally murdered.
The little Nancy in the first paragraph, who grew up as a dancer in the bar eight years later, helps the protagonist Ma Fu in the second paragraph. At this time, Nancy hadn't listened to Hardigan's words and went so far. It can be seen that this story happened before the first paragraph (sequel).
The common part of the three stories is the bar. Hardigan came to the bar in search of Nancy. At this time, Mafo and Jack appeared in the background. When Ma Fu appeared in the second paragraph, the narrator introduced Ma Fu and mentioned Nancy. At this time, the protagonist of the third paragraph, De White, as the point of view, spoke the narration, which also paved the way for De White to be the protagonist in the next paragraph.
In the postscript of the first paragraph, when Hardigan went to the farm to seek revenge on Little Rock, the scene of the spectacleed man Kevin in the second paragraph sitting on the farm and reading the Bible flashed by.

Keyword 2: Black humor
Even in such a bloody and violent film, director Quentin did not forget to add black humor. In the plasma and residual limbs, these absurd plots seem so funny.
For example, in the process of Dewright's body throwing, Jack's body with a gun still in his head suddenly spoke, even smoking cigarettes and chattering until Dewright crashed the car. Afterwards, to lead the snake out of the hole, Miho shot an arrow through the gang's bald head. This person's shocked reaction after the arrow was in contrast with the indifferent attitude of the people around him, which produced a strong comedic effect. There are a lot of details like this, and I smiled knowingly during the tense movie watching, and it was just right to relax and relax.

Keyword three:
Cult film, usually translated as cult film. It means that the filming technique is unique, the subject matter is strange, the sword goes slanting, the style is mixed, with a strong personal opinion, it is controversial, usually low-cost production, not market-oriented films.
Although the market has performed well, the films directed by Quentin are undoubtedly cult films. Several major features of cult movies can be found in "Sin City".

1. Inexpensive B-level films
B-level films refer to films that lack budget and low-cost, which began to rise in the 1930s. Because of the low cost, in order to attract audiences, B-level films are often shoddy horror films, mixed with monsters, zombies, flying saucers and other elements that audiences love to see, as well as pornographic sideballs. And because of this, he has the imagination of being unbelievable. The plot of King Kong vs. aliens and other flying immortals is the favorite of B-level film directors.
Many great directors were influenced by B-level films in their childhood, and like to put B-level film elements in their films to pay tribute. For example, director Tim Burton is a well-known B film fan.
In "Sin City", Quentin also put a lot of B-level film elements, giving the film the texture of a cheap horror film. For example, when Miho and Kevin appeared on the stage, the sky flashed with lightning and thunder, and the faces of the characters were horribly reflected, and the distorted expressions were exceptionally weird.

2. Vulgar exaggeration
"Sin City" may not be vulgar, but deliberate exaggeration is bound to exist. The close-up and freeze-frame of the frontal characters’ looking up angles, and the symbolic design of women’s clothing make the film feel unrealistic in the stage version.

3. The mixed elements and
background are set in an unknown era, making the film have the dystopian tradition of science fiction and the sense of social criticism, and the bloody violence of horror films, the comic-like sense of split shots and black and white freezes, and the western films when the characters are holding guns. Sense, and black humor from time to time.

4.
The positive characters in the subculture films are all marginalized people in the traditional sense-prostitutes, hooligans, fugitives. They believe in blood for blood and tooth for tooth. Through personal violence, they ostensibly confront the political representative of Rock. And Father Roque, who represents religion, actually subverts mainstream values ​​and opposes the entire morbid society.

5. Self-contained system
Cult Movie generally has a complete and independent world system, as does "Sin City". The comic adaptation makes the film have a detailed background setting. The note and the ceasefire agreement with the prostitutes, speeding will be chased by the traffic police, and the police will be tortured and coerced to sign a confession... Reality and fiction are intertwined, and the charm of the sinful city is unique.

6. Unlike art, which is
not like an art film, which requires sitting down, cult films have their own "groundedness" flavor in laughter and curse. You don't need to search for so many symbols and meanings, just sit down and enjoy the thrill of flying blood.

Key word four: Personalized video
"Sin City" The picture is undoubtedly eye-catching: almost all black and white pictures have the special texture of black and white films, and the occasional color is extremely bright in the all black and white, splashing blood, The blonde and her bright red clothes, blue car, yellow perverted little Rock...there was gorgeousness in the dark. This technique has a glimpse at the end of "Schindler's List" directed by Spielberg, and is used extensively in this film.
The manga adaptation makes the film inherently manga-like, and the comic fan director Quentin has carried forward this point (for Quentin's obsession with anime, please refer to the animation clip inserted in "Kill Bill"). Freeze frame and close-up make the film have the lens language of comics, and the black and white silhouette processing from time to time also has unexpected effects.
There are also many western elements in this film. The character's intentional pose when drawing a gun, and the close-up and freeze-frame of the frontal character's looking up angle make the film have a stage-like "artificial" effect. This method is often used when creating heroes in the main melody films of China in the 1950s.

Keyword 5: Alternative heroes The heroes in the
traditional setting are often justice characters such as policemen, and the aesthetically fatigued audience has long since eaten this set. They prefer rebellious heroes such as "The Earl of Monte Cristo" and "Journey to the West". , Even some dark heroes such as "Batman" or "V for Vendetta" directed by Nolan.
It is not uncommon to see movies with villains in the traditional sense such as punks, gangsters, and killers as the protagonists and let the little people become big heroes. Far away, such as French director Luc Besson's "This Killer Is Not So Cold", and closer, such as domestic director Ning Hao's "Golden Robbery". In this film, except for the retired policeman Hardigan who is the protagonist of "Justice", the identities of the other protagonists are not so open and upright. Ma Fu is a mentally ill gangster, De White is a fugitive from plastic surgery, and Wendy is the eldest sister of the Prostitutes League.
In this distorted world, the "bad guys" who rely on the strength of their own hands and the unkillable Xiaoqiang spirit to save the weak and save their lovers are even more lovable. They believe that hard work is the last word. They do things for money but never sell their personality for the right to money. They see the darkness of this society but still have hope and goodness. They are willing to gamble to lose and obey the rules of this world even if they give up their lives. No regrets or regrets.
The powerful Rock family constitutes the main dark power of the film. Although as councillors and priests, the Rocks are more evil than criminals. And compared to the blatant evil of the little gangster, the invisible evils hidden under money and power, such as black-and-white collusion, murder with a knife, etc., are more terrifying.

Keyword 6: Feminism
At first glance, Quentin may not have much feminism. In "Sin City", women basically play the role of weak and stunner, which is the motive for the hero to fight hard. But in the third story, the setting of the Prostitutes League is really eye-catching. At the end, the girls are standing on a high place with guns and shooting at the invincible gangsters. The scene is also quite handsome.
Looking closely, Quentin likes to show that women have the tough side after they have power. In "Kill Bill", whether it is the protagonist played by Uma Thurman who is like the immortal Xiaoqiang, the black mamba who blows the whistle, the gogo who makes the meteor hammer, and the head of the Japanese gangster played by Liu Yuling, they are all very powerful. Many men are not rivals for the power they possess. In this work, the role of Miho, a Japanese killer, is also as strong as a ghost. In the film, the Buddha blocks and kills the Buddha and is invincible.
Perhaps weak women use huge weapons that are not commensurate with their petite bodies to explode the contrast between strength and beauty displayed by toughness. Quentin is passionate and even obsessed with it. In Japanese ACG terminology, this kind of beauty is called "contrast cuteness". Quentin knows this well.

Key words seven: Japanese complex
There is no doubt that Quentin is quite obsessed with Japanese style. This is often shown in his films:
A section of "Kill Bill" is set in Japan. As mentioned above, both the gogo played by Chiaki Kuriyama and the big sister of the Japanese gangster played by Liu Yuling have very eye-catching performances. The scene where Uma Thurman used the Japanese sword against hundreds of gangsters was also very exciting.
In "Pulp Fiction", when the retired boxer Butch escaped from the dark pawnshop and returned to rescue the gang boss Masha, he chose the Japanese sword as a weapon.
Miho, who kills without blinking in "Sin City", uses Japanese swords, kunai, and ninja-like agile skills. After a few strokes, it turned out a few big guys and then chopped them into several boxes by the way, blood splattered all over his face. But his face was indifferent, as if Shura was alive.
Even if it's soy sauce, there must be Japanese elements. Director Quentin's perseverance is unmatched. Maybe Kurosawa Akira and other Japanese film masters, like Zhang Che's Chinese Kung Fu films, gave Quentin's action film a far-reaching influence.

In 2013, "The Rescued Jiang Ge" was released in China, and countless fans were able to experience Quentin's charm on the big screen. In 2014, Quentin is still highly productive, and the new film plan has also been exposed recently. What excitement will this director known for his "violent aesthetics" bring us in the future? let us wait and see.

View more about Sin City reviews

Extended Reading
  • Enos 2021-10-20 18:59:41

    Participating in Shanghai Film Festival

  • Camden 2021-10-20 18:59:30

    The flaming red lips light up the city of sin, and the aesthetics is more eye-catching than the story. What a calm bloodthirsty and madness!

Sin City quotes

  • Roark Jr.: You can't touch me you piece of shit cop. Look at you. You can't even lift that cannon you're carrying.

    John Hartigan: Sure I can.

    [Raises gun and shoots Roark Jr.'s left ear off]

  • Marv: Lucille's my parole officer. She's a dyke but God knows why. With that body of her she can have any man she wants.