The Ultimate Fulfillment of My Film-Noir Fantasies

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2006)

If the "Hays Code" had never been imposed upon the Hollywood film industry in the early 1930s, "Sin City" would probably be typical of most films made in Hollywood today. The film industry felt it was necessary to police itself against some of the film-noir excesses of early 1930s movies. American filmmakers produced many crime films in the early sound era, many of which were considered immoral because of their seedy content: the breakdown of law and order in favor of criminal activity; the failure of society in favor of selfish, material interest; and, of course, sexy dames scantily clad, often involved in murder, alcoholism, and drugs.
If Hollywood had remained unchanged, American films probably would have evolved into "Sin City," a celebration of vigilante justice when the state itself has become a criminal entity. Beheadings and whores are commonplace on the streets of Sin City, but with all its decadence, there is a certain primal morality to this universe that redeems it. It is as if the modern city were the site of a new Stone Age, where the population is divided between various factions or "tribes" who fight for the survival of their respective factions. They just happen to be playing out this tribal warfare in the context of post-modern urban decay. All of our major protagonists are concerned with correcting some injustice. We have Marv (Mickey Rourke) seeking justice for his murdered lover, Goldie; Dwight who wants to protect the prostitutes of Old Town from the mob and police corruption; and Hartigan who seeks protection for Nancy Callihan, the girl who he saved from a child molester years before. These three narrative threads are woven together seamlessly into a beautiful neo-noir tapestry.
The most obvious aspect of the film is obviously its unique visual style. Every shot in the film is based on a corresponding panel from Frank Miller's original graphic novel series of the same name. Director Robert Rodriguez so admired Frank Miller's original vision that he demanded that his film evolve into a "translation" rather than "adaptation" of the novel. This film is supposed to be just another experience of the graphic novel itself. In fact he was so determined to give Frank Miller co-director status that he resigned from the Directors Guild of America. Frank Miller, after all, had visualized the film initially, since Rodriguez used the graphic novel as a storyboard. With the exception of a few set pieces, the film was shot entirely against a green-screen with the backgrounds and landscapes of the city digitally added later. The black-and-white cinematography gives a fantastical luridness to the look of the city that makes the setting seem foreign and exotic, a beautiful stylistic complement to the film's theme that life thrives in the shadows. The low-key lighting creates a chiaroscuro effect that makes the actors extremely attractive, turning them into the sexy anti-heroes and femmes fatales that made the film-noir genre so appealing in the 40s.
Interweaving the three major story lines creates a standard film noir narrative structure of vengeance and retribution, violence stemming from sexual tensions, and individuals acting to restore order and justice when the state has failed. I've never been the biggest fan of multistory film narratives, finding them often to be choppy and inconsistent. However, there are enough character connections between the three stories to make them seem like they are just aspects of one mythology, an exploration of character and decision-making. In my opinion the most interesting of the three stories is the second, about an impending factional war between prostitutes, the mob, and the corrupt cops. I think it best represents the failure of the state to maintain its monopoly on violence and the necessity of individual factions to fill the void of the state's policing power. The Big Kill scene is spectacular, with such gritty, hardboiled poetic dialogue like this line from Dwight: "The Valkyrie at my side is shouting and laughing with the pure, hateful, bloodthirsty joy of the slaughter... and so am I." What insightful narration! To have such introspective dialogue shows that this character understands what it means to live in a film noir universe where the medieval age has been revived in the bowels of the decayed urban environment.
The most brilliant structural devices in the film are the karmic bookends. At both the beginning and the end Josh Hartnett's character assassinates a woman. He appears to be a contradiction to this world of factionalized anti-heroes and femmes fatales. He seems to be working for himself rather than aligned with any particular group. I feel that he embodies the intangible justice and harmony of Sin City. If someone who has committed an injustice, like Becky at the end of the film, Josh Hartnett's character will have vengeance if somehow the factions weren't able to solve their problems. He acts as a balancing force, tying up loose ends, restoring harmony to the system just as a free electron facilitates the bonding of a hydrogen and oxygen atom to create water.
Sin City is a beautifully shot, sociologically complex film about rational decision making in a structure-less environment. It is not for the faint of heart, but its social commentary through poetic language makes it a very rich film. It will make all your film noir dreams come true.