new masculinity remakes the old honor- a feminist movie in the midst of all the balls and blood

Rating: 10/10 (12 May 2005)

this movie is amazing as probably all the commentators have noted so far. the cast, the lights, the cuts, the ambiance, the directing. Here though I want to talk about gender in the story. so a boring plot line sort of comment, this one.
all the stories are about men who want to rescue women out of some trouble. and these men come in the guise of undesirable qualities such as the violence and utter ugliness of marv, the old age of harrigan.. then these men fight other men who have done wrong in the male code of honor. they have hurt or tried to hurt women. so what we see is these ugly, violent men who take on other men in violent ways only in order to do something chivalrous in the midst of all this sin. they are like princes who rescue their princesses. these other men such as the cannibal, the child rapist, and the wife beater are sort of like their alter-ego as we see very clearly in the car scene where benicio del toro's head talks to clive owen. but the point is despite all their confusions these men end up delivering to the women they love. and they do this even though none of them can ever be together with them, either because of age, character, social status, or the simple reason of their sweethearts being dead.
and what do women do? they give gifts. for instance whitey coming as goldie in the last night of marv is such a heartwarming story. nancy's letters are the same. what is ultimately interesting is that this ultimately banal gender relationship of gift giving versus protection is taken to such a primal level that it allows women the space to protect themselves. women can build their own armies, they can do plots, they can kill, they are lesbians, they spy, and of course ironically they can also become housewives and be beaten up. but all in all, in the midst of this excess of violence and masculinity it is possible to see the rise of a new masculinity actually quite toned down in its male centredness.
the only place that this masculinity, the masculinity of the three heroes has excess is in violence. but then again that is coded as pure lust. they love killing like they love making love to women. and they kill the bad guys and love the women. women love them back but their actions do not have to be bound them. I don't know i really liked this deal. and enjoyed it. I know it is weird to find something so feminist in such a decidedly masculine movie. but i did.