At the Movies: 'Sin City' |
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by Ryan Finn
Staff Writer
What happens when you take the restrained affectations of the 1940s noir style and force-feed it to our modern age of wanton sexuality and depraved violence? Well, “Sin City” for one.
Here is a city so sinful that most women are strippers or prostitutes and most men are criminals or corrupt authority figures. Most of the ones we see at least.
The three interwoven stories in the film were adapted from Frank Miller’s popular graphic novels. Miller even co-directs the film with Robert Rodriguez, who quit the Director’s Guild of America simply to have Miller’s directing credit on the film.
The narratives share a common theme: perverted, abusive men who threaten women and the even meaner men who protect them.
Marv (Mickey Rourke) is a towering, borderline sociopath with fists of steel and a soft spot for the kindness of women. When beautiful prostitute Goldie (Jaime King) is murdered after spending the night with Marv, he vows revenge on the killer. He grinds his way through policemen to find the mute cannibal Kevin (Elijah Wood; no seriously), backed by a powerful Catholic Cardinal (Rutger Hauer).
Dwight (Clive Owen) is a criminal out on the streets with a brand new face. His girlfriend Shellie (Brittany Murphy) is menaced by Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro), a corrupt cop looking for trouble. Jackie finds plenty of it in Old Town, a section of the city run entirely by gun-toting, sword-wielding prostitutes. When Jackie is killed for making a wrong move, Dwight crafts a cover up to protect Old Town from the vengeance of the police department.
Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is one of the few good cops left in Sin City. On the day before his retirement, he tries to tie up one last loose end: protecting young Nancy Callahan from a perverted pedophile who just happens to be the son of a U. S. Senator (corrupt, naturally). He does save her, but is sent to jail on a frame-up. Hartigan and Nancy part ways for eight years. When they meet again, they find themselves in the same old trouble.
There are still more characters and more subplots. Despite the obvious possibility for overload, “Sin City” never really feels confusing. The ways things progress is almost organic.
That is not to say that all characters or stories work perfectly. Marv’s story and Hartigan’s story are efficient, stylish and entertaining, but I thought Dwight’s story was less effective.
Rodriguez has transported Miller’s nearly abstract art onto the canvas of the screen.
The film is black and white yet it makes sparing use of flashes of color to emphasize blood, a pair of eyes, a dress, a car and so forth.
The film was intentionally modeled after Miller’s frames. This is less an adaptation than a Xerox copy, but that’s OK.
The acting has to be solid. Miller is essentially imitating and honoring the hard-bitten noir style made popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
Dialogue is slanted and will seem campy today. The actors generally get it just right, but there are a few times when dialogue really does seem a little too silly.
And so “Sin City” is technically exciting and bold. The sheer level of violence and depravity is astounding.
But what is it all for? The story could not have been told otherwise, but is it a story worth telling and seeing? For the most part, I think it is.
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Jonathan Williams | The Appalachian
Joshua A. Hayes plays banjo during the Song Swap event in the Multicultural Center, a part of the Appalachian Heritage Week. |
Heritage week reflects regional culture
by Kyle Conrad
Staff Writer
The weather is turning nice just in time for the kickoff of Appalachian Heritage and Music Week. The celebration, which is coordinated by the Appalachian Heritage Council, will feature presentations reflecting the deep cultural roots that reside in the Blue Ridge area.
“The events will feature people from all over the country and state,” graduate student and Council chairperson Mark C. Freed said.
Many of the performances, however, will also include Appalachian State University students.
Freed spoke highly of the instrumental “jam session,” which will feature performers improvising music on traditional string instruments.
“We’ve had great experiences with these in the past,” Freed said.
“We really try to include the students in our events.”
There will also be special guest appearances during the week by famous cultural musicians and storytellers.
National Heritage award winner Ora Watson will make appearances during the week along with heralded cultural presenter Rosa Hicks.
Freed said he hopes students attend a presentation in the Summit Trail Solarium which will feature nationally acclaimed fiddle-banjo duo Rayna Gellert and Kenny Jackson.
Other notable events include presentations by celebrated fiddle players Kerry Blech and Alan Hart.
“We hope to expose as many students as possible to the mountain culture,” Freed said.
“It’s important that [students] have a sense of the area that they go to school in.”
The events will last until Saturday and will conclude with a presentation by the Black Banjo Gathering, a string instrument based music group that celebrates traditional and contemporary African American music.
Anthropology major and council member Joshua A. Hayes said the goal of the celebration is to provoke an interest within the students.
He said he hopes the celebrations will encourage students to “branch out” and to experience something different.
Hayes also cites the “community feeling” and the togetherness that the Heritage Week will encourage among the students.
“We put it out there,” he said. “People who want to get something out of it will. Everyone will soak up something.”
There are a large variety of events that will appeal to many different tastes.
Many of the week’s events relate to the tradition and culture of historic Blue Ridge practices.
There also will be more contemporary events, such as a presentation on fly-fishing.
“One thing that is beneficial is people learning about culture and being able to see something they’ve never seen before-it’ll give them a glimpse of something they aren’t accustomed to,” Hayes said.
The Appalachian Heritage Council has sponsored Heritage week since the late 90s and Hayes said the week has always been successful and the event gets better each year.
“It’s a deep desire within [us] to expose students to Appalachian culture and history, and to make people appreciate it … I think sharing this is a wonderful thing,” Hayes said.
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