Road to Perdition review

Mendes, Sam. Road to perdition. 2002. United States: DreamWorks Pictures / 20th Century Fox. 117”.

1931, one of the firsts years of the Great Depression, the Irish Mob dominates Rock Island, the Prohibition is in force and gangsters, specially Al Capone in Chicago, are at the pinnacle of power. That’s the scenario in which this crime story, based on the graphic novel from crime writer Max Allan Collins, takes place.  

Mike Sullivan, the main character played by Tom Hanks, is a mob hit man at the service of John Rooney (Paul Newman), the head of the Irish mob, who has raised him as a son. Mike’s son, Michael Sullivan Jr., witnesses how his father and Connor, Rooney’s natural son, murder a man one night. So Connor, moved by his jealousy of Mike, who was always been more loved by Rooney, and fearing the little Michael could denounce what he saw, kills Mike’s wife and youngest son. Then, Mike starts to struggle for keep his son safe and take revenge of Connor.

When Mike father and son are escaping from Connor, they decide to go to Perdition, the town where the sister of Mike’s wife lives. Therefore the title of the film has a double meaning: on the one hand, is the name of the town. But, one the other hand, Perdition is considered a euphemism of Hell. Sullivan regrets his lifestyle (he’s never been proud of killing people, but he did it due to his duty and gratitude to Rooney for providing him with a secure and comfortable life) and he doesn’t want his son to choose the same “road” he did because, after his wife’s and son’s death, he realizes that all acts of violence have their own consequences not only on victims, but on the responsible person and witnesses too.

In spite of violence is the main theme we notice when we watch the film, is not the only one. Road to perdition also is about relationships between fathers and sons, not only between Mike Sullivan and his son, but between Sullivan and his boss, John Rooney. Mike simultaneously idolizes and fears Rooney, and Mike’s son feels the same for his own father. But during the 6 weeks they spend travelling to Perdition, their relationship becomes stronger. Michael had always thought his father loved his younger brother more than him, but Mike explains him that was because Michael reminded him of himself, so he was afraid he could choose the same lifestyle.  

The problem between Sullivan, Connor and Rooney is, like I said before, Romney has always loved Mike as he was his own son, so despite he decides to protect Connor, when Sullivan comes to kill him he says “I’m glad it’s you”. I think this is when he faces his acts, as Mike realizes the violence he had committed in his name.

As for the making of the film, I have to say I liked a lot the music and how the different scenes are connected. I saw the film at night and at the beginning I thought I’d fell asleep because the scenes were very slow, but finally I couldn’t take my attention of the screen and I was wondering all the time what would it happen next.

Pulp fiction review

            TARANTINO, Quentin. Pulp fiction. 1994. United States: Miramax Films. 154”.

            Pulp fiction has all those elements required for a Tarantino’s film: blood, guns, violence, a stream of bad language (only the word fuck is used 265 times), a peculiar but really good amount of soundtracks and, of course, a time-twisting structure.

            The plot interlocks four different tales with two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits as main characters. These stories are presented out of sequence, so you don’t really know the complete story till the end of the film, which actually is not the end of the story. Because of that, that film becomes too much better when you see it twice or three times. In fact, it had a great both critical and audience reception, but nowadays it stills being seen by those noir film lovers and it is considered an “epic film” by film buffs.

            Pulp fiction mixes black comedy and thriller, so you are laughing and, suddenly, you are in tension, then you are laughing again. However, that film is not only intended for our entertainment. We can find there that Tarantino criticize the insouciance, violence, homophobia, and racism present in the 1990’s American society, with the growing contempt to the poor, those who are disenfranchised and the disinherited.

            But one thing I find particularly interesting about that film is the redemption. Each of the main stories ends with some form of redemption (Butch is forgiven by Marcellus after he saves him, Jules let Pumpkin and Honey Bunny live), but the key redemption is when Jules decides to retire (because he believes he and Vincent didn’t die when they went shot by a “miracle”, an act of God) so he don’t die in Butch’s apartment like Vincent does. This decision takes part at the end of the film, although that happens in the middle of the story, so maybe this is one of the reasons that justify the nonlinear storytelling (or perhaps Tarantino was simply bored of lineal order).

            Besides the amazing plot, the nonlinear storyline, and the rich dialogue, Pulp fiction is also known for all the details and references it contains, which shows many characteristics of Tarantino. Some of my favourites are: when Butch decides to save Marcellus when they are raping him, he has to choose a weapon and he takes a katana (the same as Uma Thurman uses in Kill Bill) because Tarantino loves these long swords. The twist contest scene (one of my favourite scenes of the film) was about the point to be supressed because Uma was scared of not to reach de dancing level of John Travolta. Jules’ wallet, which said “bad motherfucker”, belonged to Quentin Tarantino in the real life.

            These are just some of the many curiosities that Pulp fiction has, since this is one of the most successful and referenced films of the last ten years.

            I highly recommend it and I consider it is a basic film all people should see at least once.

            

Big Fish review

BURTON, Tim. Big Fish. 2003. United States: Columbia Pictures. 126”.

            Tim Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist, known for his dark, quirky-themed films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas or Sleepy Hollow, including box-office hits such as Batman, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland. Most of his films capture a dark and sinister atmosphere, using dark, grey and red colours, pumpkins, scarecrows and terror film’s buildings in their background. Nevertheless, some of his films are located in fantastic worlds characterized by weird scenarios filled with bent trees in pastel and primary colours, outrageous backgrounds, clowns, butterflies and misfits and enigmatic characters.

            Big Fish, which is performed by some of the Tim Burton’s recurrent actors such as Danny DeVito and Helena Bonham Carter, fulfils these characteristics and is based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace.

            This film, with Ewan McGregor in the male lead, begins when William and his wife Josephine go visit Williams’ father Edward, who is badly ill. William had not talked to his father during years because he had always been telling fantastic tales about his life, so he had the feeling he did not really know him.

            The film shows in flashbacks Edward’s life recounted by himself to Josephine. These tales take place since Edward was a child and he was confined during three years to a bed because his body was growing too fast until his son was born but he was not there because he was fishing the bigger fish no one had seen before.

            All the tales had a lot of extraordinary characteristics, such as giants, a circus owner who is also a werewolf and a witch who predicts how will be Edward’s death, so his son William does not believe in him and is very worried about their relationship. But when William, who was desperately trying to find a terrible truth about his father, finds out that he is in the hospital, he comes and tells him a tale about his death, the same that the witch had predicted several years before: Edward is carried by his son to a lake, where there are all the persons who have appeared in his life, and his is transformed into a fish, a big fish.

            Then, when Edward finally dies and the funeral takes place, all the characters that appeared in his tales, but without the unreal characteristics he used to tell, where there, and William realizes that it doesn’t really matters if his father’s tales were not completely real because Edward was a loved man who also loved his son, the only problem was that he was too big for this world.

            That’s a poignant ending that can easily move you to tears (I wasn’t an exception myself) about forgiveness and reconciliation between a father and a son.

            I consider myself a big fan of Tim Burton’s film and I was really taken with that film. It has not only a beautiful and touching plot, but the characters and backgrounds, such as the lovely town of Spectre, are amazing too.  

            As far as I am concerned, Big Fish is an amazing, highly recommended film, especially for those who like poignant stories with a touch of fantasy and comedy.