Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Making of the Movie (2005)

This post concerns Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Making of the Movie (2005.)

The film is of interest, in my view, particularly in the context of Military History and related topics. It reminds us of the subject matter of warfare and organized violence, in a way that a reading of a high school history or university textbook about warfare might not be able, as readily, to do.

Sin City (2005) is based upon the work of Frank Miller, who owes a debt to earlier comic book writers such as Will Eisner. Such writers also address subject matter directly related, in my view, to Military History and related topics.

A blurb at the Toronto Public Library notes:

• Featuring Rodriguez’s screenplay adaptation of the original graphic novels, this book covers the movie production from page to screen and all in between. Includes exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, never-before-seen art, and conceptual designs, interviews, and commentary.

A Book List Review at the Toronto Public Library site begins:

• A film noir updated for the digital age, Sin City is a fetishistically faithful big-screen rendition of Miller’s hardboiled graphic novels. Film director Rodriguez was so intent on capturing the distinctive visual look of Miller’s art that he insisted, against the objections of the Director’s Guild of America, on the writer-artist getting co-director billing. An all-star cast, including Bruce Willis and Benicio Del Toro, was shot against a green screen and inserted into digitally created settings, which permitted exact fidelity to Miller’s graphics.

[End of excerpt]

Strong production values

I’ve become acquainted with Sin City (2005) because, in a film and sound editing course I’m taking at Ryerson University, we’ve been given a video sequence – involving the characters Marv and Goldie – from the movie (without sound) and are now adding sound effects and scripted voice-over and dialogue. We’re working in Adobe Premiere Pro and (if we feel ready) in Adobe Audition for the assignment.

It’s a remarkable film – one that I likely would not have encountered had I not been taking the course. The movie has strong production values.

I’m looking forward to reading Frank Miller’s Sin City. Vol. 1. The Hard Goodbye (2005).

I look forward to seeing the movie. I may view it as I’ve done to date, a sequence at a time, in the manner that Alice Munro likes to go about when reading a short story. Then at some point I may decide to view the entire production from the start to the finish.

Film history

An April 1, 2005 New York Times review of the movie is entitled: “A Savage and Sexy City of Pulp Fiction Regulars.” The review notes that a strong focus upon fidelity to the look and feel of a graphic novel may result in a lack of attention to the essentials of filmic storytelling.

The level of violence in Sin City is a feature that warrants a note. I thought of that when I read a Nov. 11, 2013 Guardian article entitled: “Top PG-13 movies now have more gun violence than R rated films, study finds.”

The relationship between violence and entertainment is an ongoing narrative in film history and everyday life. A Nov. 6, 2013 Globe and Mail article comes to mind: “Eliminating fighting in the NHL wouldn’t make game safer, players say.”

Samantha Nutt (2011) comes to mind, as well, as an author addressing the wider context of violence and military history.

One is reminded – or at least, I’m reminded – of the inter-connectedness of all things.