The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A giant, expensive joke

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 18, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A giant, expensive joke

ALL ABOUT EFFECTS: A scene from the movie, `300'.

300 (English)

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro

With the advent of CGI, and cutting-edge special effects being used at the drop of a hat, there's a new genre of films in the market that just about everyone wants to break into: the throwaway epic. And so you have "300", adapted from a Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, which advises one to prepare for glory, but should instead ask that one prepare for testosterone, more testosterone and a possible homoerotic subtext, complete with a Persian emperor that has more bling than Paris Hilton.

Make no mistake about it. Visually, this is a well-made film, particularly for fans that love the brand of desensitising violence made popular by films like "Kill Bill". Like that revenge film, "300", based on the historical battle in which 300 Spartan warriors held off the million-strong Persian army of Emperor Xerxes, makes a wonderfully artful use of blood and violence. Unlike that other bit of over-the-top violence, "Apocalypto", this film is shot entirely in front of blue screens and overdressed with effects to such an extent that the result is a fluid tapestry of seductive grandeur rather than the discordant unreality that Hollywood's only Mayan flick revelled in. And although the dialogues themselves are often rotten at the core, once the action starts, director Zack Snyder comes into his own, directing the film with a tight leash and never taking his foot off the gas pedal, so that the movie moves by in one giant rush, at the very end of which one has to remember to start breathing again.

Seen within its own perverse universe, "300" is a rather enjoyable film. And all this despite having a cast that is, without exception, flatter than the blue screens it performs in front of.

But take it out into the real world, where going into war is a decision that discredited, corrupt leaders take, where "marginalised" does not refer so much to a small hidden minority as to everyone but the rich, and where manhood has little to do with how many men you can kill or how well you can stuff the loincloth that barely covers you, and "300" is little more than a joke. One giant, expensive joke that looks curiously like last year's hit videogame.

Rakesh Mehar

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka