Saw 300...in Hindi! Why? Because Delhi Times duped me into believing that Movie Time, Pitampura was screening the film in English (not only does this paper have no self respect but it is downright dishonest. will blog more on this subject soon) Anyway, I presented myself there at 10 AM sharp (early morning show saves money, you see) and since there was no other decent hall in the vicinity, I had no other alternative but to see it, as it was being offered. A few comments:
1) watching it in Hindi meant that I did not have hang on to each an every word that was being uttered by the characters in order to fully comprehend the plot. Therefore, I truly relaxed. And judging by the plot, I doubt there were any beautiful, memorable lines lost in translation.
2) The film’s plot -democratic, free, brave, fair, just Spartan army of 300 masculine soldiers vs. maniacal, irrational, corrupt, slavish Persians (also referred to as "Asians”) pretty offensive, huh? But the truth is that the plot is so simplistic that only an oversensitive, overeager first year Literature student would take it seriously.
3) The masculinity of the Spartans deserves a new blog entry. But since I am so hard pressed for time, I will try to squeeze it as my third point. Now, these 300 Spartans are the utmost male beauties-rippling muscles, six packs, the contorted posture, it is like witnessing a walking, talking Michelangelo sculpture. As opposed to these Adonises, the Persians/Asians are either effeminate (Xerxes) or hideous aberrations (several in the Persian army, most notably the big white demon shown in the trailers). The boundary between rhinos, elephants and browns is more or less blurred. But the curious thing was that despite this perfection; the Spartan bodies gradually started appearing as caricatures to me. Perhaps this was because of the video game uniformity of it all. For me, it soon became mighty repetitive watching them all jump, lunge, stretch, crouch throughout the movie and even Butler's perfectly rounded naked male callipygian was anything but arousing.
4) Repetition would be my fourth and last point. The movie has everything promised in the trailers- decapitated limbs, beheading, blood, and arrows. But once again it is a little too unreal (and it is, as all the wars are digitally manufactured) and the cycles of violence and gore become tedious and endless especially after the intermission.
Finally, from a layman’s point of view; the film has some interesting camera work and graphics. But it is wholly unoriginal, unvarying, superficial and ultimately would go down as yet another stale, staple, Hollywood “epics”.
5 comments:
the movie (and the book) is based on the true war that took place in thespia (it is a historical fact that 300 spartans defended the hell's gate from the persian attack). and that war was a lot more gruesome, and unrealistic. of course, the book the movie is based on is a work of art, and the director and the special effect guys have done it a justice by including the fantastic battle sequences. you have to judge the movie from that point of view. as for originality, the book was published in 98, so it makes the idea older. and the likeliness of the spartans, and their comical masculinity is very relevant. the spartans fought as a single unit, there were no distinctions between them, there was no individuality. they were bred only to fight. and if you train like a spartan, you're bound to get a six pack.
i agree, for a layman, the movie isn't anything great..but for a frank miller fan, it's a classic. like sin city
I have not read the novel..but may, now
yes,I know spartan men were trained to fight . However, my point is the exaggerated self-righteous masculinity vs the profligate effeminateness of the east.And this makes the "historical fact" heavily lopsided.
the movie is based off a comic book...stop being so analytical
it is not a "comic book" but a graphic novel for MATURE readers. To quote wiki, "the term(graphic novel) is commonly used to disassociate works from the juvenile or humorous connotations of the terms "comics" and "comic book", implying that the work is more serious, mature, or literary than traditional comic."
thank you for defending 300 from being branded as a comic book! agree that there was a bit of exaggeration. but you can call it the poetic license. then again, the spartans did look down upon every race except their own, especially when it came to warfare.
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