The Shrine

Southland Tales is Richard Kelly's latest movie (of Donnie Darko fame) about what is essentially a re-telling of the Book of Revelations. There's a lot of weird stuff around this film.

First of all, it's a 6-chapter story, with the first 3 chapters in comic form, and the last 3 in the movie. In a way, this hurt the reviews of the film because a lot of people didn't get it. There's a LOT going on in this film. It's like an Akira-sized set of references, many of which you're not going to get unless you read the first 3 chapters. It cost $15-18 million to make, failed horribly in Cannes (due to length), and when it was chopped to 2:31, Sony hardly put it out on any theaters, so it made less than a million.

But, it's GOOD. It really is. I watched it the first time without the first 3 chapters myself, and I found myself somewhat confused, but I still saw a good movie in all of that fast-paced mess. This review probably sums up that experience better. Plus, Richard purposely hired actors who were typically typecasted in their roles, and either totally changed them or went with their typecasts. I think the idea worked well.

So, last week, I finally read the first 3 chapters, and then dived into the movie again. (I stopped at the last chapter because I needed to go to bed.) There are a LOT of references and plot connections that make better sense, both by watching the movie the first time, and by reading the comics (which only take about 3 hours, anyway). I'm hoping to see a director's cut with all of the chopped scenes from Cannes.

See, a movie like this is not something for the casual movie goer. If you just go out to watch the movie, either you won't like it, or you'll like it but walk away confused. You have to pretty much dive into his obsession to detail with the full experience: multiple viewings and reading the other chapters. A lot of people don't get Akira either, but it has the same problem.

Besides, if you don't see the movie, you get to miss out on things like this:

Timberlake singing "I've Got Soul But I'm Not A Soldier"
Best car commercial ever made

Seriously? No one? I figured there was some Darko fans or comic book fans out there who saw it.

Anyway, watched the rest of it. Great movie.

I'll try and watch it tonight.

It's a shame the prequel saga torrents have dried up. It's worth reading through the comic if you can.

I saw it. It was...interesting. I liked it, but really didn't think it had as deep a message as its fans railed on about.

No so much a "message" as hidden detail throughout the movie. Think of it like a story puzzle like Braid. The prequel comic fills a lot of the gaps, and Revelations fills the rest. Each character is a role from the Book of Revelations. The IMDb FAQ and a Salon analysis covers quite a bit for those that have seen the movie.

*SPOILERS!*
There's even a strong theory that Pilot wrote the whole thing, mixing real events (the bombings, USIdent, his experience in the war, the drug experiments) with fiction (time travel, possibly the Neo-Marxists, certain aspects of Fluid Karma, etc.) while tripping on Fluid Karma. He was angry at the government for what they did to him, so he made them and everybody else into a bunch of backstabbers. And he was an actor who had the talent to write for himself. There's also that ending where Roland was talking to Ronald and saying "friendly fire" and "I forgive you". That was Pilot speaking in the first person, forgiving Taverner for the injury and the loss of a mutual friend.

There were certain inconsistencies and repeated dialogue/scenes that may have been explained by the drug use. Richard Kelly, in the linear notes of the comic, also explains that some people think that Revelations was written while under the use of mushrooms. (This is also commented on in the comic itself.) Krista wrote The Power (the script in the movie) while under the influence of Fluid Karma and mushrooms. Combine all of that with the repeated behavior of the scenes, and the theory isn't such a stretch after all. So, it's a story written by Richard Kelly, about a story written by Pilot, about a retelling of Revelations, containing a movie script that foretells the events of the latter.
*SPOILERS!*

Still sounds more pretentious than poignant.

Maybe it's a little bit of both. I dunno. I just really liked that I could catch all of these references after reading the comics and watch it for the second time. It really made me think about how all of it fit together.

I'm keen to read the comic and maybe rewatch the movie, but honestly, I just didn't care that much for Southland Tales' vibe. It could have been a crazy, helter-skelter movie with slick story--and, if you read into it, it IS--however, the movie is presented TERRIBLY. It isn't clever--it's muddy. All the depth has to be EXPLAINED to you, otherwise there's almost no actual exposition granted. The movie is shot as if somebody had a full movie, took all of the scenes for them, cut them in half, and then threw them together out of chronological order. It's a fine story--it just isn't told well.