STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

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SIN CITY: A DAMETO KILL FOR

Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez reunite to bring us four more hard-boiled noir tales from Miller’s monochrome metropolis SIN CITY, in the sequel/prequel A DAME TO KILL FOR.

what they were doing. The first time, no-one had done green screen really, this was only ten years ago but people were like, ‘what are we doing, where are the props?’ And now they understand. “I always thought that if any movie could lend itself to 3D, it would be Sin City because of the graphic novel quality – with the 3D, you feel like you are inside a graphic novel,” he adds. Returning alongside Rodriguez and Miller are several familiar Sin City denizens including the slab-jawed Marv (Mickey Rourke), exotic dancer Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), detective John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), and Dwight McCarthy (prior to facial reconstruction and now played by Josh Brolin). Fans will be quick to point out that some of these characters were killed off in the first movie, but Miller explains that he likes to play around with the chronology of his universe. “I bounce from one point in time to another so characters can seem to come back to life when actually, all I’ve done is go back in time,” he says. In selecting the Sin City stories that would make up the new film, Miller and Rodriguez chose to include a pair of original tales written exclusively for the screen ( The Long Bad Night and Nancy’s Last Dance ), alongside two ‘prequels’ from the graphic novels ( Just Another Saturday Night and the title story). “The first movie was all about being very true to the books and translating them directly to the screen,” says Rodriguez. “For the second film we thought, ‘Let’s give them a surprise so that people can’t just go to the comic book store, buy the book and know what’s going to happen.” The central story, A Dame to Kill For – in which Dwight encounters the ultimate femme fatale in the seductive Ava Lord (Eva Green) – is a Sin City fan favourite, and both Rodriguez and Miller agreed it should be the primary tale. “Built around a tragic romance between a man and the love of his life, it’s a story that involves a lot of betrayal,

t’s been nine years since moviegoers last paid a visit to Basin City: better – and more appropriately – known as Sin City. As Obi-Wan Kenobi once said of Mos Eisley Spaceport, “you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”, and the same applies to comic book artist and writer Frank Miller’s creation. “Sin City’s where you go in with your eyes open, or you don’t come out at all,” notes cocky gambler Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in the new film Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , and viewers will want to keep them wide open because this long- awaited follow up delivers an even more striking visual experience than the innovative original. The 2004 film, co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, faithfully translated Miller’s graphic novels to the screen in stark black and white (with the occasional splash of colour) utilising a digital backlot and green screen to achieve a unique look. Close to a decade later, the pair returned to this hard-boiled milieu with

more advanced technology at their disposal and the added enhancement of 3D. This time the sets were entirely digital, with the only physical props being items like tables, chairs, doorways and stairs. “The technology was really more advanced,” notes Rodriguez, “and all the actors just knew I always thought that if any movie could lend itself to 3D, it would be Sin City because of the graphic novel quality

a lot of darkness and a lot of guilt… all the great stuff that goes into film noir,” explains Miller. “It’s a story that I’m very proud of.”

• Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is out on Jan 14

Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and Mickey Rourke on the “set”.

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