the four right chords can make me cry

300 was a very hyper movie.

First of all, the overt hypermasculinity. From lingering shots of a nude king in the moonlight to the apparent cloth shortage plaguing the whole of Sparta to the dyslogistic attitude towards the "boy-loving" Greeks to the strange and excessive facial hair (i could go on forever); the whole movie seemed like a propaganda vehicle for the Greek ideal of masculinity. Ideals of honour, valour and pride were very poorly developed and fuzzy at best, and yet expected to be enough to motivate the whole plot. I found it particularly interesting how the King Xerxes was portrayed as this bisexual being; at once massively tall and well-built but with kohl-lined eyes, bedecked in jewelry and a voice that reminded me of the sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania (Rocky Horror Picture Show). In fact Rocky himself was built from the model of a Greek god, so these two movies make for very interesting contrasts.

Secondly, the use of hyperbole. This was very in-your-face, given the comic book sensibilities of the cinematography. Not surprising for an adaptation of a graphic novel though, especially one of Frank Miller's. The slow-mo action, the way that the lighting was so dramatic, all the blood and gore and chopping heads off stuff and the amusing war beasts, made me feel like i had to flip the pages sometimes. Life imitates art, 3D imitates 2D. I still haven't watched Sin City yet, but there might be some interesting comparisons to be made there too.

Lastly, what amused me most of all, was how hyper li lian was after the movie. The rest of the night was filled with cries of "I spartan you!!!" and various assaults on wei min. LOL.

So yeah, go catch the movie! Not the best movie in the world, but very interesting for a "guy movie". Comments and discussion welcomed!

posted by beckyboo @ 11:17 PM