“Are we shootin’ people or what?”
With the subversive political perspective and the visual styling, director David O. Russell made an impressive splash with film “Three Kings.” It is a film set in the waning days of Gulf War that will be remembered for its manic energy and screwball humor involving ideas about the U.S.–Iraq conflict in 1991. Interesting ideas about that anti-war film were strung together in a fairly haphazard manner. The incongruous combination of the harsh realities of war, governmental power plays, and Hollywood action-humor made it surprisingly effective.
It is more surprising to know that an independent cinema’s successful purveyor of familial dysfunction would be able to produce a superbly directed anti-war film. Russell’s former films (Spanking the Monkey, 1994, and Flirting with Disaster, 1996) were about relationship tragedies, particularly involving family. Those films were really great that you would think Russell’s only good at familial stuffs and that a war film will not do any good to him as a director. Well, that conception is indeed wrong because Three Kings is a wonderful film. Far from being a typical God, Guns, Guts, and Glory war picture, it was an irreverent and energetic anti-war statement, and a very successful one at that. Russell garnered a number of honors for the movie and that made him earn a new degree of respect as a filmmaker. It also allowed him to graduate from the category of indie upstart to an established director.
An unconventional war story with strands of action, comedy, and drama that alternates grim realism with surrealism dark comedy, Three Kings is pretty much the kind of take on the Gulf War one would expect from iconoclastic writer/director D.O. Russell. The movie touches upon several disparate issues and those issues aren’t just stated to the viewers, but it is really forced down their throat by scenes that fly in-your-face and make it hard to ignore.
It is indeed a grand movie because it’s got superbly choreographed action sequences, a hilarious dark side, and one of a human side, as well. I wouldn’t exactly call it a satire; I think it is more of a dark film with a blend of on-the-side humor. Not all people will find this movie funny. If you don’t think a cow being chased around by three military officers and being blown up by a landmine in a bloody mess is funny, this movie is probably not the best choice for you. It managed to have a wickedly funny dark side of comedy that I found is one of the best elements of the entire film. The movie also exemplifies the virtues of non-violence, because if you use violence as a solution to a problem, even as a last resort, what logical grounds are there to not follow the same view in the future? Violence begets violence.
If you like dark comedies, you’ve got to like this one, and if you don’t, steer away from Three Kings. But if you’re open to one of the most dark, humorous, and gritty war films, open your ears, shut your mouth, and watch the movie.
With the subversive political perspective and the visual styling, director David O. Russell made an impressive splash with film “Three Kings.” It is a film set in the waning days of Gulf War that will be remembered for its manic energy and screwball humor involving ideas about the U.S.–Iraq conflict in 1991. Interesting ideas about that anti-war film were strung together in a fairly haphazard manner. The incongruous combination of the harsh realities of war, governmental power plays, and Hollywood action-humor made it surprisingly effective.
It is more surprising to know that an independent cinema’s successful purveyor of familial dysfunction would be able to produce a superbly directed anti-war film. Russell’s former films (Spanking the Monkey, 1994, and Flirting with Disaster, 1996) were about relationship tragedies, particularly involving family. Those films were really great that you would think Russell’s only good at familial stuffs and that a war film will not do any good to him as a director. Well, that conception is indeed wrong because Three Kings is a wonderful film. Far from being a typical God, Guns, Guts, and Glory war picture, it was an irreverent and energetic anti-war statement, and a very successful one at that. Russell garnered a number of honors for the movie and that made him earn a new degree of respect as a filmmaker. It also allowed him to graduate from the category of indie upstart to an established director.
An unconventional war story with strands of action, comedy, and drama that alternates grim realism with surrealism dark comedy, Three Kings is pretty much the kind of take on the Gulf War one would expect from iconoclastic writer/director D.O. Russell. The movie touches upon several disparate issues and those issues aren’t just stated to the viewers, but it is really forced down their throat by scenes that fly in-your-face and make it hard to ignore.
It is indeed a grand movie because it’s got superbly choreographed action sequences, a hilarious dark side, and one of a human side, as well. I wouldn’t exactly call it a satire; I think it is more of a dark film with a blend of on-the-side humor. Not all people will find this movie funny. If you don’t think a cow being chased around by three military officers and being blown up by a landmine in a bloody mess is funny, this movie is probably not the best choice for you. It managed to have a wickedly funny dark side of comedy that I found is one of the best elements of the entire film. The movie also exemplifies the virtues of non-violence, because if you use violence as a solution to a problem, even as a last resort, what logical grounds are there to not follow the same view in the future? Violence begets violence.
If you like dark comedies, you’ve got to like this one, and if you don’t, steer away from Three Kings. But if you’re open to one of the most dark, humorous, and gritty war films, open your ears, shut your mouth, and watch the movie.
0 comments:
Post a Comment