Films and Comics: More Than Just Superheroes?

Joshua Eli Tuttle

Professor Manuel A. Pérez Tejada

ENGL 1102 D2

13 March 2009

Films and Comics: More Than Just Superheroes?

            In recent years, in Hollywood and throughout the world, movie production companies have began using graphic novels as source material. Graphic novels, better known as comics, are known for having exciting story lines, but with limited dialog. With the advent of personal computers and other advanced technologies used in publishing, artists and writers can more easily create a graphic novel without having to sacrifice a complex and meaningful story. With comics able to clear the stigma of not having a meaningful plot or message, the general public began enjoying films based on the better graphic novels.

 The first major attempts at mainstream comic book movies were in the early to mid nineties with movies such as; Batman, The Mask, The Crow and Time Cop. Although these films are well known, they were outrageously artificial in presentation, obscuring any moral meaning or purpose the film was trying to portray. There were few films in the comic book genre for several years and not until Spiderman in 2002 was there a well known comic book film produced. What made Spiderman different was the choice to make a more realistic film and use darker themes. Spiderman, I believe, set off the wave of comic book movies since then. Movies during that time period that took on either the more realistic or darker tone tended to be better accepted by the general public, such as; Batman Begins (2005), Sin City (2005), V for Vendetta (2006), and 300(2007). While all of these films are all American productions, other countries have also created film adaptations of comic books.

In Japan, local graphic novels are known as manga. Many adaptations have been made of various manga in Japan and Korea, yet few of the movies gain an audience in United States. This is usually due to the cultural differences in story style and content. The films that do make it to the United States are generally darker in theme and can be appreciated without knowledge of the source material. Old Boy (2003) is one such film.

Old Boy tells the story of Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi), who is locked away in an unknown prison for no apparent reason. After 15 years with his only friend, the television, and the knowledge that he was framed for his wife's murder, he is set free. Oh Dae-su then sets out on a trail of revenge, using the skills and information he discovered in captivity, to find who imprisoned him and why. Old boy was written and directed by Chan-Wook Park, writer and director of Joint Security Area (2000). Old Boy is based on the Japanese manga of the same name, which was written by Garon Tsuchiya in 1997.

300 is the story of the battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. Led by Xerxes, the Persian Empire is on the path to control the known world. Xerxes sends his messengers and bribes to Greece to convince the Greek people to surrender without battle, but Leonidas and 300 hundred Spartans must protect the ways of their people and fight. 300 was written and directed by Zack Snyder, director of the Dawn of the Dead (2004). 300 is based on the comic book, written by Frank Miller in 1998, of the same name.

Old Boy is a dark film that uses cinematography to emphasize the themes presented in the film. The movie opens with a heavily backlit character from a close up, low angle, point of view shot. The scene switches to a medium shot of the back lit character, whose face the camera has yet to see, holding a man and his dog by a tie from falling off the side of a building. The scene returns to the original shot and as the character is introduced it cuts to a past point in time. The choice to keep the main characters face hidden from the audience draws attention quickly by adding a sense of mystery early on. The immediate declaration of importance is shown through the camera angles. The low angle in this situation puts the shadowed actor in control, by giving him and overbearing presence in the screen. The high contrast lighting shows the protagonist to be darker than his surroundings.

Old Boy explores loneliness, depression, and revenge. In places such as Japan, where the story was written, or cities in general, crowding has cut many people off from human interaction in meaningful ways. Thus, Old Boy is very relevant on both a global and a regional scale. In the majority of the scenes of Old Boy there is dark lighting, providing a dark tone to the film emphasizing the sadness. Yet in a few scenes the scenes are quite bright showing that when interacting with others or when in youth, happiness is more easily found.

300 is an action film that categorizes that genre very well. Sticking true to a comic book's medium, the film makes heavy usage of coloring and film tinting. Seldom is there a shot without a sepia or blue tint, being the two main filters used. The filters were used to lessen the color palette much as a comic book has a smaller palette of colors to choose from and to set a mood for each scene. Lighting also played an important part in the tone of the film although not all the scenes were dark; they all included a high contrast. The high contrast leads to a "true to the comic" feel then with normal lighting.

300's message is that fighting, dyeing for freedom is noble and necessary. At the end a telescoping high angle shot used with the main character in a Christ pose to glorify the martyrdom. This message can be directed to the war in Iraq and on terror and that the soldiers who die in these wars should also be glorified.  This directly reflects that it was an American film that was made during a time in which the American people were unsure about the current wars that were facing them at this time.  The goal was to reassure and reinvigorate the American people on the purpose of the wars.

Oddly enough, even though both movies focus on very different topics and messages they both share a very similar shot in their films that represents a similar feeling. This shot is a side view of the main character battling several enemies from left to right in the frame. The audience feels each blow that the main character delivers to his enemies. This is more greatly exemplified in 300 by the zoom lens used to zoom in and out of the action, and in time with the attacks. Old Boy tends to use a more realistic style and therefore pans slowly with the struggle rather than emphasizing individual movements and actions. Both films use this shot to represent the struggles that each character is going through physically and mentally. The pace in which each film uses for this shot says something about their differences in story, origin, and character. Old Boy uses a more frantic, less rhythmic pacing showing the stumbles in the characters progression, as well as reinforcing the unimportance of pure action. 300, conversely, is very rhythmic in its pacing, creating a steady procession forward which corresponds to the story line's progression, as well as Leonidas' character traits.

With both movies taking their stories from comic books, the common man would believe they would be very similar in both execution and story line. This could not be further from the truth. Both films are distinct to the cultures that birthed them and their sources. With the heavy action elements of a classic Hollywood blockbuster 300 can truly be called an American film. The thought provoking dark look on a taboo subject of Old Boy can decidedly be called a hybrid Japanese-Korean film. Both films prove that comic book movies don't require a superhero cliché, and can contrarily thrive without one.

 

 

Bibliography

 

Dargis , Manohla. "The Violence (and the Seafood) Is More Than Raw". New York Times March 25, 2005:

 

Lieberman, David. "Comic Boom!". USA Today JUL 25, 2008: Money (Section B) Cover-2.

 

Scott, A. O.. "Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message". New York Times March 9, 2007:

Because this is a blog I'll leave you with a trailer of each film: