by Chris Alexion, Copyright April 01, 2007, all rights reserved. 406 views
There's something irresistibly manly about a battle to the death against numberless foes. And that element is a key part of the hype surrounding 300, the Frank Miller graphic novel currently racking up numbers on the big screen. Miller's story draws on the historic Battle of Thermopylae, during which 300 Spartan warriors defended a narrow pass against the hordes of Persian emperor Xerxes. The Spartans perished but bought time for the Greek city-states to rally their own armies and rebuff Xerxes' imperial designs.
In fairness to Miller and director Zack Snyder, 300 succeeds as far as its claims as a war movie. The fight sequences are spectacular, choreographing the bloodshed of hand-to-hand combat in beautiful brutality. Not bad either is the film's glorification of manhood. These Spartans are strangers to our age of the sensitive metrosexual; they look like they stepped out of a Bowflex commercial and speak of values you'll never find in a Guess catalog.
Too, Spartan king Leonidas has a few sharp lines that demonstrate his ability to really hack a tyrant off. When Xerxes suggests that their respective cultures have much to share, Leonidas–in actor Gerard Butler's Scottish brogue–replies that he and his men have been sharing their culture with him all morning. Later in their parley the Persian king offers Leonidas wealth and glory if Leonidas will only kneel before him. Leonidas answers that the cramp in his leg (from killing so many Persians) makes kneeling kind of difficult.
That said, 300 ultimately falls short for two reasons. The first is artistic, and is best summed up by one critic's words on another film. That critic described the movie he was reviewing as "a series of fight sequences looking for a story." 300 fits this bill. Snyder's vision fails to satisfy because there's nothing behind the slow-motion blood globules and severed limbs. The melodramatic narration voiced throughout the film is embarrassingly bad, and even Butler's pre-battle speeches inspire little confidence. In short, the script reads as though the producers had discovered in the last week of filming that 300 was supposed to be a talkie. Nor does characterization do much for us. We never really get to know the men who are giving their lives for our entertainment, and we never really care. Finally, Lena Headey (cast as Queen Gorgo) does what she can with a lame script, but can't save the sub-plot that takes place back in Sparta.
300's second flaw is philosophical. While the movie makes much of the concept of freedom–Leonidas' wife urges him to consider what "a free man would do" and reminds him that "freedom isn't free"–Miller's story cuts the legs out from under real liberty by glossing over the statism of Sparta herself. Sparta, remember, was a city-state in which all males were forced to be soldiers and conditioned for war by immersion in habitual brutality. Family and parental ties meant little, as children were basically considered community property. And this property had better not be deformed–Miller himself reminds us that imperfect infants were "discarded" as unfit for Sparta.
These points constitute what Tomas Engle in his review calls the " 'inconvenient truths' of blood-thirsty Spartan society that don't appease National Greatness Conservatives." In such a state-centered worldview, God, family, and individual rights don't rank very high. So while it's fine that Leonidas and his men stood against the imperial tyranny of Xerxes, they weren't exactly Patrick Henry.
Given 300's lack of basic dialogue and characterization, you'll probably be looking for something better. And if an epic story of sword-swinging, Scotch-tongued warriors is up your alley, just save your money and buy Braveheart.
1 • LHR • April 01, 2007 • 10:01 PM
Even though "300″ does not sound like a movie for me, your review of it was very well done! It was also interesting to read the bits about manliness that you included. There appears to be quite a shortage of "real", manly men in this day and age. And there is certainly much to admire in those that are found! "Chivalry is not dead." "No, but sometimes I think it is gasping for breath!" ./chrisalexion_2008-10_wordpress_export_files/icon_smile.gif alt=:- class=wp-smiley
Drumming up sales for "Braveheart", are you? ./chrisalexion_2008-10_wordpress_export_files/icon_smile.gif alt=:- class=wp-smiley
2 • james • April 02, 2007 • 12:20 PM
Indeed. Braveheart has highly authentic 'Scotch' tongues.
Not.
It was interesting how the Scottish National Party got more votes after Braveheart came out though.
