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'''Sin City''' is a 2005 neo-noir anthology film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. Based on Miller's graphic novel series of the same name, the film is primarily based on three of Miller's works; "The Hard Goodbye" focuses on a hulking man who embarks on a brutal rampage in search of his one-time lover's killer; "The Big Fat Kill" focuses on a street war held between a group of prostitutes and a series of mercenaries; and "That Yellow Bastard" focuses on an aging police officer who protects a young woman from the hands of a psychotic child molester. The film stars Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Benicio del Toro, Josh Hartnett, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Nick Stahl, Bruce Willis and Elijah Wood, among others.
The film opened to wide critical and commercial success, gathering particular recognition for the film's unique coloring process, which rendered most of the film in black and white but retained coloring for select objects. The film was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in-competition and won the Technical Grand Prize for the film's "visual shaping."^[1]

Contents

Plot

Cast

Production

Proof of concept

Digital backlot

Principal shooting

Credits

Reception

Release of DVD versions

Soundtrack

Sequels

References

External links

Plot

The film begins on a balcony overlooking the highlights of Basin City, a grimy, violent and corrupted place. The Customer (Shelton) is greeted by The Salesman (Hartnett), who offers her a cigarette before mysteriously killing her.
The film then moves to the docks of Sin City, where aging police officer John Hartigan (Willis) is attempting to stop child molester Roark Junior (Stahl) from raping eleven year-old Nancy Callahan. At first his partner Bob (Madsen) tries to stop him, but Hartigan punches him in the face, knocking him out cold. Hartigan then meets up with local criminals Shlubb and Klump, whereupon he knocks them both out. When he finds Junior he succeeds in shooting off his ear, arm and genitals before being shot 3 times in the back by Bob. Bob tells Hartigan to stay down, but Hartigan tries to pull his reserve gun and is shot again by Bob another 5 times before he leaves Hartigan there with Nancy.
The story then cuts to Marv (Rourke), a hulking thug who is in a hotel room with the beautiful Goldie (King). After making passionate love, Marv awakens to find that Goldie has been murdered. Realizing he has been framed, he attacks the corrupt police officers and storms the streets, vowing to avenge Goldie's death. He stops at the apartment of Lucille (Gugino), his parole officer, who unsuccessfully warns him to give up on the mission.
Marv then visits Kadie's Bar in search of information. He is visited by two hitmen who order Marv into the back alley behind the bar. There the two are beaten and killed after revealing who sent them. Marv then visits each informant for information, working his way up to a corrupt priest (Miller), who reveals that the Roark family was behind the murder of Goldie. Marv kills the priest and steals his car, but is then attacked and shot at by a woman with a strong resemblance to Goldie, which Marv considers to be an hallucination.
Marv arrives at the Roark family farm where he fights off a wolf playing the part of guard dog. He then uncovers remains of dead women. He is then attacked by silent stalker Kevin (Wood), who is revealed to be Goldie's killer. Marv is knocked unconscious and awakens in Kevin's basement, where the heads of past victims are mounted on the wall. Also present is Lucille, who, having lost her hand, reveals that Kevin is a cannibal and Goldie was a prostitute. Marv breaks free and flees with Lucille, but a group of soldiers arrive and kill Lucille. Marv kills them off and discovers that Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark arranged for Goldie's murder.

Marv goes to Old Town, a section of Sin City reserved particularly for prostitution. Marv is captured and tortured by the women of Old Town, including Goldie's look-alike, who is revealed to be her twin sister Wendy. After revealing that Kevin killed Goldie and the others, Marv and Wendy collect weapons and return to the farm, hoping to finally avenge Goldie's death. Marv attacks Kevin and severs his limbs before the wolf eats him alive. Marv takes his head to Cardinal Roark, who reveals that Kevin was a deeply religious boy who began eating prostitutes to swallow their souls. He persuaded the cardinal to join in, and when Goldie realized what was happening, she was killed. Marv kills the cardinal and is shot by his guards.
Marv survives, however, and is tried and convicted for many murders, including that of Lucille, Kevin's victims and Goldie. While on death row, Wendy visits Marv and they make love. Shortly afterwards, Marv is electrocuted by the state (although it takes two shocks to kill him).
The story then cuts to Shellie (Murphy), a local barmaid who is being harassed by her drunk and violent ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy (del Toro). Her current boyfriend Dwight (Owen) is disgusted with his behavior and shoves his head into a urine-filled toilet bowl after Jackie Boy punches Shellie. An embarrassed Jackie Boy flees with his friends, heading to Old Town to cause further trouble. Dwight follows them and watches them harass young prostitute Becky (Bledel). Also watching is Gail (Dawson), Dwight's on-and-off lover.
When Jackie Boy threatens Becky with a gun, martial arts expert Miho (Aoki) sweeps down, severs Jackie Boy's hand with a manji shaped ninja star and mutilates his friends with a katana. She then causes his gun barrel to backfire, nearly killing him. After listening to Jackie Boy talk to himself, Miho nearly severs his head, making "a Pez dispenser out of him." As the prostitutes collect the dead men's money, they realize that Jackie Boy is a well-respected police officer; his death spells a certain end to the truce between the police and the prostitutes, and war against Old Town will be inevitable.
Dwight agrees to take the corpses to the local tar pit while a traumatized Becky returns home. While driving to the tar pit, he has a hallucinatory conversation with Jackie Boy's corpse, who taunts him as he is chased by a police officer. Dwight talks his way out of the situation and arrives at the tar pit but is shot by mercenaries. Meanwhile, head mercenary Manute (Duncan) arrives in Old Town and kidnaps Gail, explaining that an informant has revealed everything and that other mercenaries are currently invading Old Town.
Dwight kills the mercenaries but is knocked into the tar by a grenade; he sinks into the tar and nearly drowns before Miho arrives and saves him. However, the other mercenaries have escaped and have taken Jackie Boy's severed head with them. They chase after the mercenaries and have a car accident, followed by a violent shoot-out that ends with the death of both mercenaries and the retrieval of Jackie Boy's head. Dwight devises a plan and returns to Old Town.
Meanwhile, Gail's face is being crushed in and tortured, she learns that Becky informed the mercenaries out of fear and greed. Manute receives a letter from Dwight, offering Jackie Boy's head in exchange for Gail. They meet in the back-alley, where the trade is made; as the mercenaries attempt to kill them, the other prostitutes of Old Town arrive and kill the mercenaries. Amidst the gunfire, an injured Becky escapes while Dwight and Gail kiss passionately.
The story then returns to Hartigan, who is recovering in a hospital (this takes place many years before the past two stories). Senator Roark, Junior's father, arrives and informs him that Junior is in a coma and that all plans for the Roark legacy are now in serious jeopardy. Senator Roark reveals that Hartigan will survive, however, and will be framed for Junior's crimes and serve the resultant jail term. Additionally, if Hartigan tells anyone the truth, the informed person will be killed. A grateful Nancy visits and thanks him. She promises to write letters to Hartigan every week while he is in prison and departs.
Hartigan doesn't protest and goes to jail, where he receives the weekly letter from Nancy as promised. After eight years, however, the letters stop arriving, and then Hartigan receives a severed finger instead. Realizing she could be kidnapped by the Roarks, Hartigan confesses to molesting the child and is freed from jail. He reunites with his old partner, Bob, who has changed and regretted what he had done to him. Bob finally leaves Hartigan in Nancy's apartment after telling him that Hartigan's wife has left him. As a deformed, yellow-skinned man stalks him, Hartigan searches for Nancy, eventually finding her at Kadie's Bar, where she has blossomed into a beautiful nineteen year-old stripper (Alba).
Realizing that the severed finger was a fake, Hartigan is greeted by Nancy, who is overwhelmed and then plans to run away with him. Along the way, they are attacked by the yellow-skinned man but Hartigan successfully fights back. Upon arriving at a hotel, Nancy reveals that she is in love with Hartigan, much to his discomfort. The deformed man returns and attacks them, revealing that he is Junior and has now become the Yellow Bastard.
The Yellow Bastard, having been disfigured by the years of surgery necessary to regenerate his missing pieces, leaves Hartigan for dead and takes Nancy to the farm to finally rape and kill her. Hartigan escapes, however, and flees to the farm, where the Yellow Bastard is whipping and torturing Nancy. Hartigan kills the guards and then corners the Yellow Bastard, but collapses and is unable to do more. However, he has fooled the Yellow Bastard and stabs him before castrating and killing him.
Hartigan explains his plans to reveal Senator Roark's corruption to the police and finally bring down the corruption in Sin City. After Nancy departs, Hartigan reveals that this would be impossible, and he then commits suicide in order to ensure Nancy's safety.
In the epilogue, an injured Becky is seen departing from a hospital. While riding in the elevator, she is discovered by the Salesman, who offers her a cigarette.

Cast

''(Organized by the story they primarily appear in)''
===The Customer is Always Right===


★ Josh Hartnett - The Salesman/The Colonel (known in the screenplay as "The Man")

★ Marley Shelton - The Customer
===The Hard Goodbye===


★ Mickey Rourke - Marv

★ Jaime King - Goldie / Wendy

★ Carla Gugino - Lucille

★ Elijah Wood - Kevin

★ Rutger Hauer - Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark

★ Jason Douglas - Hitman

★ Frank Miller- Priest
===The Big Fat Kill===


★ Clive Owen - Dwight McCarthy

★ Benicio del Toro - Det. Lt. Jack "Jackie Boy" Rafferty

★ Rosario Dawson - Gail

★ Michael Clarke Duncan - Manute

★ Alexis Bledel - Becky

★ Devon Aoki - Miho

★ Brittany Murphy - Shellie

★ Patricia Vonne - Dallas

★ Nicky Katt - Stuka (Cameo)
===That Yellow Bastard===


★ Bruce Willis - Det. John Hartigan

★ Jessica Alba - Nancy Callahan

★ Nick Stahl - Roark Junior / Yellow Bastard

★ Powers Boothe - Senator Roark

★ Michael Madsen - Bob

★ Makenzie Vega - Young Nancy Callahan

★ Jude Ciccolella - Liebowitz

★ Rick Gomez - Klump

★ Nick Offerman - Shlubb

Production

Proof of concept

After a particularly bad Hollywood experience on the third ''RoboCop'' film, ''Sin City'' creator Frank Miller did not want to release the film rights in fear of a similar result. However, Robert Rodriguez, a long-time fan of the graphic novels, was eager to make an adaptation. His plan was to make a fully authentic adaptation, follow the source material closely, and make a "translation, not an adaptation."
In hopes of convincing Miller to give the project his blessing, Rodriguez shot a "proof of concept" adaptation of the ''Sin City'' story "The Customer is Always Right" (starring Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton). Rodriguez flew Miller into Austin to be present at this test shooting, and Miller was very happy with the results. Soon production was under way with Miller wanting to be as involved with the project as much as possible (this "proof of concept" adaptation was later used as the opening scene for the completed film).

Digital backlot

This is one of the first films (along with ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', ''Casshern'', and ''Immortel (Ad Vitam)'') to be shot primarily on a digital backlot. The film employed the use of the Sony HDC-950 high-definition digital camera, having the actors work in front of a green screen, that allowed for the artificial backgrounds (as well as some major foreground elements, such as cars) to be added later during the post-production stage. However, it should be noted that three of the sets on the film were practical (i.e. constructed by hand). They were:
# Kadie's Bar, where all of the major characters make an appearance at least once and also the only location in which all objects are in color.
# Shellie's apartment. The front door and kitchen are real, while bathroom and corridors are artificial.
# The hospital corridor in the epilogue. Although the first shot of walking feet was done on greenscreen, the corridor in the next shot is real. The background becomes artificial again when the interior of the elevator is shown.

While the use of a green screen has become quite standard for special effects filming, the use of high-definition digital cameras is quite noteworthy in the production of this film. The combination of these two techniques makes ''Sin City'' (along with ''Sky Captain'', which was produced the same way) one of the few fully digital, live action motion pictures. This technique also means that the whole film was initially shot in full color, and was converted back to high-quality black-and-white. Colorization is used on certain subjects in a scene, such as Devon Aoki's red and blue clothing, Alexis Bledel's blue eyes and red blood, Michael Clarke Duncan's golden eye, Rutger Hauer's grey eyes, Jamie King's red dress and blonde hair, Clive Owen's red converse, Mickey Rourke's red blood, Marley Shelton's green eyes, red dress, and red lips, Nick Stahl's yellow face and body, and Elijah Wood's white glasses. The film was color corrected digitally and, as in film noir tradition, treated for heightened contrast so as to more clearly separate blacks and whites. This was done not only to give the film a more film noir look, but also to make it appear more like the original comic. This technique was used again on another Frank Miller-adaptation, ''300'', which was shot on film.

Principal shooting

Principal photography began on March 29, 2004. Several of the scenes were shot before every actor was currently signed-on; as a result, several stand-ins were used before the actual actors were digitally added into the film during post-production.^[2] Rodriguez, an aficionado of cinematic technology, has used similar techniques in the past. In critic Roger Ebert's review of the film,^[3] he recalled Rodriguez's speech during production of ''Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams'': "This is the future! You don't wait six hours for a scene to be lighted. You want a light over here, you grab a light and put it over here. You want a nuclear submarine, you make one out of thin air and put your characters into it."
The film was noted throughout production for Rodriguez's plan to stay faithful to the source material, unlike most other comic book adaptations. Rodriguez stated that he considered the film to be "less of an adaptation than a translation."² As a result, there is no screenwriting in the credits; simply "Based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller." There were several minor changes, such as dialogue trimming, new colorized objects, removal of some nudity, slightly edited violence and minor deleted scenes. A full list of differences can be viewed here.

Credits

Three directors received credit for ''Sin City'': Miller, Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the latter for directing one scene in the film--a rather sprawling number for a film budgeted at just $40 million.
Miller and Rodriguez were very much a team as far as directing the rest of the film. Despite having no previous directorial background, Miller was greatly involved in the direction of the film, providing direction to the actors on their motivations and what they needed to bring to each scene. Because of this (not to mention the fact that Miller's original novels were used as storyboards), Rodriguez felt that they should both be credited as directors on the film.
When the Directors Guild of America refused to allow two directors that were not an established team to be credited (especially since Miller had never directed before), Rodriguez first planned to give Miller full credit. Miller would not accept this, as he certainly could not have done it without Rodriguez. Rodriguez, also refusing to take full credit, decided to resign from the Guild so that the joint credit could remain.

Reception

The film opened on April 1, 2005 to largely positive reviews, receiving a 78% “Certified Fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars, describing it as "a visualization of the pulp noir imagination, uncompromising and extreme. Yes, and brilliant."³ Online critical reaction was particularly strong: James Berardinelli placed the film on his list of the ten best films of 2005.^[4][5] Several critics, such as Ebert, compared the film favorably to other comic book adaptations, particularly ''Batman''^[6] and ''Hulk''.^[7] Critic Chauncey Mabe of the ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel'' wrote, "Really, there will be no reason for anyone to make a comic-book film ever again. Miller and Rodriguez have pushed the form as far as it can possibly go."^[8]
Several critics were displeased, however, criticizing the film’s nihilism and graphic violence. William Arnold of the ''Seattle-Post Intelligencer'' slammed the film as "super-corrupt, super-violent, super-shadowy, and in every other way super-exaggerated."^[9] ''New York Times'' critic Manohla Dargis claimed that it is "hard to get pulled into the story on any level other than the visceral," writing the film off as Rodriguez's hermetic, "private experience" and a "bore."^[10] Fellow ''Times'' critic A. O. Scott, identifying ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' as its chief cinematic predecessor, argued that "''Sin City'' offers sensation without feeling, death without grief, sin without guilt and, ultimately, novelty without surprise."^[11]
''Sin City'' grossed $29.1 million on opening weekend, defeating fellow opener ''Beauty Shop'' by more than twice in its opening take. However, the film saw sharp declines in later weeks (dropping over fifty percent in its second weekend). Ultimately, the film ended its North American run with a gross of $74.1 million, against its $40 million negative cost. Overseas, the film grossed $84.6 million, for a worldwide total of $158.7 million.
The passions generated among moviegoers, both for and against the movie, were illustrated by an incident in Australia. A male cinema patron in Bathurst bit the tip off another man's nose, following an argument about ''Sin City''. The two men, who were not known to each other, began arguing after a screening on July 17, 2005. The man's nose was restored by surgery and police were said to be searching for his attacker.^[12]

Release of DVD versions

The Region 1 DVD was released on August 16, 2005. The single-disc edition was released with four different slipcovers to choose from and featured a "Behind-the-Scenes" documentary. Then, on December 13, 2005, the special edition DVD was released, known as the "Recut, Extended, Unrated" edition.

The Special Edition was a two-disc set, featuring both the 126 minute theatrical release, along with the 147 minute Extended edition (this edition restored edited and deleted scenes that were missing from the theatrical edition). Bonus material included an audio commentary with director Rodriguez and Miller, a commentary with Rodriguez and Tarantino, and a third commentary featuring the recorded "audience reaction" at the Austin, Texas Premiere. Also included were various behind-the-scenes documentaries and features, as well as the complete graphic novel "The Hard Goodbye," which is commonly priced at about USD $17.00 in bookstores.
It is announced that Sin City would be released in the next-gen Home Theater format Blu-Ray Disc later in 2007.

Soundtrack

Main articles: Sin City (soundtrack)

Original music was composed by Rodriguez as well as Graeme Revell and John Debney. The three main stories in the film ("The Hard Goodbye", "The Big Fat Kill" and "That Yellow Bastard") were each scored by an individual composer: Revell scored "Goodbye", Debney scored "Kill" and Rodriguez scored "Bastard". Additionally, Rodriguez co-scored with the other two composers on several tracks.
Another notable piece of music used was the instrumental version of the song "Cells" by the London-based alternative group The Servant. The song was heavily featured in the film's publicity, including the promotional trailers and television spots, as well as being featured on the film's DVD menus. The lyrical version is downloadable via The Servant's website.

Sequels

Sequels to ''Sin City'' were planned before the film's release, as Rodriguez has expressed desire to adapt all of the Sin City comics in the future. Rodriguez also planned to film two sequels back-to-back for releases in 2007 and 2008, similar to the production strategy involved with the two ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' sequels and the two ''Matrix'' sequels. Many rumors regarding casting have resulted, and it is likely that Johnny Depp may play the role of Wallace, the protagonist of the final Sin City comic "Hell and Back." ''Sin City 2'' is currently in the pre-production stage, and according to Miller will feature the stories "A Dame to Kill For", a new story focusing on Nancy Callahan (a story Miller actually worked on in the 90s, but never finished; the working title was "The Hard Goodbye", which was later used for the re-print of the original ''Sin City''), and a few short stories: the "Blue-Eyes short stories" (if all are filmed: "Blue-Eyes", "Wrong Turn" and "Wrong Track"), and "an Old Town Girls' story" which probably is "And Behind Door Number Three".

References

1. Cannes Film Festival awards report, IMDB.com
2. IMDB.com entry for ''Sin City'', Trivia notes
3. Review of ''Sin City'' by Roger Ebert, published March 31, 2005
4. ReelViews.net review by James Berardinelli
5. ReelViews List of films reviewed in 2005
6. Review of ''Batman'' (1989) by Roger Ebert, published June 23, 1989
7. Review of ''Hulk'' by Roger Ebert, published June 20, 2003
8. Film-Finder.com
9. ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', "Comic-book world of 'Sin City' gleefully revels in a disturbing gorefest" April 1, 2005
10. New York Times Review
11. ''The New York Times'', "The Unreal Road From Toontown to 'Sin City'", April 24, 2005
12. ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', "Teen's nose bitten off in row over Sin City" (July 18, 2005). Access date: February 13, 2007.

External links

★ Official ''Sin City'' website

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★ Roger Ebert's original review of Sin City

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★ ''Sin City'' Trailer 1 (14.5 MB, Quicktime)

★ Frank Miller`s Sin city & 300 & Spirit - Database articles, images and other files about Frank Millers and his comics adaptation.

★ ''Sin City'' Trailer 2 (27.4 MB, Quicktime)

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★ A list of differences between the books and the film

★ Comic book-to-film visual comparisons

★ An extensive interview with Miller and Rodriguez (59:39 minutes, click "Extended Audio")

★ The Spoilers Alternate DVD Commentary of Sin City

★ Peter Sanderson's indepth analysis of the film