Sin City - 2005

Sin City film poster


Jessica Alba in Sin City






Jessica Alba in Sin City








Sin City is a 2005 neo-noir anthology film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is 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 movie 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, Elijah Wood and Rutger Hauer, among others.

Sin City opened to wide critical and commercial success, gathering particular recognition for the film's unique colouring process, which rendered most of the film in black and white but retained colouring 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."

Plot

The Customer is Always Right

The film begins in a penthouse on the roof of a skyscraper overlooking Basin City. A fancy party is in progress. The Customer (Shelton) dressed in an evening gown is alone on the balcony. The Salesman (Hartnett), who is narrating, comes up behind her and offers her a cigarette. They exchange a little small talk, and she says that she is frightened and is tired of running. He tells her that he will save her, and take her far away. They kiss before he kills her. She dies in his arms. He says that he does not know who she was running from, but will cash her check in the morning. The story ends and is followed by the Sin City logo.

On the back of the DVD Frank Miller tells us that the victim in this story is actually commiting suicide. Customer had gotten herself into a bad situation. She dated a man who was in the Mafia, and when she found out and tried to break it off, he told her that he would kill her in the most terrible way possible. The Customer had used her connections to hire the Salesman to kill her.

...

That Yellow Bastard (part 2)

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. Realising 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).

Realising 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 tracks the Yellow Bastard to the farm, where he is whipping and torturing Nancy. Hartigan kills the guards and then corners the Yellow Bastard and fakes a heart attack to fool him into letting go of Nancy, giving Hartigan the chance to stab him before castrating and killing him.

Hartigan tells Nancy 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 met by the Salesman, who offers her a cigarette.