300
April 25th, 2007 ~ Movies I liked or didn't, Caution: The moving walkway is endingWent to see ‘300′ yesterday, the movie about the war of 300 Spartans against Xerxes I and the Persian armies. It’s based on a real battle — link HERE. Since it comes from a graphic novel, it has the composition, lighting and special effects that have really changed the experience of seeing these movies — it’s breathtaking from beginning to end. (Greg asked me afterward what was my favorite part. All I could think of was a scene early on of horsemen galloping over a dusty road with the yellow light behind them and their capes billowing. But that was just because it was the first gorgeous thing I saw in the movie — and that was about 10 minutes in.)
But if you’re a pacifist who thinks there’s no such thing as a glorious battle, you can give it a miss. ‘300′ has a very unapologetic view of war and battle. It’s very Old Testament in that way, and if you’re not comfortable with the word ‘enemy’ as the psalmist uses it, you can save yourself $7.00.
For others, there’s something here you just don’t see, which I suppose is why this movie is beginning to generate a lot of buzz. Here’s the trailer:
I constantly found myself surprised that anyone could make a mythic movie and get away with it. It doesn’t give any lip service to modern ideas like dialoguing or the need for compromise and getting along. It does refer often to the fact that when men and women won’t fight for their freedom, they will be enslaved. This is a theme of the “Lord of the Rings” series as well, but I always thought that it was allowed and applauded in those books and movies because it was fantasy that let you avoid ever considering the real-world application.
No one likes to think of these things for very long. In the current age when the world has become a much smaller place, everyone has a face and a mother. In the Church Age, we love our enemies.
But I think you can see this movie with your New Testament perspective intact. This Spartan battle and many others like it took place in a different age; if they hadn’t been fought, who knows what the world would look like now? And the idea that this age still needs bravery, still needs men and women of steel, shouldn’t seem to us like something outdated. The biggest wars may not be fought with spears and arrows anymore, but they take all the character, intelligence and resolve you can bring to them.
It occurred to me this morning that there is also something interesting happening here in terms of the telling of a different kind of story. Since the battle is a matter of historical fact (and since we note that you can’t hop a plane for Sparta anymore), I don’t think I’m giving too much of a spoiler by saying that the movie doesn’t lie about the ultimate outcome of 300 men against many thousands.
Like so many of these types of movies, it is giving us a way to talk about the cultural battles that are raging right now. But for the first time I’ve seen, a movie is preparing us to lose. Gloriously, beautifully, perhaps for an eventual victory that you won’t see. And so not without hope somehow. But to lose all the same.
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April 25th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Thanks Grace. I plan on seeing it. I remember “Spartacus” when I was a kid and was moved by the heroism way back then. We played Spartans on the playground for months after the movie using our arms as swords and the jungle gym as the fortress to be protected. I think there is something innate within us that knows waging war at some deep level can be an honorable thing. Unfortunately, if I had lived then I’m afraid the movie would be called “299″. sigh….
April 26th, 2007 at 9:49 am
I had forgotten about “Spartacus.” It was such a great epic I wanted to have it in my personal kid-repertoire of Great Cinema (along with “Ten Commandments” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, if that gives you any idea of my highly developed taste), but I didn’t like that it didn’t have a happy ending. I wonder if I could watch it now and be okay with that.
BTW, I don’t know if you’ve seen “That Thing You Do,” but the main guy has a Spartacus fixation, which I thought was a great touch of cultural reference.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
hmmm… cool, “Kid repertiore”. I’d add “The Prince and the Pauper” and “Captains Courageous”. They showed those every year at my Catholic elementary school in the late 50’s Never saw “That Thing…” I see maybe 2-3 movies a year and half of those my wife has to drag me to. Which is weird because I WANT to see a lot of films I see trailers and reviews for.
April 28th, 2007 at 8:46 am
I still like “Ten Commandments”, and indeed have the 50th anniversary version :)
Thanks for your review of “300″ and the link to the movie trailer. I haven’t actually “been to the movies” since the release of “Return of the King” (so it’s been awhile). I doubt I will go to this one either, but it is good to read what other Orthodox folk think of current movies.
It does sound good though, and I would probably go - but for the level of violence. For whatever reason, I find that I’m more sensitive to that in movies than I once was - and I am not saying it is inappropriate (the movie IS about a battle, after all)…
May 1st, 2007 at 7:44 am
TMC or AMC was showing the original movie, The Battle of the 300 when the movie opened in theaters and the big media blitz was on. I don’t know if I agree that this movie is Hollywood’s subtle preparation for losing, but that is an interesting perspective. I caught “The making of” on A&E and the history of the Battle against Persia by the Spartans showed the Greeks that they “could” fight the Persian Empire. Since most Americans don’t know history or don’t care, you just may have a point in your perspective…
Christ is Risen!
the handmaid,
Mary-Leah
May 1st, 2007 at 8:32 am
He is Risen Indeed!
I’d be curious to see that movie. I never heard of it before, but I’m kind of assuming it was in the mold of the big budget, Biblical-style epics that Hollywood was turning out for a while?
It would be an interesting contrast with this one. Since you couldn’t begin to have the kind of special effects that movies have now, you had to rely more on the big cast, big costuming, big props and big acting to get it across. Both movies are aiming to talk about Bigness, but they’re using the best tools they have to do it.