Southland Tales (2006)Directed by Richard KellyI am a fan of director Richard Kelly's debut, "Donnie Darko". A blend of science fiction and teen drama, it had a very unique vibe. It's a movie that one won't understand at first, reading articles about it explaining concepts of time travel and tangent universes, enables one to really appreciate it. The movie was a cult hit and Kelly's second project, "Southland Tales", a story comprising 6 chapters (3 told in graphic novel form, and the last 3 in the movie) was anticipated. The movie wasn't received well at its Cannes premiere in 2006 leading Kelly to eliminate some 15 min of footage and add narration explaining the plot better, and the theatrical cut was released in 2007. I watched the Cannes cut and re-watched the theatrical cut recently and thus decided to do a drawing based on it. "Southland Tales" has a sprawling plot and a huge ensemble cast. The storyline – after twin nuclear attacks in Texas in 2005, the world is pushed towards war. The US has become a police state, with USIdent monitoring all internet communications. In 2008 the Treer Corporation has developed an alternate energy source, Fluid Karma, which is causing a slowdown in the Earth's rotation, and has opened a rift in the fourth dimension (time). Porn star Krysta Now and actor Boxer Santaros have written a screenplay predicting the end of the world. The Neo Marxists want to bring down the government, while the world is being pushed towards an actual apocalypse.The movie is intriguing, the music by Moby really enhances the tone, which I liked very much. But I think Kelly was too ambitious, and in trying to say too much, the movie becomes annoying at times. Plot threads don't go anywhere, we don't get a clear explanation of what is happening, especially at the end, and the worst part is, characters overact, seemingly given direction to make their performances come off as amateurish.Still, it's worth watching and in my imaginary restrained version of the movie, it's played straight, explained better and is absolutely epic.I drew Sarah Michelle Gellar as Krysta. Drawn with 0.5mm 2B pencil and scanned.#350 / 31-May-18
Posted by Intagrate Lite