This week, the theme for Wanderer's Thursday Movie Picks Meme is movies based on a comic book or a graphic novel. That seems pretty straight forward, right? Well, it turns out there is a slight catch: they have to be based on a non-superhero comic or graphic novel. My experience with graphic novels is unfortunately limited, so this proved to be a difficult selection, but I have to pick out three films so here is what I found. Interestingly, for all three cases I have not read the graphic novels they were adapted from, but I did try to pick some interesting and very different movies.
V For Vendetta (2005)
You remember that guy Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the English Parliament that one time back in the Renaissance? No? Well, you'll remember him after seeing this dystopian adventure from the creators of The Matrix. Okay, technically this isn't a biopic of Guy Fawkes, but it does feature Hugo Weaving donning a mask resembling his image and recruiting Natalie Portman to help him start a revolution against a fascist government led by John Hurt. This is certainly a dark film but it does have Stephen Fry to help add some comic relief, at least as much as you can get in a film that gets as violent as this.
Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)
This is about as far from superheros as you can get. Based on a French graphic novel titled Le bleu est une couleur chaude, this is the heartbreaking story of the relationship between two young girls who find themselves sexually attracted to each other, and their relationship over the following decade. It's an interesting look at homosexuality in that for once it doesn't focus on the obvious problems like homophobia in society, but instead suggests that being in a homosexual relationship is not all that different from being in a heterosexual one. In other words, a gay couple has to deal with more or less the same challenges as a straight one. Having studied astronomy, I can also say it is amusing how unintentionally accurate the title is: blue light has more energy than red light, which in turn means that when looking at main sequence stars larger ones that have more energy and are therefore hotter are blue, so in a sense blue really is the warmest colour.
Snowpiercer (2014)
I still stand by everything I've said about how Snowpiercer could have benefited greatly from a wider range of female characters (I do find it hard to believe that these revolutionaries clearly need all the help they can get and only one woman in the back of the train was willing to help them, while the only other female character involved was literally just there as a condition to get a man to join them). Yes, Tilda Swinton has an odd role but she isn't in it for very long. That said, Joon-ho Bong's sci-fi film adapted from the French comic Le Transperceneige is otherwise an interesting film with some tense action scenes and creative worlds in the form of each individual piece of the train.
Great picks! Snowpiercer is in my list too, despite it's flaws, I really enjoyed it, and I'd love to hunt the graphic novel down.
ReplyDelete- Allie
Excellent picks! I had no idea Blue was based on a graphic novel. I used Snowpiercer on a later one, so I had to leave it off but I loved all three movies you picked.
ReplyDeleteI love your first two and like Snowpiercer, but think I need another viewing. Everything you said about BitWC is true and that's one of the reasons I adore it so much. Have to admit that my head nearly exploded when you got into blue light vs. red light, lol. Great picks.
ReplyDeleteI know. I actually had some trouble wrapping my head around that little bit of astronomy as well, and it can be especially confusing if you have ever taken an art class, which teaches precisely the opposite: red as a "warm colour" and blue as a "cool colour".
DeleteIn the United Kingdom it's pretty much common knowledge that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament long before V for Vendetta was released (can't speak for the rest of world, though). We even have a night dedicated to him, also known as bomb fire night. It's also the least favourite day of the year for dogs....If they could pick one that is.
ReplyDeleteAnywho...only seen V for Vendetta on this list, which I like very much. Though, I am informed that the film contains none of the political weight of the graphic novel. The other I have seen mentioned a lot, but never really got round to seeing them.
Love the tidbit on Blue here. Very cool. I also feel the same way you do about the movie, and it's on my list too!
ReplyDeleteI've only seen V is for Vendetta which while visually impressive wasn't something that I loved. Funny that you mentioned Guy Fawkes, I actually did know who he was because Guy Fawkes Day played an integral part in another movie I had seen, an odd little film noir called Hangover Square with Laird Cregar and Linda Darnell which is worth checking out if you haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteYour other two are on my watchlist but haven't gotten to quite yet.
Blue is the Warmest Color and Snowpiercer are both excellent films. Still have yet to watch V is for Vendetta. Great picks!
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