We are trundling along through our “Directors in Short Pants” series! This week, our contestant (contestant?!) is Robert Rodriguez; you may know him as the director of the beloved children’s movie series “Spy Kids” (who else could get Ricardo Montalban and Sylvester Stallone in the same scene?!) or you may know him as the creator of such massively violent films such as “Desperado” and “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” But in his first outing as a director, we find that he is in fact . . . a maker of educational films! Who knew? Before I saw “El Mariachi,” I just thought of a Mariachi as a skilled guitar player and vocalist. Little did I dream that your average Mariachi is also skilled with mace-and-chain, multiple firearms, and precision acrobatics, not to mention improvised ziplining! I mean! We can learn so much from Mr. Rodriguez. Thank you, Robert, for teaching us so much and for making us laugh at love . . . again. Find out what else we learned by giving a listen!
Poll question: If there is violence in a movie, is it better for it to be bloodless and cartoony or realistic and brutal? Leave a comment or bludgeon our hotline at 617-398-7266
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Like most things… it depends. I am not a fan of lots of violence in films but if it’s done in a way that works for the film, I won’t complain. I would prefer less explicit and gore and violence overall, as it’s mostly just exploitive or cruel and a cheap way to get attention. Not showing it can be much more disturbing and effective in many cases. Over the top violence can work well like in the movie “reanimator” it’s just so gross and out there it moves into comedy. A film like “alien” has some pretty horrifying scenes and it works to make the movie much scarier, as even the gore in it is something so alien the viewer is on edge not knowing what will happen next. The “Kill Bill” movies have literal cartoon blood that almost brings them to an anime level. Not movies I like myself but it’s a way to be violent without being too gross about it.
Nicely put, Vince! The overall theme and feel of the movie tends to determine the “appropriate” visual violence. Thanks!