One of the things I need to mention right up front is that I don't listen to rap music and I don't really have a fondness for the repetitive beats that populate the majority of rap songs. So, I come to this movie with an ingrained bias, therefore it was a surprise to me when I liked this movie and connected with the main character's storyline.
In all honesty this movie shouldn't work or be as good as it turned out. I know the one reason it's as good as it is, is because of the director Curtis Hanson. Who brought a visual element and a pacing to the movie that added so much, helping it to become more than was there on the page. My brother and I have this saying that basically goes, "There are no new stories being told. It's all about how you tell the stories, that's what really matters." 8 Mile uses little pieces of Rocky - you know what I'm saying, the underdog versus the big dog story line - and Good Will Hunting - a genius living in the blue collar world of poverty, back breaking work, and trailer park estates. It doesn't try and hide these facts, and it shouldn't, because these are parts of the world created here, so instead of hiding behind them Hanson just picks them up and carries them on his shoulder. This movie is all the better for it. Hanson uses the production of this movie - the sets, the on location shooting - to his full advantage. They basically become another character, as they add a grittiness and some serious realism to the story being told, making everything more relate able . This realism helps the viewer to connect with the main character's plight, here played by Eminem, who isn't asked to carry the film, but is surrounded by enough other good actors that support him at every opportunity.
This is a universal storyline of self-discovery and self-confidence and is also a movie that explores a culture I don't know much about, namely rap music and rap. The movie treats this subject of rap seriously and by doing this lets the viewer enter a world they don't have much knowledge about. If it would have been treated as anything less than serious, then the overall story line wouldn't have connected as it does. If the world itself isn't taken seriously, then why should I care about what I'm watching? Hanson cares about this world that he's filming, and it shows in every frame, but more about that later. This a world where words are weapons. And poetry, yes I use that word because I've struggled a long time with calling rap poetry, but the bottom line is that yes it is a form a poetry. In this world rap is poetry, and this poetry is the weapons people use to earn respect within this culture. Yes, this is a culture dominated by black people and in this movie walks a white boy, who wants to rap - that is use their weapons to earn respect. They see it as him entering their (and read that as black) world and using their (and read that as black) weapons - words, which is something no white boy has ever done.
The movie builds on this words as weapons subtly, as it leads up to the finally showdown between Rabbit and the villains of the movie. The first scene of the movie sets the stage for Rabbit as we see him chicken out right before he goes on stage to battle with another competitor. He's seen throwing up in the bath room, then when he gets on stage he completely freezes out, staring out like a deer caught in the head lights. He looks overwhelmed and as if everything about battling is over his head, so he just walks off the stage, defeated by everything. By doing this the filmmakers set up Rabbit's journey to the last battle of the movie. In this journey, Hanson and company show in some remarkable ways how Rabbit is different from the normal rappers around him. They give little moments showcasing this "new" kinds of rap that Rabbit can do with "little" show downs throughout the movie that help to enlighten the viewer into the new kind weapons Rabbit has forged. The first time he showcases his new weapons is basically an impromptu rap session outside a club that Rabbit and friends are attending. The second time is before a lunch truck at work and the third time is when he and his main friend do some word smithing to the song Sweet Home Alabama. In all of these instances we get to see how Rabbit's weapons are vastly different even though we still don't get to see him use them in the competitions that will earn him respect. This is all good, because the movie builds to the last show down, which takes up the last 20 - 30 of the movie and it is a showdown we get to see Rabbit battle and earn his respect. His use of his own weapons to battle the other rappers is brilliantly pulled off, as his use of words and rhymes are in stark contrast to the people his is battling. We also get to see how his life led up to him putting together words that will help him win the battle and the respect he's been seeking. Nothing of this movie is wasted as his journey to the final battle helps to define him and words he forged.
I didn't realize how deep this movie was upon seeing the first time but the second viewing I had a whole new respect for this movie and everything it tried to do.
The film style of this movie, that I will label as gorilla film making, is basically a lot of on set location shooting that adds much realism and grittiness to every frame. This style didn't start with this movie. It's been around for a long time and will continue to be around for a long time, but I would say it came back with a vengeance in Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant. It has continued with 8 Mile and has been picked with ease and assurance by David O Russell. His back-to-back, one-two punch of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playback used this style to some of the best gorilla style film making I've seen in a long time as Russell, not only used a lot of on location shooting, but also added the hand held camera effect to this style as well. Only he doesn't let the hand held effect confuse the viewer with shaky, out of focus scenes. His scenes are focused with the viewer always knowing what is going on. I think some of his style has roots in 8 Mile.
No comments:
Post a Comment