1) Q: What is Sin City and where can I find the books?
A: Sin City is based on a series of black & white crime/drama comics created by Frank Miller and published by Dark Horse Comics*. You can still find single issues and/or the collected trade paperbacks (TPBs) at your local comic shop or check larger bookstores for the collected trades.
However, if you’re not into tracking old stuff down, all of the books will be re-issued in Febuary to promote the films release and will be available on-line, in comic book shops, and in larger book stores.
These will include Sin City (the original story published in the Dark Horse Presents anthology comic), A Dame To Kill For, The Big Fat Kill, That Yellow Bastard, “Booze, Broads, & Bullets” (a collection of short story reprints), and Hell & Back. Also, look for the “one-shot” comics “Family Values”, “Silent Night”, “Lost, Lonely, & Lethal”, “The Babe Wore Red And Other Stories”, “Just Another Saturday Night”, and “Sex & Violence”. As the chronology of the stories bounces back and forth, it is not necessary to read the books in any particular order.
*Note: While these are comic books, due to graphic violence, language, nudity, and other adult subject matter they are meant strictly for mature readers.
2) Q: What’s the premise?
A: Based on Los Angeles, Sin City, short for Basin City, is the backdrop for all the stories, and, really, the main character. It’s a city of vice, greed, corruption, and violence. Within it you’ll find the worst of the worst and the lowest of the low. The stories usually revolve around loner guys who are dragged or duped into situations way out of their league, and are unwillingly thrust into the rolls of “heroes” (you’ll understand the reason for the quotation marks after you’ve read the books ).
3) Q: What’s the movie about?
A: The movie will be in three intertwining but separate segments. Dimension Films’ press release has confirmed the three story lines will be based on Sin City (the original story, now called The Hard Goodbye), That Yellow Bastard, and The Big Fat Kill with an intro based on The Customer Is Always Right, a short story from the The Babe Wore Red and other stories one-shot. There are rumblings of elements from other stories or characters from those stories showing up, but those have not been confirmed.
3 1/2) Q: Yeah, but what’s it about?
A: You’ll find a summary for the first story, The Hard Goodbye, on the main page. The second story, That Yellow Bastard, follows John Hartigan, the only honest cop in Basin City, on his mission to save a young girl from a deadly psychopath…twice. A story of recovery, revenge, and redemption. The final segment, The Big Fat Kill introduces us to Dwight McCarthy, a regular guy who stumbles onto the harsh reality of Basin City’s corrupt police force and fights back with the help of Old Town’s gang of prostitute assassins.
4) Q: Who play the leads?
A: The leads for the stories are Mickey Rourke (Angelheart, 9 1/2 Weeks, Barfly) as “Marv” in the first segment followed by Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Moonlighting, 12 Monkeys) as “Hartigan” in the second with the third segment featuring Clive Owen (The Bourne Identity, Gosford Park, King Arthur) as “Dwight”. These leads, along with other characters, will all be making appearances in the other segments.
4 1/2) Q: Who are the female characters?
A: Women always play pivotal roles in Sin City stories. Usually, they’re the femme fatales motivating the “heroes” one way or the other. Two places the female characters are most prevalent are at Kadie’s Club Pecos (a strip club with a country/western theme and Marv’s favorite hangout) and Old Town. Kadie’s features young stripper, Nancy (Jessica Alba from Dark Angel), “the sweetheart of Sin City” and bar maid, Shellie (Brittany Murphy from 8 Mile), Dwight’s girlfriend and part-time speed bag. In Old Town, you will find its ruling gang of prostitute assassins led by Wendy (Jaime King from Bulletproof Monk), Gail (Rosario Dawson from Men In Black 2), and the petite, deadly ninja, Miho (Devon Aoki from 2 Fast, 2 Furious).
5) Q: Who are the villains?
A: Obviously, with Basin City being the home of “the lowest of the low”, the villains are no exception. We will meet Kevin (Elija Wood), an angel-faced mute with an affinity for wolves and a taste for human flesh. And Kevin’s protector and “partner in crime”, Cardinal Roark (Rutger Hauer from Bladerunner). Then there’s “Iron” Jack Rafferty (Benicio Del Toro from Traffic), hero cop and all-around scumbag. Also, there is Jr. Roark, later known as the Bastard (Nick Stahl from Terminator 3), degenerate spawn of the powerful Roark empire that founded Basin City. Jr. has a penchant for sexually molesting little girls and then mutilating them (um, remember what I said about that “adult subject matter”?). We’ll also get to meet various thugs, corrupt city officials and cops, and, ooooh, those femme fatales! All part of the landscape in the town without pity. More on the characters and their backgrounds here: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionscomic/sincity/sincity.html
5 1/2) Q: Will I be able to read the source material without spoiling the plot of the movie?
A: Since the film is following the stories almost to the letter, no. The books will definitely ruin the film for you. The fans all know what happens, but what we’re looking forward to is the actual execution of the visuals and the actors’ performances, not necessarily the endings. If you read the books, you’ll still look forward to the film, though. Probably even more.
6) Q: *beep*. Well, if I don’t want to spoil the movie, will I be able to understand it without reading the comics?
A: Absolutely. They follow very basic noir crime/drama storylines we should all be familiar with. No Usual Suspects twists or anything tricky to throw you off. The only thing about reading the books compared to seeing the film, though, is that, with the books, you can immediately review a phrase or image that you may have missed the first time. I’ve read those stories maybe a dozen times and I’m still finding new stuff. Miller’s writing is filled with meaningful undertones, so some may have to see the film again (mmmm… I’m thinking… five times) to catch all the subtle nuances, especially with all the dazzling visuals thrown in.
6 1/2) Q: Is there more than one director and what’s Quentin Tarantino’s involvement?
A: Rodriguez is currently sharing directorial duties with Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino. While Rodriguez and Miller will be co-directing the entire film, Tarantino will only be directing certain scenes of The Big Fat Kill. Rodriguez was contacted by the Director’s Guild of America on the first week of shooting, who told him that having more than one director on this project is a big DGA no-no. Rather than take Miller or his name off the project, Rodriguez told the DGA to get bent and quit the guild. As you can see from the main page’s credits, along with directing, Miller and Rodriguez also share producer and screenwriter duties.
6 3/4) Q: What will this movie be rated?
A: If submitted to the MPAA at all, look for this movie to have an “R” rating due to the aforementioned subject matter.
7) Q: How did Rodriguez get Miller to agree and what was this test film about?
A: Miller, bitter at Hollywood after his ordeals as screenwriter for RoboCop 2 & 3, had stated that he would never release the rights to Sin City for a movie. However, after he and Rodriguez collaborated experimentally on a ten-minute Sin City short film (based on The Customer Is Always Right featuring Josh Hartnett, who did it as a “favor” for Rodriguez, and Marley Shelton, and is now be the intro for the movie), Frank was so impressed that he was soon heavily involved with this project. RR said Miller couldn’t wipe the smile off his face for weeks.
You can find this at the IMDB site :)
