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FILMINTERVIEWS
SUCKER PUNCH
Emily Browning gets Babydolled up. by john stapleton IV Director Zack Snyder is no stranger to epic films, putting together back-to-back successes with 300 and Watchmen. With his latest fantasy masterpiece, Sucker Punch, Snyder slips the surly bonds of graphic novel stories and creates a girl-power fantasy flick in which the only limitation is his imagination ... and the MPAA. “The whole story would have been sex and violence,” Snyder says. “I thought it could be more of a cerebral journey. I told everyone, ‘If it’s not PG-13, this movie is going to be rough – really rough. I don’t know where they’ll show it.’” His concern is understandable. Sucker Punch follows five women, each of whom has been institutionalized within the walls of a decrepit insane asylum, fighting against their pasts, their evil captors and each other. While their struggle is as rough as Snyder implies, their only means of escape is to imagine themselves in an alternate reality while they dance for paying customers. During these dances, the girls are not prisoners, but masters of their own destinies, and the action takes off as they battle steampunk zombies, fire-breathing dragons and teams of 50-foot samurai warriors.
Campus Circle > Film > Interviews The fact that the movie is about five women who are locked in an asylum and forced to give private dances might initially seem demeaning. And the fact that the majority of the movie is set within the ’50s-era burlesque fantasy constructed by the controlling asylum director might seem a little condescending. And the fact that the alternate realities these women escape to involves them wearing next to nothing might seem somewhat sexist. But each actress in Sucker Punch wants to make it clear that this movie is more than just a Comi-Con nerdgasm, and that there are completely legitimate and empowering elements to the film. Emily Browning calls her role as Babydoll “extremely empowering,” even though she spends the film as a pigtailed schoolgirl. “You see this sweet little girl, and her first line into the film is holding a knife to someone’s throat.” Browning says she embraced “both sides: the sexiness and the strength. Females don’t need to be placed into these boxes of whether you’re sexy or you’re strong; you’re sensitive or you’re tough. Humans – men and women – are layered. I guess that’s one of the sucker punches of the film.” When asked what empowered stars Jena Malone (Rocket), Vanessa Hudgens (Blondie) and Jamie Chung (Amber), the actresses jokingly reply, “Coffee! Red Bull! Tea!” The three supporting actresses of Sucker Punch, however, were quick to point out that working on the set of the film required more than heavy doses of caffeine. Despite the film’s cerebral toughness, the talent had to be put through some pretty rigorous physical training of their own, working out daily to obtain the kind of balance between sexuality and strength described by Browning. Malone describes the first day of shooting: “When were down in the trenches, doing our tough walk, there were explosions and dirt was sticking to our lip gloss, but we had
FILMSPECIALFEATURES
SXSW FILM FEST WRAP-UP by candice winters
The awards have been handed out, and the all-too-important celebrities have left the city to come home to Los Angeles. Another year has passed for the South by Southwest Film Festival, an annual event that draws hundreds of films, filmmakers, critics and fans to Austin, Texas. The big winner this year was Natural Selection, which had little buzz going into the festival. But by looking at the slate of winners, it becomes evident that buzz can be misleading. Natural Selection took home the Best Narrative Feature prize from both the jury and the audience, and it won five other jury awards. Hard to nail down as a comedy, a drama or a dramedy, Natural Selection stars comedian Rachael Harris as a dutiful Christian housewife who is searching for the biological son of her husband who has suffered a stroke at a sperm bank where he had secretly been donating for 25 years. Dragonslayer was the Grand Jury Winner in the documentary category, and cinematographer Eric Koretz won Best Cinematography for the film, which centers on a kid living in California suburbs, dabbling in drugs, love and skating. How to Die in Oregon is another documentary that was warmly received. Documentarian Peter Richardson spent four years filming and editing together this solemn and often incredibly depressing film that depicts ordinary people who are allowed to take their own life by Oregon’s legislation
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Campus Circle 3.23.11 - 3.29.11
Clay Enos
FILM
(l to r) Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish and director Zack Snyder on the set of Sucker Punch to make this look good.” Like the characters they were portraying, Hudgens says filming was physically difficult, but also mentally challenging, describing it “like any negative situation – you just got to battle your way through.” Sucker Punch is certainly Snyder’s most daring film, ditching the archetypically tough-guy action hero routine for a cast that’s decidedly more feminine, but also as equally intrepid. And don’t let the tiny leather outfits and dirtencrusted lip gloss fool you – this is no Moulin Rouge! meets Ya-Ya Sisterhood. This is “The Powerpuff Girls” for grownups, and these girls are coming to kick some ass. “They fight back against those stereotypes. In the end, the girls are empowered by their sexuality instead of exploited by it,” says Snyder. “It’s the most complicated thing I’ve ever been around in my life. And I directed Watchmen – that was fucking complicated.” Sucker Punch releases in theaters March 25.
Campus Circle > Film > Special Features known as the ‘Death with Dignity’ law. The SXSW audience cried ad infinitum as heart-wrenching stories of terminally ill citizens make the choice to place their mortality in their own hands. SXSW is all about finding the new up-and-comers, the filmmakers and talent of tomorrow who need festivals to spread the word about their work. For many film writers, discovering these little diamonds in the rough in the world of the film market is a treat. Caught Inside is one such film. Director Adam Blaiklock is ambitious with his first feature. Caught Inside is a psychological thriller that takes place entirely onboard a surfing safari vessel. The film is a showcase of the cast’s ability, with emotions. The characters are chartering to a remote location known as surfer’s paradise. But the women that are brought along become the target of pent-up frustration and tension for the men in what becomes an emotionally thrilling film of clashing personalities. Likewise, Green is a film by writer-director-actress Sophia Takal who competently plays with the paranoia and torment that comes with jealous love. The film really catches the ultimate fear of every woman: What happens to your friendship when your boyfriend severs the tie and opens the floodgates of irrational jealousy and deceit? But the festival wasn’t all drama and depression. In fact, SXSW was a hot spot for studio features as well. Making its world premiere at SXSW was Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. It is only the second feature by Duncan Jones whose first, Moon (2009), was highly praised both for Sam Rockwell’s solo performance and Jones’ eye for telling a realistic story with a science fiction twist. Source Code is an action thriller featuring Gyllenhaal as a soldier who wakes up in an unknown body. His mission is to find the bomber on a Chicago commuter train.
SXSW Film Festival
NEWS
Adam Blaiklock’s Caught Inside was a festival highlight. The aforementioned cast and filmmakers of Source Code were in Austin for SXSW, along with numerous other big names. Danny DeVito was spotted roaming the Four Seasons; he was there for his new film Girl Walks Into a Bar, also starring Rosario Dawson and Carla Gugino. Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page were also at the Four Seasons, chatting up journalists and fans about their new film Super, which premiered at SXSW. The duo sat for a Q&A following the screening to discuss their film in which Wilson is the Crimson Bolt, a self-proclaimed surveyor of public crime, and Page is Boltie, his eccentric sidekick. The man of the festival, however, was none other than Conan. Conan O’Brien brought his 6-foot, 4.5-inch frame and ginger hair to Austin in support of his documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop. SXSW attendees were kept laughing by O’Brien’s humor in the film and were likewise pleased to find that he wasn’t so big as to miss its premiere. Another year down, and we’re kept wanting more. Thanks Austin, until next year.