Robert Rodriguez: Interviews

Finding Redemption

124 Finding Redemption Lisa Y. Garibay/2005 From Soma, April 2005, 32. Reprinted by permission of Lisa Y. Garibay. On a day in early March, Robert Rodriguez is feeling good about Sin City, his latest groundbreaking work of cinematic art. “The movie is insane!” Rodriguez exclaims from his home in Austin. “The trailers are pretty cool but the movie is everything I hoped for. I was hoping not to make a movie at all and just make a living comic book. This really feels like something different than a movie.” Fans of Frank Miller’s comic book depicting the dark urban world from which the film’s stories are taken have been buzzing for some time over the prospect of it hitting the big screen. The film version of Sin City features Mickey Rourke playing the hulking Marv, described by Miller as belonging “on a battlefield, swinging an ax into somebody’s face” as he tirelessly hunts down whoever killed the love of his life. Elijah Wood defies typecasting as the psychotic, cannibalistic murderer Kevin. Closer ’s Clive Owen is Dwight, a hard-nosed photojournalist sworn to protect the city’s working girls. Rosario Dawson plays Gail, the leader of Sin City’s prostitutes, who teams with Dwight to protect their friends. Brittany Murphy is a waitress with a thing for Dwight who draws the unfortunate and dangerous attentions of Jackie Boy, played by Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro. And Bruce Willis is John Hartigan, the last honest cop in town, whose final mission is to save Nancy (Jessica Alba) from the evil Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl, beneath layers of grotesque make-up). Rodriguez explains, “People who came on board Sin City thought, ‘This looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun, a very different experience, and I want that experience. I don’t know how the movie is going to ultimately fare, but I really don’t care!’ And that sort of carefree attitude is what gives you the chance to do something that’s not self-conscious and that can have a chance to be really good.” lisa y. garibay / 2005 125 Known for his streamlined, DIY budgets, Rodriguez has managed to get Sin City in the can for under $40 million—which, for such an effects and celebrity-laden spectacle, could be considered pretty low-budget by Hollywood’s standards. “Every shot is an effects shot—it was all shot on green screen, so it was like doing a Star Wars movie,” says Rodriguez. “There are more effects shots than the Lord of the Rings movies. But it worked great; it really comes off as something new.” Rodriguez caused some controversy (nothing new for him) by resigning from the Directors Guild of America just prior to the Sin City shoot. He was adamant about Miller’s credit as a co-director, but Guild rules specify only one director per feature. So Rodriguez bowed out (as he had done from the Writers Guild back in 2001) in order to make sure Miller was recognized for the input Rodriguez felt was so valuable. “He’d already done a lot of the visual work by just drawing the books, and I was going right out of the book,” said Rodriguez. “For me, the job was to capture it, to photograph it and light it and do the effects on it. Frank was there working with the actors with me, getting the performances, which is really the only focus you have when you’re there on the green screen. He had great fun doing that, seeing his characters come to life.” Rodriguez got his break in 1992 via the $7,000 feature El Mariachi, which he wrote, directed, produced, photographed, composed music for, and edited (a pattern repeated in most of his work). Intended for the Spanish-language video market, El Mariachi caught the attention of big guns in Hollywood, won the Audience Award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, and launched Rodriguez’s career. Subsequent projects span a spectrum including south-of-the-border vampire thriller From Dusk Till Dawn with George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino to the Spy Kids trilogy . For the thirty-six-year-old Rodriguez, the quality and quantity of his work all comes down to balance. “I like being overwhelmed—it’s part of the fun!” he says laughing. “When you don’t have enough time to over-think each job you end up having to go with your first impulse and that...