Sunday, November 11, 2007

Blood Meridian movie: nah

Even though it might cool to have a Blood Meridian movie, i'm not sure if i could watch it myself. It had better have the dead baby tree if it gets made.

As for Ridley Scott being the director of an adaptation, i'm unconvinced. A true "Blood Meridian" would come off as complete violence pornography, ugly, unjust, debauched... more like a cross between a Jordorowsky film like "Holy Mountain" or "El Topo" and the stuff that influenced Rom Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects" than oh, let's say Scott's "Gladiatior," "Alien," or "Blade Runner." (Never seen any of that stuff that influenced Zombie. Again, I can take that kind of graphic violence in books, but not in movies.) I'm going to reject all of that though. Yes, Blood Meridian's language is violence, but i don't feel like it is violence for the sake of violence. I'd rather the director going to acid cowboy allegories of Jodorowsky than snuff porn, which Scott will likely try to do.

What would be interesting is if someone focused on the spiritual or cosmic significance of the book, someone like Guillermo del Toro. It feels like he'd get down the gnostic overtones correctly. Otherwise, it's just going to be a bigger budget, less absurd "Natural Born Killers."

Oh yeah... i haven't gotten around to seeing the "Deadwood" series yet. Don't know how that might figure into the mix.

3 comments:

slickdpdx said...

The Coen Bros McCarthy adaptation is getting lauded. I didn't read that book though.

tulpa golem said...

me neither.

Considering seeing the movie the next time Kat has a night shift.

Anonymous said...

You cannot make a passible movie from this book. I reference "All the Pretty Horses" which was terribly cast and horribly executed by an otherwise adept director, Billy Bob Thornton (Slingblade). Why even try? This is sacred territory. Besides, where you gonna find a seven-foot albino that can match the incindiary monster McCarthy ignites within your imagination?