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Triumph of meanness
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  • maxrmaxr

    @babypanda first two I don't know, but Man on Wire's Philippe Petit is certainly not a hero. I LOVED that doc 'cause other than brilliantly dissecting an unbelievable experience also exposes how some dreams have a very high human cost... did you not saw his "friends" truly moved and crying of emotion while recognizing their crazy achievement, BUT at the same time completely reassured they wouldn't do it again and their relations "burnt" with Petit? And yet there is a beauty to it =)

    PS
    A paradigm of heroes gone bad - 'cause historic, social and environmental conditions - is Dersu Uzala's modern style Kekexili aka Mountain Patrol

  • babypandababypanda

    What about documentaries ie real-life heroes? Buck, Garbage Warrior, Man on Wire...

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    For recent films, I liked Drive. For old school film lovers, make sure to watch Straight Time (1978 - available on Netflix and for free on YouTube in different parts). The movie just kills. Yes it stars Dustin Hoffman, but I assure you, this is not Hoffman from 80's/90's...this is raw dog stuff. This is why Hoffman is great in my book.

    @maxr Thanks for the list - will have to watch some of these. Pusher 1 & 3 rock...Refn just killed here.

  • maxrmaxr

    Heroes gone bad, some recent big budj flicks came to mind:

    • France - A prophet / jail "education" (a must see)
    • France | Canada - Mesrine I & II / french scarface (Vincent Cassel shines)
    • Argentina - Carancho / making money out of traffic accidents (very interesting and intricate thriller, plus has Darin)
    • Argentina | Spain | France - El Aura
    • Philippines - On the Job / assassins which not free (about using prisoners as killers)
    • USA - The Counselor / Drugs world (very strange film, the dialogs are pretty interesting though, mix of senile and genius)
    • USA - Rampart / crooked cop (Harrelson!!)
    • Netherlands | Belgium - Borgman (this is about a true hero :P)
    • UK - Ill Manors / London's suburbs lumpen (add wonderful OST)
    • Denmark - Pusher trilogy (the deep shit)
    • UK - Trainspotting / hero-in
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @jrd

    May be it is good time to check France, Korean, Indian and Japanese movies. At least they have more human stuff going and real problems shown.

  • jrdjrd

    And Tony Soprano, among others. Traditional heroism isn't possible when people no longer believe in the intrinsic value and nobility of inherited status (like monarchy). Same with tragedy. It was the movies which created working-class heroes, but they're no longer plausible either.

    The best we can do these days are people who defy societal norms, which usually means criminals. Since everyone recognizes that the official order is also criminal, and that only the powerless obey the law, being a murderer and thief doesn't disqualify anyone.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    You can find the same nonsense in medieval epics and Old English and Norse sagas. Or go back to very beginning: Gilgamesh.

    You can find any nonsense, but at least heroes must have some heroes qualities, at least they must have some value.

  • jrdjrd

    Well, hell. I've seen two of the three, and humanity wouldn't be any poorer if they both disappeared without trace, but the story-telling conventions are nothing new or particularly depraved. You can find the same nonsense in medieval epics and Old English and Norse sagas. Or go back to very beginning: Gilgamesh.

    You could say Hollywood takes it to a brain-dead extreme, but the opposite pole, "naturalism", a ruling convention of American independent films and the Sundance Institute, is just as bankrupt and mindless.

    Mass-entertainment is mass-entertainment.....

  • inqb8trinqb8tr

    I've seen Dallas Buyers Club yesterday, you can freely add it to the list.

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