Natural Born Killers

[filmcritic]

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out the point of this film. I looked under the Oliver Stone thread but this film wasn't really talked about. I know that Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino (story) had a purpose in making this but all I can see is violence and blood splattered on the screen. Is it a satire, a social statement or what? It's clear that it's quite a vision, but what is Stone trying to do here? The film has made tons of controversy over it's meaning and it's violence. Some people love it, some people hate it. Discuss.

[Gold Trumpet]

I'm part of the negative crowd. I imagine it to be a satire on the glorification that violence is given on tv, but the movie never really shows it in a way to bring out ideas. It just shows the obvious of what that glorification looks like. Its such an intense pounding of it that any idea of this being a satire seems to fall by the way side and dragged along like a mere tail. I don't think it is a legimitate satire, because of how adventurous the movie is in being that genre movie itself.

~rougerum

[Cecil]

i kinda agree with that saying "too much is like not enough." but then shouldnt you leave them wanting more? (not enough). warhol said you should leave them wanting less (too much). either way, i love this movie, its such a thrill to watch... at the end you feel like having seen 5 films at the same time... your brain feels like shit. i can understand why people hate it for the same reasons.

[Mesh]

It's clear that it's quite a vision, but what is Stone trying to do here?

Some things I think Stone was trying to "do" with Natural Born Killers (no, these aren't necessarily original ideas of my own):

1.  Make a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde.

2.  Compare murderers to other media sensations, such as rockstars.

3.  Caricature the difference between American television families and actual American families.

4.  Pack enough violence into a two-hour film to make his audience feel similar to how they feel after watching hours, weeks, or months of televised violence.

There are undoubtedly more that could be listed.....Those were just the first four major things that came to me...

[ono]

I don't think you can say much of what Stone was "trying to do."  I've only seen bits and pieces of the film, but here's what I think, based solely on the knowledge I do have: Tarantino wrote the film.  For Stone to try to make it goes against everything Tarantino put in to it, which is exactly why Tarantino dislikes the film so much.  Only when a director writes his own material can there be any validity to the idea that he's trying to say something about anything.  There was very little communication between writer and director there, probably because of Stone's ego, and that's why the film is so maligned.  Still, I may try to sit through the whole thing someday.  These are just preliminary thoughts.

[MacGuffin]

Any "NBK" thread has to have this book mentioned:

[snaporaz]

i like to think of the movie as "america as seen from a looney tunes perspective".

personally, i love the movie. i don't care if the saitre isn't subtle. it's not like the film is enlightening. i think everyone already knows the things the film is pointing out. but just seeing things like this shown in such an absurd and hilarious manner is actually quite, if i may, life-affirming.

[Mesh]

Only when a director writes his own material can there be any validity to the idea that he's trying to say something about anything.

That's some pretty strict "auteur theory" thinking you got there, Ono.  I disagree.

Did Citizen Kane have anything to say?

Did Taxi Driver have anything to say?

Did Apocalypse Now have anything to say?

How's about The Thin Red Line?

See what I'm getting at?

[Mesh]

i think everyone already knows the things the film is pointing out.

Either they already knew or they were primed to find out by the shit-storm of controversy the violence in the film created for itself.

Oliver Stone had to know our culture was such a "closed loop," so to speak.  That's just another issue NBK digs into, IMO.

[SoNowThen]

Only when a director writes his own material can there be any validity to the idea that he's trying to say something about anything.

That's some pretty strict "auteur theory" thinking you got there, Ono.  I disagree.

Did Citizen Kane have anything to say?

Did Taxi Driver have anything to say?

Did Apocalypse Now have anything to say?

How's about The Thin Red Line?

See what I'm getting at?

I agree with you for the most part, Mesh, but did you notice that all the films you picked had uncredited rewrites by the director in some shape or form?

[Mesh]

I agree with you for the most part, Mesh, but did you notice that all the films you picked had uncredited rewrites by the director in some shape or form?

A good point, but what I was refuting was this assertion from Ono':

Only when a director writes his own material can there be any validity to the idea that he's trying to say something about anything.

Rewrites may make a story or script more a certain director's style, but they certainly don't render the material his/hers.

[Derek237]

I think that when people try to figure out what NBK is 'about' they try too hard to get the big picture. The politics, whatever. Noone ever brings up the point that Mickey and Mallory DO stop killing. And love beats the demon. Only after the glorifcation of violence and all the media is put to a stop (they kill Wayne Gale) could that happen. That's how I see it, at least.

[©brad]

Any "NBK" thread has to have this book mentioned:

its a good book. hysterical at times, tells loads of what life is like as a producer, and specifically what its like when ur producing an oliver stone film. altho ive read that stone was a little upset w/ the book and thought jane had exagerrated. plus he was a different man then, in a different/wild place when he made that movie. supposedly he's much more relaxed and happy now,  but who knows.

[***beady***]

Personally, I love the film. I don't think it has a very deep and meaningful point. Except, on how things escalate when you need to get out of a life your stuck in. And also when your in love.
I agree it's a modern Bonnie and Clyde.
I think it's quite to the piont at the end, when they kill the reporter, that they wanted the killings to stop. They have a baby to think about now, and they straighten themselves for the future.

[Pas]

I like this film a lot too ... and the DVD cover is just too awesome...and by awesome I mean totally sweet