Too bigoted for film versus bigotry. Kevin Smith said that the viewer these days is tempted, he knows the plot twists in advance. That's why Smith wrote the Red State script to make it all unexpected. And in the end, he simply put together elements of the stories of Matthew Shepard, Fred Phelps and the siege of Uyko. It turned out like a fictional story, which painfully resembles reality, not being a reality. For some reason. I don't mind portraying Christian fanatics. I'm all for it. Yes, a lot of people in the United States mutter about the imminent end of the world and keep an arsenal in a basement in case government agents come. But what prevented the story from being completely fictional? In its present form, because of its obvious parallels, Smith has exposed real VERY unpleasant persons as maniacs they were not. What's with the red state? It does not follow that the problem is caused by the redness of the state. Moreover, most of the confrontation takes place between fanatics and federal authorities, which by definition do not belong to the state. In terms of reliability, watching the film hurts. Smith is often not a radical Protestant. Trained agents run into the line of fire. If the confrontation developed, as shown, the assault would last ten minutes. In other words, Americans typically do not know how their own organizations operate. And the twitchy editing of the film also did not benefit.
Kevin Smith is a great director. His film Dogma is a textbook of faith for all believers. But his movie Red State is about the people who lead our country. I put a 5+ not because the film is so brilliant, but because this film should be seen by 146% of Russians, everyone, blah, 107% participated in the census. Look where they lead us, see how it ends. Yeah, we go to heaven and they just die or we die and they go to heaven. Or, more likely, no one will go to heaven, we will all just die together, rushing for tea, for our shepherd.
Chifir to joy, Jesus to sweetness. This is my dear friend’s excursion to the evangelicals. Why stubborn? And how else to evaluate the logic of people who basically hold the Talmud written by Jewish philistines? America has imbued this faith with a tinge of democracy, and schizophrenia, only over the years things have gotten bad. Charismatic charismatics who are stuck in the word of God, and other frostbitten Protestants, stupidly knit their brains and their own in the womb of the ideas of the gone pastors. Nothing but normal people suffer from this movement.
Kevin Smith was driving one day, and it occurred to us that the common meaning of these subjects' faith is mass demonstrations against everything that Christians don't like. There is no tolerant world. Therefore the death of the rainbow is a feast and a feast of the spirit. What if they don't? Well, then it's time to take the censor of faith into your own hands and make the corpses yourself. Smith was inspired, and the script acquired a story, live, on the screen.
If the first time, the year so in the 11th, the film was perceived as a dark satire, with the inherent mockery of morality on faith, and the consequences of religious fanaticism. Now that I'm thirty, the Red State looks like Kevin's easy irony at a society of bureaucracy grappling with a beastly display of faith. Bureaucracy in the person of John Goodman perfectly personifies the machine of government, its absurdopedia. But the nurse Michael Parks absolutely falls into the role of a preacher turned on his mission. The natural devil from Jarsie, so to speak. And the most cruel thing is that these incarnations of believers turned out to be very realistic, and therefore both frightening and disgusting. For such subjects, faith is the weapon of murder, and they themselves, like mad dogs, are ready to tear into the blood for the cartilage from Adam’s ribs. It's a metaphor. Ideally, Smith achieved an effect, a religious brawl in the spirit of Grindhouse, with machine gun salvos of prayers and satire. Against the background of the rest of the creativity of the Loboshaker from New Jersey, this Red State stands out as serious, both in terms of directing and idea.
a cool film-game, the selection of actors, a filmmaker from one of my favorite directors, but that’s not all, most of all surprised by the correct message of the work, it is rare to find such a thing in American films, if the movie “God Bless America” came, then this one will like.
After all, Kevin Smith at some point turned the wrong way and started shooting something strange. Although he can hardly be called great, he gained his share of fame and popularity, and even formed a community of fans of his early works. But after 'Clerks 2' (the last of his successful film), he often gets confused than pleases the viewer. No, I can’t say his subsequent films were terrible, but they’re nothing compared to what he did in the 90s. But that ' Tusk' that 'Reboot of Jay & Bob' it's either trying to find something new, or an unsuccessful repetition of the past.
'The Red State' this is a collection of all genres, which, although trying to seem something new, still looks very weak. First of all, I want to praise this diversity, because the film begins as a typical teenage thriller, which sharply develops into a harsh drama and I would even say horrors and ends in an action movie. And even though it all looks a little creepy, but it turns into a final farce.
The second positive is Michael Parks. He is in ' Tusk & #39; that here he managed to create an unforgettable image of a madman. His pastor, finally and irrevocably psychopathic, but a psychopath confident in his rightness and frightened by it. As you know, only a fool with initiative can be more dangerous than a fool.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see any more positives here. The remaining characters are not remembered at all, and the three seemingly main characters are not revealed at all, just ordinary guys; whether they are here or not, how to care about their fate, get used to them or feel sympathy for the allotted time will not work with all desire. And even such a colorful figure of John Goodman did not turn around. And the delay with the preaching of the pastor is felt and I want to rewind it all.
What conclusion can be drawn from this film? Do not look for kids adventure on your fifth point and do not chase for free sex, because nothing happens for free. Religious fanatics are generally a separate kind of madman and it is useless to convince them of anything. The government on mere mortals will never care and it is important to follow the order at any cost. These are the pies. Perhaps Smith wanted to show his vision of horror or somehow bring a fresh stream to the genre as a whole, but the experience will fail. There are good ideas, but the film is mostly boring and superficial.
Sodomites are not as terrible as religious fanatics.
In the center of the plot is a small town, in which ' operates ' a small, but very active sect. And it seems that they are only doing harmless protests, with posters everywhere, but in fact, everything is much tougher. Meanwhile, unsuspecting teenagers go for an evening walk in search of entertainment (you can guess which ones). In general, despite the theme, in this film a sufficient amount of action, although at the very beginning of the events develop quite measuredly and, as they say, nothing portends trouble. But as you get closer to the finale, the situation heats up, forcing the viewer to jump, literally, on the spot and try to guess how it might all end. It is impossible to break away from the screen, but there are very cruel scenes in the film, and they are doubly difficult to watch, especially if you think about the fact that teenagers certainly did not want to hurt anyone, despite their not quite decent thoughts and intentions.
The whole movie seems both incredible and realistic. It is great that the situation in it changes about every twenty minutes to the opposite. And this technique does not allow the viewer to somehow predict the further actions of the plot. The picture changes suddenly. Boom - and a fun evening suddenly becomes a nightmare. Oh, like the heroes managed to solve one big problem, but all of a sudden the FBI is bursting at their door. But they weren't there five minutes ago. How did that happen? And most importantly, no training. Everything is presented to the viewer very rudely, without embellishment, and whether he will be able to digest it is not a problem of the filmmakers.
I did not quite understand who in the film personifies the universal evil, the feeling that there are no positive characters and sides in it, or the good is ruthlessly destroyed at the root. It's a very lifelike position. Despite the tempting plot-'chameleon', immediately warn that the budget of the film is noticeably different from those fabulous funds that are spent on the creation of expensive blockbusters. Therefore, super-quality pictures, bright special effects and unreal sound should not be expected. But the aggressive mood and unreasonable cruelty in it beat over the edge. By the way, this unjustified cruelty is actually justified, only it is some mercantile reasons, fanatical ideas, the fear that your failure will be in all the media.
Is there any meaning in all this action of one hour twenty-eight minutes? I think many people know that there is a hidden meaning to be found in everything, there would be desire and a rich imagination. Let me tell you, I definitely had something to think about after watching this movie. Anything has a dark side, it can be carefully hidden from outsiders. But even the most innocuous things can harbor something so bloodthirsty and heartbreaking that it can take away the spirit from terror. The film also highlights how cruel people can be to their peers, who lead a different lifestyle, who may have different values, ideas and priorities in life. There is an extreme degree of intolerance. The most amazing thing is that even in the finale of the film it is not possible to unequivocally draw a conclusion about the victory of good over evil. Just wins the lesser of evils (but that's not accurate).
The cast in the film is pretty good. Of the familiar names, I can single out Michael Angarano, Melissa Leo, and John Goodman. All the characters turned out to be very revealing, with a certain amount of credibility.
By the way, we can say that some part of the plot is based on real events, the prototype of the sect in the film is a real religious organization, perhaps less mysterious, although perhaps they do not show the world their other side.
The film is certainly designed for fans, so I will not recommend it for viewing, count on your own internal voices, prompting you to watch or not watch. How to me turned out atmospheric and rather complex thriller, which with its modest timekeeping just will not let you get bored. It is better for the weak-hearted to miss this creation past their eyes!
7 out of 10
Kevin Smith is known for his special attitude to religion. After the Dogma scandal Smith decides to remove the thriller, removing the comedy, to bring the sacred postulates to the forefront.
Teenagers under a sinful pretext are lured into a religious sect, where the boys must be punished for their sins. Dry doesn't catch on at all. The viewer needs a well-twisted turn to have a high-quality denouement. But the problem with the film is that it always lures, delving into religion, and the denouement as such is not on the horizon. About halfway through, you know how this movie ends. The thriller is enough to dilute the spiritual situation. The motives of the heroes, who are all reduced to faith, are very fuzzy and this is not fiction (understand correctly, I do not emphasize the lack of a spiritual component, I do not hurt the feelings of believers), that is, the genre itself spoils the movie, nothing supernatural is planned. When episodes draw a line that separates legend and the real world, you already know that everything will be banal and predictable.
Waiting for something doesn't make sense. The deep moral about human sins is clear, it was introduced in the film, introduced punishments, and then what? The law against faith? Why push the characters, the audience and the plot into the frame if you can’t get out of this chaos and end the film on a disappointed note? In the end, the movie for once, and then not everyone will be delighted.
“Kevin, you better keep making comedies. Or drama, but mixed with Jay and the silent Bob, such complex pictures should be in the hands of other directors. No offense, Smith.
Kevin Smith, as a director, is not for everyone. Of course, he has more “mainstream” projects, like “Girls from Jersey” or “Double Kopets”, but his most powerful paintings may not be understood by the mass audience. And the point here is not that he creates a too smart movie, but in the presentation itself. All the important themes that he raises in his films are shown through the prism of black humor or light comic, which gives the impression of frivolous indifference or figment. But this is just his style and if you can tune in to it, then the author's works of Kev - will blow your brain! (except for "Yoganuts", it really came out weakly).
I am very surprised by the rather low rating and the number of negative reviews. I think the reason is subjective expectations, someone was waiting for horror (I don’t even know why), someone blue in the style of “Clerks”, and given the increased religiosity in the CIS countries, such a concept was not exactly expected. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter why, it is important that the people did not catch the message.
“Red State” is not horrors, it is rather a social thriller, or a drama with elements of satire, frightening not with monsters and evil spirits, but with what terrible things people can do out of conviction in anything. You see a bunch of fanatics picketing the funeral of a gay teenager, shouting, “Burn him in hell,” and you think these people really exist. Or when in the second half of the film, Agent Keenan is given an inhuman order and he dutifully begins to carry it out, you realize that in real life it is.
Conclusion: KS is one of Smith's best creations! The dialogues are great, the actors are chosen perfectly, the plot is fascinating and keeps in suspense until the very end. Of course, you can find disadvantages here, but is it worth it? Advise everyone!
This thriller by Kevin Smith turned out to be a tough, unusual and unexpected film. The picture is full of cruelty, madness, blood and dark people with narrow thoughts. The movie looked awful, and the main characters are very worried. Young guys are not lucky, and in their place you definitely do not want to be. In general, religious cults, sects are a terrible thing. Such people are always frightened by their euphoria and some madness. This film tells the story of the massacre of such people.
We see guys on the Internet chatting with an unknown woman, and she sets them up for group sex. Young guys come to her, thereby committing a fatal act. They wake up soon bound and in the hands of religious fanatics who are eager to punish them for their debauchery.
The film turned out to be rabid and “red”. I watched it with eyes wide open and horror. What is happening is frightening, and the viewer is waiting for a bloody story. I remember most of all from this film the ending with a mysterious hum, ringing, noise, I don’t know what to call it. There was a good idea of the director, putting the viewer in misunderstanding, in doubt, and everything looked fascinated. The picture is full of violence and cruel scenes and will not be to the taste of all viewers, but once it is quite possible to see.
Of the actors remembered Michael Parks in the role of a mad leader of fanatics, interpreting the Bible as he pleases and well washing the brains of stupid people. Parks is a good actor and often takes on complex, controversial roles. I remember him since childhood from the film “From Dusk to Dawn 3: The Executioner’s Daughter”. Good actor. Of the other little-known actors of this film, few can be singled out, well, perhaps only Melissa Leo. She is a deep actress, and against the background of everything that is happening in this thriller clearly stands out.
Red State is a 2011 American drama thriller. Cinema is rude and cruel, purely American in every sense of the word. In fact, this picture without any depth and drama, the movie is unusual, but it is aimed at “entertaining” the black story and surprise the viewer. You can see it once, but not more. I'm neutral about this picture between yes and no.
6 out of 10
Kevin Smith shows off his talent. It turns out that he can make films in completely opposite genres. This time it's a thriller.
This film is about life, although it is shown on a group of people. The creators show terrible things. People willing to kill because of their religious beliefs. Police officers who, because of their own mistakes, decide to kill innocent people. And the conditional victims themselves are also not sugar, so the fanatics were not much mistaken about them.
What is lacking is dynamism and spectacle. The shootout at the end is very clumsy and boring. There are so many empty scenes that don’t mean anything. There's a lot of nonsense. For example, it is not clear why Billy-Ray, holding an assault rifle and sitting in hiding, decided to run straight through the crowd of fanatics. For what?
Traditionally, we go to the actors.
Nicholas Brown is 4.5, he has a simple role to handle.
Michael Parks – 4.5, it is clear that he tried, however, did not reach the ideal.
Kerry Bishet – 4, played at the level, without serious mistakes.
John Goodman is 4. He was not bad in the role of the same officer who will have to make a difficult decision.
The Red State is a worthy film. It also makes you think.
Released in 2011, the new film of the cult director Kevin Smith “Red State” shocked many. It wasn't a step back, it wasn't a step forward. It was some backflip to the side of a head landing - absolutely crazy, crazy and weird creation.
In fact, we have before us the quintessence of all satirical ideas that affected religion and overly religious people, although this time George Carlin did not wear a Catholic cassock. Being a fairly religious man, Kevin Smith could not help but approach his film with a fair amount of irony. Fanatics, for whom to deprive a person of life just because he is “unpleasing the Lord”, although they consider themselves Christians, in fact do not differ from the same radical Islamists. The only thing missing is closed faces and shouts of “Allah Akbar.” Thus, the director makes it clear that faith in any form is dangerous. Originally a positive aspect of everyday life and a part of the culture of a particular people, it may eventually overpower the clouded brains of ordinary people. And it's not just Christianity, it's also Mormons, which are a lot of negative rumors, and the aforementioned radical Islam, and, in theory, even Buddhism. From the collection of commandments that are called to observe the moral compass in the most accessible way to hatred of everything and the whole step.
In fact, Red State is a thriller. It is quite unusual to see such a flip director in a completely alien genre for him after comedies and comedy melodramas. And a noble and good thriller, in which the brain to the very end can not guess how the action will end. And this creates a long-forgotten fooling effect. I don’t want the audience to be right, I don’t want to guess the shape of the ending. I want something unusual and creative. And believe me, Smith's got the cards up until the end.
One of the main features of the new style of the director (which will find its logical development in the next film “Tube”) are the characters. Idiot characters, to be exact. Whether they are teenagers who want free sex, stupid FBI sheep, or the same bigots who hate homosexuals, they all have a fair amount of idiocy with a slight touch of degeneracy. Just don't think it's a scripted joint. It is rather “not a bug, but a feature” and Smith clearly deliberately prescribed his characters so. From now on, he does not pity anyone, he throws their lives to the right and to the left, while saying, “There is no need to be such idiots.” Kevin does not cheat and deep down he tries to make the same comedy that he did before. Only this time he does not laugh sincerely and from the heart, but rather giggles maliciously, covering his mouth with his palm.
The director recently stated that he is not going to make films for the audience, and now only for himself. The new style of Smith films may not be liked by everyone because of a whole heap of idiots and crazy plots with curtsey towards horror films and thrillers. But what can we do? Should I ask Kevin to continue shooting in the spirit of the good old Clerks? Alas, it won't. The viewer can only watch where the new creative path of the filmmaker from Jersey will lead and where he will come. And this, in fact, is no worse than vulgar jokes and constant flaunting with weed outside the store.
People do strange things because they think they have a right, but they do worse when they fanatically believe.
Three teenagers embark on a sexual adventure that ultimately leads them to religious fanatics. In this film, Kevin Smith reveals with gem-like precision the nightmare and horror of such organizations. He always manages to create an exciting and disturbing atmosphere. When watching, there is a sense of hopelessness that never left me throughout the film. Again, a small budget, the action of the film, focused on one dislocation, all the while, the picture is shot flawlessly. The director shot, surprisingly well and original. The idea of the film is very relevant in our time, especially for a country like America. In general, in our time, an incredibly large number of organizations are raging, and each of these organizations is trying to protect their rights in every possible way. Who would have thought that these monsters could take such drastic measures to achieve their own goals.
I think this happens not only in movies, but in real life, and this is a very unfortunate fact. So many victims, so many murders, so many people who are one hundred percent convinced of their faith. They're willing to do literally anything, take on so many horrible murders, and for what? Having no opinion of their own, they are ready to follow a false savior who orders the killing of all who are against my faith. Mostly pity the children, these sectarians. Innocent little creatures see and hear all this horror. They are not given the right to choose, as a result of which they grow up like their parents. Cruel and bloodthirsty. Kevin Smith did his job one hundred percent. He gave a certain impetus to the genre as a whole.
Surprisingly, the film has such a low rating. Damn it, such a relevant and deep satire, in our time, no one shoots. In this movie, you believe every character, you believe in every character. Why? Because it is. A tough, concise and powerful film that is so badly underrated. Great acting of almost all the characters, especially I want to highlight the unsurpassed and charismatic Michael Parks, as a pastor. Oh, those crazy eyes, flapping hands, and the speeches he makes, splashing saliva out of his mouth. First of all, it is the merit of Kevin Smith. Corporate dialogue in the film is present. Listening to them is a pleasure. Quality, catchy and very relevant. Surprised by the appearance of John Goodman in the film, the role of the supporting, but watching him, on the screen is pleasant. He played very well and you believe in his game. And his monologue, at the very end of the film, will be remembered for a long time, morality in it is enough.
Special thanks to all the actors who played the role of sectarians and followers of the pastor. Incredibly believable, these people, you hate with all your heart. Emotions are fully manifested. Isn’t that one of the most important things to watch? Installation, gluing of personnel was performed at a very high level. In the second half of the film, a shootout rages, but you do not pay much attention to it, because it is absolutely different. It is important who emerges from this war as the winner. In the film, everything happens the way it does, the characters die very stupidly but realistically. Nothing is brightened by cinematic clichés, all as in a cruel and harsh reality. It's amazing how subtly Kevin Smith makes us wonder which side to take. A religious sect, or one mired in corruption and the dirty power of America. The choice is up to the audience. There is no other option.
The whole movie in a row, the degree of heat rises, and in the end you want to explode. In the end, I want to say that the picture is perfect. Everything is shown without embellishment, and with a huge amount of satire. After all, this picture struck Quentin Tarantino. Styles are very similar, in spirit, the same: provocative, bright, powerful. The whole film, in a row, sounds a huge monologue, philosophical, deep, and striking. Human beastliness is demonstrated simply by the highest score. I would like more pictures like that. We can only follow the work of this wonderful director, and most importantly, support his future projects with our own blood. Kevin Smith is in the saddle and I want to believe he won't get off for a very long time. Looking forward to Clerks 3.
Kevin Smith is one of the brightest representatives of modern independent cinema. His comedies are disassembled into quotes, and the images of the characters made history. However, Kevin, like any talented creative person, is not afraid to experiment and cut new paths in art.
No wonder Quentin Tarantino, compiling a list of the best paintings of 2011, included "Red State" in his top, describing it something like this: "I'm just stuck with this film!" As you can see, the director who shot "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" will not advise a bad one.
This is truly something unique, absolutely crazy, inadequate, but at the same time deep, tense and raising more than one acute social problem. The Red State is weird. It begins as a teenage thriller and ends as an action movie. He scares to death and laughs to tears. He makes the heroes empathize and hate them at the same time. If you arrange the film into component parts, then, of course, somewhere and there will be their rusty cogs, which the master not all, including me, will be able to forgive, but I remind you: the budget of the film is $ 4 million, a pitiful penny, with which Kevin Smith hired a good operator and well put action scenes. This is the end of the preface, and we move on to the film itself.
Three teenagers go out of town to get drunk, get laid, get drunk again, get laid again. Bonus are funny dialogues, arguments on who has the longest and who will fuck in what place, in general, Kevin Smith in his repertoire, but then the plot gains momentum, because the guys fall into the clutches of religious fanatics, headed by a pastor, magnificently played by Michael Parks. And then... Even it makes no sense to describe the further development of events, since any phrase accidentally said can become a spoiler, therefore, we move on to the filling. Red State is a surprisingly multi-genre movie, and the big plus is that almost every genre works in it. Thriller viscous and frightening, drama hits the sore spots. Despite the fact that “The State” talks about serious things, there was a place for humor in it, since a small amount of frivolity and absurdity characteristic of Smith did not disappear in the picture, but simply took on other forms. You can see the standard for a director to work with characters, because almost all of them are crazy and to some extent comic. This is one of the drawbacks of the film. The fact that comedy and drama feel equally good together is wonderful, but it creates dissonance in the head, which makes it difficult for the average viewer to watch the film. Cinematographers will enjoy original twists and turns of history, the likes of which I personally have not found in other films, and interesting moral dilemmas, because no matter how you spin “Red State” is for the most part a very cruel grotesque parody of the lives of average Americans, shown through the prism of religious fundamentalism. Heroes do not commit angelic acts, however, watching this, you involuntarily ask the question: "What would you do in their place?" They are neither righteous nor evil. Even fanatics acting as antagonists behave like ordinary people: follow accepted traditions, help each other in a moment of danger, experience the death of loved ones, etc. Well, as one of the main thoughts, the bitter truth is shown - a person who finds himself in a critical situation for him can easily forget about elementary moral principles, this is how people are arranged.
If you touch on the technical side of the tape, then everything is level. David Kline gave the “State” a gray subdued shade, perfectly combined with the atmosphere of the picture and catching up with depression. The action for a modest 4 lemons is made amazingly: the weapon looks like real, the sounds of shooting and recoil are extremely realistic. The film has a very “twisted” camera work, “teared” editing and a lot of hallucinogenic close-ups, but this is perceived not as a marriage, but as additional elements that allow you to catch up with tension and suspense plus some homage to the slashers of the 70s.
The actors are to be commended. You sincerely believe in the emotions of teenagers, John Goodman shows serious emotional throwing, and Michael Parks can only applaud - a wonderful work on the role. His pastor is both a kind of good grandfather and a rampant bloodthirsty psychopath who hides behind the Bible and believes in its texts with all his heart. I also want to note the members of this gang of fanatics who showed a desire to go with the hero Parks at least to the end of the world.
The Red State is one of the most original and strange films of recent times. It is definitely not for everyone, but those who, like me, like such schizophrenia, will be satisfied.
8 out of 10
Kevin Smith likes to prove something by making it absurd. And this is good, because in this case there is nothing to argue about, and the essence of the problem becomes clear even to the simplest person. Taking as a basis the real Baptist pastor Fred Phelps, fiercely condemning homosexuality, Kevin Smith creates a terrible caricature. And, considering himself a Christian, he denounces Phelps' radical views as fanatical and wild. Not surprisingly, as Kevin himself admitted, his brother is a homosexual and lives with a man, while remaining a wonderful person who does not deserve to be blamed or insulted. There are a lot of gay people around Kevin, and they are all very good people. So he is fighting the Gaeborites not only with his main method, but also fights Phelps at the premiere of his own film “Red State” by organizing a protest against their protest. Poor Phelps, invited to this premiere, could not stand the vilification and left the cinema at the very beginning of the show. Kevin, of course, rebuffed this bunch of Baptists, who began to call him “the champion of perverts”, but his film did not achieve its goal.
Although to bring to the extreme is obvious, but there are weaknesses in this method - it is an opportunity to prove the opposite, that is, in this case, bringing to absurdity love for homosexuals (namely love). Indeed, if morality is not based on God’s laws, the gay exception automatically extends to other perverts – zoophiles, necrophiles, pedophiles – and justifies them. Kevin, surprisingly, understands that. That is why there is virtually nothing in the film that would be directly aimed at protecting gays, although the history of the film’s creation does not hide such a basis. So the movie is about nothing. Kevin, of course, showed that you should not kill homosexuals, but did not insist that gays are normal people.
It's just about idiots. Good slasher. Still, it might make you think.
It is curious (and quite natural) that this red state seems never to be named—and while we know which places were meant in the first place, it could have happened anywhere. Once upon a time there were three high school students who found on social networks a picture of a naked thirty-eight-year-old woman with a photoshopped face offering sex to everyone, and with amazing, in my opinion, naivety and squeamishness, responded to this proposal. And there is a fundamentalist so conservative in the state that even the far-right shuns him; this preacher blames the world’s evils on the predominantly gays (he recently held a rally at the funeral of one such sodomite), but finds that modern humanity – because of the gays – is in general mired in sin more than ever. And you wouldn't be surprised to learn that such a tempting proposition for teenage sperm was made by his congregational family, which seems to have killed all the gays in the neighborhood and now has unwittingly switched to other sinners.
If Red State didn’t have the credits, I could still confidently name the director, not Kevin Smith, but Quentin Tarantino. This is a very unexpected film for Smith – tough, concise and not comedic (although sometimes especially insanely funny). It's built on monologues, just a few, and at least one of them I'd love to quote in its entirety - but look at how amazing Michael Parks says it, and how you'll listen to these vile, kind preachers sowing their soft faith. They will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to know. They will say, “God loves you, God loves everyone,” but does God, who drowned the whole world except Noah and his flock, look like the one who loves us? Like someone who forgives sins? But no, no, the text is not that; the whole point is how this perfectly ordinary Protestant pastor, without burning fire in his eyes, without foam at his mouth or, on the contrary, without majestic dignity, he does not look like a fanatic, he gives a sermon like everyone else, and something unusual - madness - grows in it unnoticed ... only in a cage next to the pulpit at this time, a beaten naked man howls. This is the whole point – quite ordinary, normal people can do anything, if they do not believe that those with whom they do it, people, if they do not feel the slightest moral duty to them; if they believe that sin, blasphemy, crime, any real or imaginary guilt puts someone outside the most fundamental requirements of ethics – on our part. This theme then echoes in the orders given to the special forces (because there are terrorists in the house), and then there is the problem. Who is my neighbor? the man asks himself, and he answers to himself, he is not; perhaps one can put a bullet in the back of his head, there is nothing wrong with this. Smith is no doubt concerned with religious fanaticism, but at the end of the day he is concerned with the adherents of any idea that overrides universal moral maxims.
I got distracted, and we talked about why "Red State" reminds me of Tarantino. It is built on several well-written monologues, most of which are pronounced against an emphatically inappropriate background, against a background of violence; monologues are long, and violence, on the contrary, is very dynamic. No long gunfights, slo-mo and other things - bullets whistle, people fall, splash blood, scary, confused and crazy. All this is filmed simply amazing - the direction is unobtrusive, you do not notice it, but the rhythm, editing, frame structure - all this is clearly thought out to the smallest detail and creates at the same time the effect of presence and the impression of a slight surrealism of what is happening. Wikipedia says that it was originally intended to have a different ending, but it doesn’t matter whether it’s shown in the frame or not, the viewer still felt the doomsday trumpets. And the question of which direction will go at the call of these trumpets, Pastor Ebin Cooper, and in which – all the others, hangs in the air as their alarming echo.
Great acting is also very much responsible for the impression that the film makes. Michael Parks plays subtly - he's persuasive as the typical smiling preacher, but something elusive also makes the machine in his hands more than just a screenwriter's whim. It seems to be the most serious and grim John Goodman role I can remember. I didn't even recognize him at first. He also played it brilliantly.
The Red State is very, very good. And again, it's damn relevant. But even if it wasn’t, it’s worth watching because it’s a very good movie.
8 out of 10
Kevin Smith is a god to me. I have a slight weakness for his work.
Seeing the film at first I thought it was a pseudo-horror. But when I started watching the film, I did not step away from the screen.
Not a standard thriller with a very fun ending. The cast is on top!
It's a great Michael Parks who could play all the crazy religious fanatics on his own. John Goodman, who in this film played the chief of special forces, at first makes a long decision and then stops in time so that he is not fired.
To be honest, I wanted to spit on the screen, not because of the quality of the film, but because of the characters! Kevin Smith created such vile, scornful characters that I really believed they were already crazy (of course, it’s also actors’ play).
Finally, the most important thing that made me happy in this movie: That it represents reality! People are willing to kill because it says in a book that you can't sleep with a man. Or because you can't be a prostitute. You could say that this is a movie!
In the Russian rental comes a new film by Kevin Smith “Red State” – an anticlerical horror film about the fight against terrorism, well, a little about the fact that the emo is worse than faggots.
After Double Coccyx - a scruffy police comedy that is rightly considered the worst film of a director's career - it became clear that, like any artist in crisis, it was time for Kevin Smith to experiment. The new picture shows that he has decidedly distanced himself from his past and, quoting one of the characters, "now things will be serious." Given that since the days of Clerks and Dogma, the author’s cynicism towards the viewer has only progressed, reaching the point where it is not just not funny, but a little creepy, then perhaps it is time to scare literally.
Canons of the genre of teenage slasher have long been known to everyone, the director does not seek after the 4th “Screams” Wes Craven convincingly motivates 3 teenagers to go on a murder trip. The dramatic beginning is succinctly formulated with the phrase: “Bitches want to fuck”, and schoolchildren, who as always are depicted by high-aged accelerators, rush towards group sex with a 38-year-old individual (Melissa Leo is a winner of last year’s Oscar for her role in the film “The Fighter”). Having decided for themselves that the old woman is early to write off and she still has “great boobs”, the guys drink carefully offered beer with cloffeline and politely praise the situation in her trailer. From now on, everything, as promised, becomes very serious. A group of religious fanatics sentenced them to death for sexual lack of principle.
Seriously, however, no more than any conditional film by the Coen brothers. Smith borrowed from them an atmosphere of provincial American lawlessness, diluted with cynical humor and lashy, unexpected and inventive violence. There are no giblets in the frame, everything is very restrained and very spectacular, who and how will die is not clear almost to the very end, which suggests that the director coped perfectly with the main problem of predictability of horror films. Purely eliminated the sluggish order in the program of audience expectations, where a botanist is killed behind a furry chick, then a couple of blacks and domestic animals, after which the most disposable character, stained with blood and dirt, emerges from the forest in the light of the headlights of a rescue truck. In part, this is decided by the fact that there are simply no disposed characters: three infanta, each of whom is ready for group sex with a single prostitute in front of friends, but is not able to come to their aid in mortal danger. The most positive of them is a slippery emo-goth, which differs little from the faggot according to the director, tactfully voiced by the lips of a religious fanatic.
Smith easily plays in Tarantino territory, especially in terms of understanding the real desires of the audience, which are sometimes not obvious to her due to the usual routine of perception of genre cinema. The famous episode of Pulp Fiction, where Bruce Willis escapes from rape by bikers and suddenly gets the opportunity to choose a weapon of revenge, turned into a scene with an arsenal of fanatics, where fate threw one of the cowardly virgins, adjusted for the unhealthy cynicism of the director who has long forgotten how to joke.
However, Smith gets carried away at times. There are characters that are taken out of the game completely randomly, stray bullets: someone with a recognizable face, violating the expectation of a meaningful role, after a couple of replicas is destroyed simply to maintain the viewer's tone, and some are deleted from the narrative due to the excessive interest of the audience in their further fate, which the author did not think through.
There are problems with the rhythm of dialogue, which migrated from independent comedies about talkative losers, and with the role of John Goodman, very old and similar to close-up plans for Chernomyrdin. One of his solid output falls from the heels of scenes of conversations on the mobile phone about the bureaucratic intricacies of the FBI.
To say a new word in the genre needs something more than spectacular reprisals and plot moves. In the huge, at first glance, space for maneuver between, relatively speaking, Marcus Nispel, who reshoots and pretzels dusty horror stories of past years under the strict production eye of Michael Bay, and Wes Craven, who mocks the limitations of genre clichés and dissects suspense, Kevin Smith just begins to stand out. Horror turns out to be the author’s statement on the super topical topic of the fight against terrorism with an attempt at anthropological generalizations.
Pure journalism suddenly comes to the fore instead of the anticipated spectacular showdown, and the spectacular triple finale is terribly cocky with speculative conclusions and stupidly pronounced meaning in the end. Nevertheless, the message is clear, which, of course, is commendable. For a long time, America has not been trolled so much, albeit a little fat, on the topic of the fight against terrorism and their own divine choice.
Kevin Smith, in addition to pictures from his universe, sometimes makes such fast and painfully relevant films. The Red State falls into the latter category. His “Fang” is going to come out soon, a project of this kind. I look forward to it.
Positioned as a horror film, the film, in its kind, is. But it's Stephen King-style horror. Well, one of his manifestations. There is no mysticism and no open monster. There are just people. And that's the worst part.
If you don't know anything about the tape, you're just fucking as you watch it. Every minute it heats up. And at the end of the day, you just want to howl. Or just sit and shut up with your mouth open, like John Goodman's hero.
I was forced to revisit this film again by an episode of the animated series South Park. There, a detachment of the ATF bureau present in this tape stormed the house where the party was held. After reading about the episode, I learned that it was based on the siege of Mount Carmel. The Branch of David had too many weapons. In my head immediately popped up “Red state”.
John Goodman's character may even mention the incident. However, this time everything went better. More or less.
The second decisive factor that anchored this film is Pastor Fred Phelps. Michael Parks played his role beautifully. He's such a fucking powerful man! And the final shot with his participation is another action.
The picture turned out to be so relevant that some people still have blood from the crevices. Smith ripped a boil, and did it subtly. Whatever happens on the screen.
The dialogue at the end of the film was long, informative, unexpected, philosophical and very frank. The scene could have passed without words. Only the last sentence should be left.
I watched the film in the "correct translation" of Mikhail "Kyberpunk" Yarotsky. A wonderful work that will allow you to evaluate the film truly and without husks. Especially the last sentence in the last scene. And everything else, too.
A very hostile domestic terrorist cell was discovered.
9 out of 10
This movie should have been directed by Tarantino. He could make a candy out of it. And so...
The film seems to have come to us from among the mid-budget horror movies of the late 80s-90s. Still the same twitchy, not for a long time not focused picture, about the same image of shootings. Only a modern problem.
As such, there is no atmosphere in the film, although there is one atmospheric scene when members of this sect kill a homosexual. But somehow, before and after this scene, nothing really catches. So you don't really care about heroes.
And there is nothing terrible in this film, except for the frightening obsession of these incomprehensible sectarians. Basically, if you do not take into account children, all victims are impersonal, so you do not want to worry about them.
I want to say that the idea of the film is quite problematic. We can even distinguish two problems - homosexuality and the attitude of religion towards it and the execution of orders at all costs. The topics are less revealed, only somehow it is not clear what to do with them and what morality the viewer should take out of them.
The actors are very mediocre. Only John Goodman and Michael Parks are happy. They were able to create some pretty good characters.
I don’t know who to recommend this film to. For horror lovers, there’s nothing particularly scary about the movie. For lovers of drama, there is no special drama, everything is just like three pennies. For action fans, there are several shootouts, but there is no special action in the film. So I suggest you look for something else.
Quentin Tarantino liked this film so much. The picture is strong script, and the script is strong not only for its unpredictability, but also a radically new attitude to the viewer.
Traditionally, a "revenge" direction has formed in cinema, suggesting that if a person does something very bad, the writer will not defend him. In other words, if a maniac dies, then the viewer should not feel sorry for him at all. For example, when Butch hit Marcellus Wallace in his car (in Pulp fiction), hardly anyone felt sorry. There was no pity for Marcellos when he found himself with two freaks in a dark room, a few scenes later.
And Kevin Smith plays great with the audience. It seems that he designated the villains, and the viewer is preparing to drink Coke and snack with a snack, waiting for the next gangfight, when suddenly everything changes dramatically. And we understand that we have villains in front of us, but they become pathetic. Moreover, everything turned out so clearly that without Antoine Saint-Exupery it is impossible to understand.
You have the right to interrupt me and ask a question about the film. There's no answer. At the same time, it is a violent action movie about a Protestant sect, a conspiracy film about the abuse of power by the special services and a youth horror (aka Hostel). At the same time, Kevin Smith stylistically adheres to the style of Dogma and Burn After Reading. And as an exquisite spice, the viewer is offered a cocktail of “zero tolerance”. There will be a lot of banter about gays, religion and the Patriot Act.
A special bonus is the play of actors. There will be no stars of the first magnitude and rightly, against the background of not too well-known actors, the characteristic and flawlessly played parts of John Goodman and Melissa Leo stand out as Mars against the background of Phobos and Deimos.
It will give the tape a whistling that almost all the heroes here will lie to themselves. Boys who want to have fun will consider a blatantly ugly woman sexy; homophobic parishioners of the church will undertake to punish guys whose sexual orientation will be undeniably traditional; special services will violate the laws with a special bias, etc.
This is a very watchable, difficult and sharp film that only seems to be shot in the genre of “action”. If you look closely, Kevin Smith shot a philosophical parable veiled under pop art, a caustic philippine on modern society. Another thing that could be done more gracefully (then I would have put the assessment higher), but without my assessment, the picture appeared very, very solid.
Before viewing, PS would recommend typing Fred Phelps’ name into a search engine and finding out why his name is so famous all over the world. This is definitely not going to happen.
The Red State is an anti-religious thrash horror with a homophobic bias. It is not recommended for viewing believers and doubting atheists, although for various reasons the picture should be familiarized with both.
Kevin Smith's low-budget authorial film, which has previously proved itself in the frivolous genre, is an example of American independent film and directorial obsession with his work. The creator of the film “Zack and Miri shoot porn” this time swung at pseudo-Christian fundamentalists and told the story of Baptist Church figures who are engaged in the physical extermination of homosexuals in favor of “God”.
At the center of all this blasphemy is the charismatic pastor Ebin Cooper (Michael Parks), who interprets Scripture to the extent of his corruption. The monk is convinced that only homosexuals are a source of environmental pollution, and therefore are subject to total cleansing. He is surrounded by zombified “brothers and sisters”, whose faces did not flinch when another ritual murder took place. In the sect idiotically get three hormonally unstable teenagers who met a 38-year-old parishioner of the church on the site of intimate dating. Trying to escape the “Last Judgment”, children use their instinct of self-preservation by 99.99%.
The prototype of Ebin Cooper allegedly became Fred Phelps, proclaimer of the slogan “God Hate Fags” and spiritual leader of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Americans talked about the innocent death of Matthew Shepard, who was bullied only because of his non-traditional sexual orientation. Kevin Smith, only partially based on real events, deprives the history of any positive characters, erases the boundaries of good and evil, brings to the picture the cruelest scenes in which all the value of human life is ignored.
Kevin Smith, no matter who says something, still remains the main satirist of our time along with Todd Solondz. But if “Happiness” and “Storytelling” by Solondz, for all their sarcasticness, were and remain one of the saddest films about Americans mired in complexes and reflections, then such films as “Clerks”, “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” despite the fact that they contained sad notes, are almost the most ridiculous examples of satire both American and global. But, of course, Smith shot and filmed mostly about America. The director’s new film is also about America. But Smith didn’t joke about it.
That's what makes you look bad. The fact that Smith made a thriller, at first perceived as: “Silent Bob made a parody of a thriller, because he would never...” But the first forty minutes of the movie is a thriller. Who only pretends to be a youth thriller. Because few of the younger generation are seriously afraid of the sermon that the hero of Michael Parks pushes before his parishioners (by the way, a delightful acting job). That's exactly what Smith is afraid of. And so in the sermon, despite its radical nature, there is a lot to agree with. Apparently, this is what troubles Quiet Bob – much uttered by the mouths of people he fears and fights is not alien to him.
And in the second half of the film begins... the second half of the film, which is logical. But, much less expected, it is very different from the first. If in the first part we had to think about the actions of the hero Parks and try to somehow condemn him from the point of view of morality, then in the second part we are also invited to evaluate and sentence the hero of the simply incomparable John Goodman here - is it right for him to unquestioningly follow the orders of his superiors, no matter how harsh they were? Or should he sacrifice his career and position to save the innocent? Are they as innocent as they seem?
In the end, according to Smith, everything is to blame. He does not divide society or condemn parts of it. If something is wrong, it is the fault of the whole mechanism, not a single gear. Radical point of view, of course. But somehow you believe her. You believe as much as Parkes' sermons and Goodman's orders. You believe it because it's a perfectly constructed film. And yes, at the end of the day, Smith jokes, even blacker than usual. The time of troubled foul-mouthed Jay is over. It’s time for the Apocalypse (watch Kevin Smith’s last night of “Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell,” where he talks about the second ending of “Red State” – I assure you, this has never happened anywhere else). It's also a tough, angry, but smart satire on the... Yeah, everyone.
It’s definitely Kevin Smith’s best movie at the moment, and for me it’s a real modern classic.
10 out of 10
P.S. And yet, Smith can’t be serious for too long: the recently mentioned one of the best examples of stand-up “Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell”, and in the uncertain future, after the sports drama “Hit Somebody” (expected in the coming 2013), we are waiting for the triumphant (I hope so) return of Smith’s favorite characters in the film “Clerks III”. Thank God!
Kevin Smith has literally put an end to his directorial career, but here’s the cross, perhaps the key word in this case. The director himself, demonstrating the “Red State” goes along the paths of “Dogma”, and also opens new pages, goes from the comedy genre to a dramatic thriller, which still has Smith’s handwriting, a kind of humor, but there is no Jay and Silent Bob, and this is for the best, because they are simply not needed here.
From the first minutes we are immersed in a rather strange atmosphere, over which the fog does not want to dissipate. There are elements of a horror film, in the spirit of “Turn the wrong way” with a trio of young guys who, of course, do not have the most “clean” goals for this night. But sexual dreams end on the most unpleasant note. Not only is a woman not one of the best, but also to wake up half-naked next to fanatics who decided to play with guys, demonstrating fundamentalism. A preacher with a strong idea speaks in church to sectarians. There are young women and children, but this does not prevent the “man with an idea” from becoming the creator of a cruel massacre of sinners, in the role of which three innocent guys acted. They just wanted to have a good evening! But Smith's attitude toward believers is, say, quite vocal, so, identical to "Dogma," he tries in some episodes to ridicule characters who are really filled with craziness. The Red State is crazy, there is no good at all. It is difficult to “sing” for anyone, since the legal side sins, and fanatics are engaged in a mass shooting from the windows of a white building. Innocents die, the building is flooded with blood - not in the spirit of Kevin Smith, but he really shoots an extraordinary film, keeping balance, although "The State" includes a rather delicious mix of genres.
The tightness, rather hectic narrative is put forward in the form of a plus of the film, and the manner of shooting is really stressful. The picture has enough one location - a church and a courtyard to create a multi-genre work. The dramatic part of the film is strong, a rather clear explanation of the social problem, but it is impossible to talk bad about the part of the thriller-action, where it was possible to deploy a good shootout, in which there is more neutrality on the part of the viewer. This uniqueness and easy loss of sympathy for the characters pleases, and how? That's right, unexplained.
Some kind of experiments at the end of a director's career is not a good thing, as a rule, it is better to end on what he started (Smith will have it, Clerks 3 is not far off), but most importantly, Kevin managed to make a film that for a certain audience will be under the banner of a "masterpiece", and it should be, independent works, as a rule, are always the deepest and "from the whole soul".
The famous merry man and balagur Kevin Smith decided to play on a new field for himself and filmed the x/f “Red State” in the genre of a psychological thriller.
Here you, and specifically you have ever thought about what is fraught with dating on the Internet. Wait, I'll clarify - dating in order to drag a new acquaintance (acquaintance) into bed? Well, for example, a beauty, seductively smiling at you from an avatar, in fact can be an old, sick, useless uncle. Or as in the case of the underage heroes of the film - a bunch of frostbitten sectarians, with a crazy priest at the head. And here they (the minor heroes (hereinafter referred to as NG)) barely recovering from the direct and side effects of claffylin, tied hand and foot, in one underside listening to the speech of the crazy padre about universal evil, which he sees (well, who would have thought) in homosexuals. One of the representatives of the sex minority is demonstratively lynched immediately. At the protesting cry of one of the NG, they say, we are not "blue", the leader of the degenerates, raising his eyes, grief and pointing a pointing finger at the brazen, says: "You are even worse." Is it not worse to share a woman with others in the same bed ..." and blah, blah, blah about the Garden with Gomorrah in particular and the sin of adultery in general.
After a while, this holiday of life is joined by a squad of special forces and a smart FBI agent and kindly asked to open the gate, they are here with a check, well, so passed by... To which the sectarians no less kindly answer from the AK-47, of which they have so much in a secret room that you can make a miniature Vietnam.
I must give Smith credit - the plot is not beaten and indulges in several unexpected, and what is there very shocking moments. The atmosphere, the suspense, everything is in place. Some scenes are slightly confused, but this can be attributed to a lack of experience and well too limited budget.
Of the actors, we note Michael Parks (the sheriff from From Dusk Till Dawn and Kill Bill), as Pastor Ebin Cooper, in which the charisma is enough for ten. Despite the obvious head problems. As well as the magnificent John Goodman (who does not need any ideas) this time tried on the uniform of a wisely experienced intelligence agent.
In general, the director is credited.
P.S. Now, I hope Mr. Smith will find a way to please us with another story about Jay and Silent Bob - I'm honestly a little bored without these two boobs.
Kevin Smith, in fact, shot the slasher, but in originality and unusualness, it really resembles, except that not so long ago, the Cabin in the Woods. What is also not typical for a slasher - I remind you, a slasher is called films in which young people go somewhere to relax, and then teenagers are killed one by one or maniacs, or some other terrible creatures - this is realism.
The film is very realistic, in that you can believe that this could happen, and these words fit the whole picture. Unusual and the antagonists of the “state”, and in general, the bundle itself. The development of the plot that you are waiting for is not here, and in this regard, there are many good unexpected turns in the film.
What else I liked is that this action was not stretched: the film looks easy, the actions change each other very quickly, and it becomes interesting at the very beginning. Again, with regard to realism: in this world, special services watch a crazy family killing people, trying to catch them, while in a hundred other films these same special services seem to not exist at all.
John Goodman plays a special forces chief, a special agent who can make a difficult decision to stay on the job, but who knows when to stop. The rest of the characters are also played perfectly, despite the fact that most of them are actors of B-movie.
A tough, strong and sometimes even funny film about religious fanatics and where they are ready to go to fulfill their not very righteous goal.
7.5 out of 10
The previous acquaintance with the work of the director Kevin Smith is difficult to call successful, the tape "Dogma" and "Double kopeck" are too different in terms of their structure to judge the overall style of the director. In addition, his paintings are primarily the author's vision, and it is impossible to attribute to the director any particular genre either.
Thriller "Red State" after viewing in most cases, the viewer will leave only question marks, but I would not dare to call it second-rate. Still with the technique Kevin Smith is friendly enough, and some corrections in the visual design of his picture does not need, judging by the general criteria of modern production, then "Red State" within its budget looks quite high quality.
This film stands out for its non-standardity, and with a similar approach in shooting, without taking into account all other success factors, no one has yet lost in this genre. Compositionally, the script of the film "The Red State" does not have its beginning and end, but, nevertheless, the action shown in the frame has its ideological message of the authors.
And for his one and a half hour period of timekeeping, the director showed from different sides all the characters. Whether this film is a kind of ridicule, or all this is nothing more than a need to stand out for originality, but Kevin Smith with such irony showed the isolation of religious fanatics, the worthlessness of police officers and the greed of teenagers.
If we already give an example in a similar genre to this film, then stylistically it resembles "Expulsion by the devil" director Rob Zombie. Most importantly, the script of this film is almost impossible to predict, events unfold in an amazing way, and the effect of surprise is used exclusively inventive techniques. Watching the film left a pleasant feeling, and the non-standardity of the picture kills any desire to look for flaws in it.
7 out of 10
Preacher c automatic The film begins as a typical slasher, and the description prepares us for it, but gradually turns into something else. A film about the moral decay of modern society. True and therefore cruel. There are no typical main or positive characters. Personally, I wasn’t on anyone’s side. All of them, to put it mildly, are scoundrels who rush to extremes, who completely lack moral values. As a bunch of religious fanatics who violate all written and unwritten precepts, so the authorities willing to kill children to avoid the fuss. And preoccupied teenagers are not without sins, able to abandon their friend to save their ass. It's terrible all this... Kevin Smith made a good horror movie. Unconventional and interesting. Great cast. Cinema veterans John Goodman and Michael Parks, recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo and young Kyle Gallner, remembered for the new Nightmare on Elm Street and Ghosts in Connecticut. Action scenes and camera work at the level. So, the translation from the cubes to the place. 8 out of 10 Original
A picture of how you can “overstep the stick” from good intentions.
The film, based on which at first glance a rather trivial plot: ordinary American teenagers, as usual, went looking for adventures on their own. Typical stamp for youth cinema. But no! Just one unexpected turn of events radically changes the conjuncture of the film. This film is not about how to kill everyone in 88 minutes, and it is not about the perverse entertainment of modern youth. This cliché is just taken under the foundation, as a kind of foundation on which a really worthwhile, independent film is built!
What can be said about the plot: three short-sighted “teenagers” in the hope of satisfying their libido, go to meet with an adult woman, but fall into the hands of a fanatical preacher who for the sake of good intentions lead humanity on the right path, is ready to use the most extreme methods.
Of course, the actions of Pastor Ebin Cooper cannot be justified, but gradually, closer to the climax of the film, the viewer begins to understand the ideology of this fanatical minister of the church: indeed, the world is going to hell! The minds of young people are guided only by primitive instincts that leave no room for common sense and morality. Sexual minorities are seen as the norm. Few people remember what is written in the Bible. Writer and director Kevin Smith, in a way, tries to open the eyes of our lost society by exemplifying the extremes of Cooper and his followers. But this is not agitation of illegal actions, because of religious beliefs. It is much easier to reach people’s minds by displaying an alternative version of their behavior. It turns out that one extreme gave rise to another.
Of course, this is not the first film to reflect a misunderstood religious idea. Remember Gregory Dark’s film “See No Evil.” But Smith, unlike Darhk, does not celebrate the cult of violence. In his painting, this is more a necessity than the whim of a sick fantasy. That is why the viewer constantly maintains a contradictory balance of feelings - this is the realization of a certain amount of truth in Cooper's words, but at the same time pity for innocent guys. After all, no matter how you turn, and Ebin Cooper overstepped the stick and bent - strongly!
The cast was also pleased: each character is organic and natural in its role. Michael Parks did a great job of portraying a crazed, unquestioning pastor. Melissa Leo is also convincing in the role of his adamant and categorical supporter. John Goodman has a secondary role, but it is his phrase, in conversation with the cops, becomes key to the meaning of the film. I would also like to mention the play of Kyle Gallner, who I have seen in several films, and who gives the makings of a very not bad actor.
As Quentin Tarantino said, “It’s a great movie.” It is a must-see for everyone!
P.S. But don’t take everything too literally! After all, this is not so much a film about theology as about contradictory and not always true ideas about it.
The fears of Kevin Smith Kansas is not the reddest state in the U.S. - much more votes Republicans have in Utah or Idaho. But it is in Kansas that the independent Westboro Baptist Church is located, no more than a hundred members of which are united not only by close blood ties, but also by the charismatic pastor Fred Phelps, who became the prototype of Ebin Cooper - perhaps the most striking character of the film "Red State". Phelps became famous as the creator of the slogan “God Hate Fags”, which finally quarreled with at least the LGBT community and buried the career of a politician from the Democratic Party. The scandalous slogan sets the tone for Kevin Smith’s film in many ways, fueling an atmosphere of hatred that gives the term “red state” far from political meaning. The horror of what is happening on the screen is incompatible with any satire, even if it was initially present in the plan of the filmmakers. Smith delves into horror as much as possible within a given framework. The radical sect cleanses the land of any abomination passing by in the most direct and proven way, local authorities and security forces are buried under dozens of skeletons from the cabinets of their offices and houses, and an unexpected trumpet voice makes you remember about natural disasters that are getting closer and closer to the homes of the confident middle class every day. The fact that three very concerned young men – “our” according to the logic of horror – without a shadow of a doubt consider themselves to be in this very middle class, completely aggravates the situation. Kevin Smith, speaking about his film, said that all these things are really scary, but no one will say that it really happened to him. The Red State openly and unabashedly creates myths about modern America, similar to those that circulated among whites during black racial segregation. Only now, passing by the corresponding area, you will notice not a black ghetto full of sorcerers and drug addicts, but a den of intolerant thugs marked with many crosses. Paradoxically, comedy master Smith lacks the irony to rise above the situation and create something like what he noticed in Tarantino’s films, which, apparently, he equaled in preparing his first horror. To my surprise, I came across the first Kevin Smith movie I wanted to talk about seriously. It is in the “Red State” that carefree talk about sex is interrupted in the most drastic way. Caught in the lair of unpredictable fanatics, Smith, like three loving young men, falls into a brooding stupor. 4 out of 10 Original