Weekly Theme

Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

From filmnoirstudies.com

Anti-Hero -  "The principal protagonist of a film who lacks the attributes or characteristics of a typical hero, but with whom the audience identifies"

I just watched Branded to Kill by Seijun Suzuki the other night. It was a really good movie and I realized how much I like the way he writes his characters. This movie was about Hanada, a Japanese hit-man with a rice-sniffing habit. The anti-heroic element is obvious in this one but I also realized how much Story of a Prostitute and Gate of Flesh were anti-hero films as well. You know, the proverbial "hooker with a heart of gold" type of a story.

You find this in noir quite a bit. It almost seems manditory that the private eye have some sort of extra-marital affair and/or drinking problem.... or he's just a jerk. Probably my favorite example is Jake Gittes in Chinatown.

Oh and you can't forget the western genre. There may have never been a better anti-hero than "Blondie" in the "man with no name" trilogy.

Kurt Russel makes a pretty good sci-fi anti-hero. Just think of Snake in Escape from New York or Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China.

That's all I've got, who's your favorite anti-hero????????? TELL ME NOW!!

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

Great theme Leeroy!

The Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal Lector

Sick, perverse yet you can't help rooting for him to get out of prison.

A Clockwork Orange - Alex DeLarge

Again, sick and perverse but you're still rooting for the bastard.

The Professional - Leon

Minimalist. Botanist. Cold-blooded killer.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Max

You thought he wasn't gonna help those aboriginal kids, didn't you!

Natural Born Killers - Mickey & Mallory Knox

Bring on the arguments, but I loved this cute little couple.

Kill Bill - Beatrix Kiddo

Trained assassin that shows (almost) no mercy. Great female anti-hero.

Pitch Black - Riddick

Great role for Vin Diesel. He barely spoke the entire film.

Constantine - John Constantine

Smoker. Sinner. Blasphemer. Suicidal. But still cool a pretty cool guy.

Hellboy - Anung un Rama, The Beast of the Apocalypse

Again, smoker, blasphemer, jerk. But really nice to pyrokinetics, cats and the occasional human baby.

From Dusk Till Dawn - Seth Gecko

Mass murderer. Kidnapper. Bank Robber. But we all still think he's badass. Even if it is George Clooney.

Brick - Brenden Frye

Loner. Plays rough with the ladies. Blackmailer. Smart little hard-boiled detective.

Point of No Return - Maggie Hayward

Druggie. Runaway. B*#$h. But really likable towards the end.

The Fifth Element - Korben Dallas

Complete a*&#@le but does good and gets the alien chick.

The Crow - Eric Draven

Goth freak vigilante revenant (?) serial killer. But the good kind.

Fight Club - Tyler Durden

Thief. Terrorist. Womanizer. Soap Maker. Made every straight man just a little gay with his abnormally perfect abdominal muscles.

The Boondock Saints - Connor & Murphy McManus

Blah. Blah. Murderers. Blah. Blah. Alcoholics. Blah. Blah. Inspirational Vigilantes.

Sin City - Marv

Brutish ogre with a soft spot for big breasted woman.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

Merc took all of my ideas! (At least that's my story)

I honestly am having trouble with this one. Maybe I just don't know what a traditional hero is. I kind of see all heros as being fucked up in one way or another. Perhaps the whole greek tragedy with their flawed hero characters has stuck with me since high school.

I'll go with some anime for now -

Gutz - from Berserk

Van - from Gun X Sword

Dracula - from Hellsing

Himura Kenshin - from Rurouni Kenshin

Rock - from Black Lagoon

Lelouche - from Code Geass

Spike - from Cowboy Bebop

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

Interesting anime picks:)

Here are some others I thought of:

Harry Callahan from Dirty Harry

He's so likeable that most people probably wouldn't even peg him as an anti-hero, but when you think about it, he really boils down to a vigilante.    Indeed, Eastwood took so much crap for it that the sequel had him firmly rebuffing real vigilantes.  He's a "the ends justify the means" kinda guy though, which lands him on this list:)

'Mad' Max Rockatansky from Mad Max and The Road Warrior

 A good guy who is twisted by vengeance, etc... but eventually comes back to do the right thing.

Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver

Ok, so he's a little weird and some may have trouble relating to him, but he's really just exaggerated for effect. I think there's a little of Travis Bickle in everyone.  He's basically a good guy and wants to do good in the world, he just doesn't know how to do that...

Henry Hil from Goodfellas

You can totally understand and relate to this guy, even though he's clearly a lowlife scumbag gangster:p

Sanjuro in Yojimbo and Sanjuro

I totally agree with the previous choice of The Man With No Name, and Sanjuro is basically the same character (after all, A Fistful of Dollars is basically the same as Yojimbo)

Neil McCauley and for that matter, Lt. Vincent Hanna from Heat

Flip sides of a coin, these are both likeable and flawed characters.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

mciocco:

 

Sanjuro in Yojimbo and Sanjuro

I totally agree with the previous choice of The Man With No Name, and Sanjuro is basically the same character (after all, A Fistful of Dollars is basically the same as Yojimbo)

 

I could have probably done a whole week just on Kurosawa anti-heros. Think of Koichi Nishi in The Bad Sleep Well. Another character completely motivated by revenge.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

rjsprague:

Merc took all of my ideas! (At least that's my story)

I honestly am having trouble with this one.

Hehe, sorry about that. I went a little crazy with this one. I'll make sure to limit my future posts to allow others a chance to contribute.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

Don't hold back Merc. Let it all out. 

Anyway, I have been kind of thinking for a long time that all Christopher Nolan leads are kind of anti-heros, if not from the beginning, definitely by the end of the movie. Usually they are in love with a girl who ends up dying and they are consumed by the need for revenge. I think Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight all follow this pattern.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

   Charlie Bronson in ALL of the  Death Wish  movies as well as  The Dirty Doizen  and  The Magnificent Seven  and   The White Buffalo  and  Once Upon A Time In The West  AND  Mr. Majestyk  AND  The Mechanic  AND  From Noon Till Three ...

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

I'm a bit late to the game here, but Darkman fits the mold of anti-hero--he seems to alternately wreak havoc and kill bad guys.  But, it is a Sam Raimi B-movie, so pretty much anything goes.  And he's one ugly ****.

Re:Weekly Theme for December 1: The Anti-Hero

leeroy711:

Oh and you can't forget the western genre. There may have never been a better anti-hero than "Blondie" in the "man with no name" trilogy.

Yeah and pretty much any subsequent Clint Eastwood western or Spaghetti Western.

And yeah Quentin Tarantino pretty much writes all anit-heros.  That's because the grindhouse B-movie type of movies that he is inspired by is driven by them.

Bonnie and Clyde would be a good major release example though.