Watchmen: A Clock Without A Craftsman

(Zack Snyder): I felt like there was a way to turn those moments that I loved from the graphic novel into a movie. A movie that was, um... ...unusual and interesting and... ...self-reflective and... ...I felt like that movie was there. (Dr. Manhattan): They claim their job is to build a heaven... ...but their heaven is filled with horrors. Maybe the world is not made. Maybe nothing will be done. A watch without a

craftsman

. It's too late. Always has been. It will always be... ...too late. -As I approach Watchmen I remember the movie: Adaptation written by existentialist screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

The film is about existentialist screenwriter Charlie Kaufman who fails to adapt the real-life book: The Orchid Thief. Charlie struggles with the Hollywood system, artistic purity, and receives script advice from real-life speakers and a fictional brother, while recounting how little of the book he can actually adapt to film and occupying the rest of the film with his goal. script on scripts. (Narrating): I need to tackle this project head on... (Robert Mckee): And God help you if you use voiceover in your work, my friends! May God help you! It is flabby and sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voiceover to explain a character's thoughts. -Adaptation is a movie about movies, and it should just be a movie.

It shows what movies are capable of, like how Charlie's world becomes dramatic and action-packed to comment on the exciting last act of a traditional script. Or the way Charlie describes the beginning of his script is exactly how the movie begins. -We open our Charlie Kaufman! Fat, old, bald, repulsive, sitting in a Hollywood restaurant across from Valerie Thomas, a—a charming, statuesque movie executive. -And maybe it shows the limitations of cinema where he honestly can't find a way to make a movie about flowers... -The--the book has no story. There is no story! -Okay, invent one. - ...and you have to complement it with other things like fantasizing about the author.

So what does this have to do with Watchmen? Well, artist Dave Gibbons describes the graphic novel as a comic about comics. (Sally Jupiter): He sent me a souvenir. It's a Tijuana Bible, that little eight-page porn comic they made in the '30s and '40s. -The comic goes to great lengths to use narrative devices that only comics can use. For example, use still images to your advantage. In Chapter 11, Adrian Veidt poisons a group of men, except there's no movement to indicate they're dead, which leaves a surprise you're not looking for. An actor can act still, but Adrian would move, Bubastis would move, the fountain would move, so the illusion is not the same.

The comic is structured in a nine-panel grid that establishes a particular rhythm. So, when that rhythm is broken, it shows. In the chapter "Fearful Symmetry," from beginning to end the panels and compositions are mirrored, culminating in a triumphant double page spread. And several characters receive unique speech bubbles that don't exactly indicate their voice, but rather a mood. For example, when Rorschach speaks in flashbacks and without his mask, his bubble is normal. But the modern, deranged Rorschach speaks irregularly. It is possible that a film could portray this with voice inflections: (Rorschach): Not in this for the ink. -But it is more difficult to retain information.

For example, Hooded Justice's identity is never revealed in the graphic novel. Hollis Mason wonders if this is a German bodybuilder who disappears around the same time, but nothing is confirmed. Looking at the speech bubble gives you no clues, for or against, or indication of accent. But if a character has to talk in the movie... (German accent): You little bastard! - ...you can't hide anything. But technicalities aside, a story is a story, right? Filmmakers should be able to take the themes, images, and characters and create a story in a new medium. Zack Snyder has been praised for his film adaptation of Watchmen, praised for his meticulous devotion to the source material, perfectly recreating the production design and transplanting the dialogue, resulting in a three and a half hour Ultimate Cut.

But perhaps it is emptier than appearances. -I would only agree that a symbolic

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is as nourishing to the intellect as a photograph of oxygen is to a drowning man. -Like Adaptation, some stories are more than just events and are inseparable from the intended medium. Or as author Alan Moore writes: So what is the artistic integrity of Watchmen? Well, first of all, the book is not just a comic. At the end of each chapter is a section of prose, whether personal letters, psychological profiles, or excerpts from a book. For me, it's not about information, but about reading written material from this world.

The film makes references to Hollis Mason's book: -He wrote that book. In it some bad things are said about the comedian. -But I don't have the same feeling as sitting down to read a chapter about a fictional character. There is a kind of joy in reading an interview with Adrian Veidt and seeing "laughter" in parentheses, a detail that only exists in print. Sure, an actor can laugh... if he wants to. But even the location, moments after he's killed millions of people, makes everything he says so powerful. Or small details like spelling errors in the Rorschach psychiatric report.

Or security lines in the New Frontiersman. The book imparts a collage, separate stories working together to create a whole, not unlike Dr. Manhattan's perception of time. A symbolic ability of comics is to display multiple images on one page. As you look around the page, you can look forward and back in time, but wherever you focus, you are reading in the present. Dr. Manhattan talks about the past and the pending in the present tense because everything happens simultaneously. (Dr. Manhattan): It's 1958 and I'm graduating with a PhD in atomic physics. The gears are falling. -Zack Snyder takes advantage of the comic's iconic images, but ignores many of the cinematographic resources that Dave Gibbons uses.

In The Birth of Dr. Manhattan, his backstory is framed in ten seconds of dropping a photograph, back and forth in time. I don't see how Zack Snyder resisted the temptation to film something in slow motion and cut to it every thirty seconds. The same goes for Laurie and John's conversation on Mars, interspersed with a spilling bottle of shiny Nostalgia, until the present finally catches up with the image. Laurie eventually discovers that the Comedian is her father and throws the bottle, nostalgia being a great symbol of her memories, instead of hitting the glass. -No! No! No! -There is also a sequence where Rorschach walks unmasked.

To keep his identity a secret, we are shown his point of view. I think it would be interesting if there was a long continuous shot of GoPro footage and strangers reacted to it as it passed by. And, of course, there's Black Freighter, a comic within a comic that symbolically reflects Adrian's delusional superiority over humanity. (The Sailor): Noble intentions had led me to atrocity. The righteous anger that fueled my ingenious and terrible plan was nothing more than an illusion. -The film attempts to add several animated segments in the Ultimate Cut, and at times it works to provide a moment of pause.

But when you divorce it from the original context, the idea of ​​a comic about comics, it suddenly seems random to sit down and watch some animation, especially when it interrupts the narrative. (Zack Snyder): They don't interrupt the flow of the narrative because they don't have to. Because you are going to do it. It's a choice you make. Where, if I were to do that, it's a clumsy tool for a filmmaker to like... at that point, you're in the middle of the most dramatic part of the movie and you're like, "Oh, wait! Wait, wait, wait, Wait. Let me go back and explain why this happens this way.” -See the purpose is to be a commentary on comics.

Technically, you can show a panel of the news vendor, then a panel of the comic, and vice versa, even using lettering on other panels to indicate the continuation of the black freighter. Thematically, it's about comic book history. Real-life artists like Joe Orlando, as well as companies like EC Comics and DC Comics, are mentioned in Watchmen. In a fictional article about the Black Freighter, the author says: "In the final scenes, thanks to the interaction of texts and images, we see that the Sailor, although he has escaped from his island, is ultimately abandoned from the rest of humanity. a much more terrible way." So what does Snyder gain by transplanting an idea from the book without the intended commentary? (Zack Snyder): We made the Black Freighter separately;

I wanted to do it. But we didn't really design it to be woven into the film, so we did it as a kind of improvisation. Although it's going pretty, pretty well, I just, I feel like I-I-- I never felt like it was 100%, you know, completely organic. -Could you have used different cinematographic styles that really meant something? He could have played with proportions to represent different time periods, like the Grand Budapest Hotel. The comic frames the first sex scene in which Adrian Veidt does stunts on television. (Announcer): ...and he just looks at the confidence as he jumps and grabs the bar.

It's all a smooth, fluid flow of motion... (Dan): Uh, I can't seem to... -The comic uses news footage of Dr. Manhattan, but the movie doesn't. Sally Jupiter had a movie deal that fell through, but the movie chooses to reference the Tijuana Bible. The Black Freighter is basically a commentary on how real life affects our media. In Watchmen, real-life superhero comics like Superman exist, but they've gone out of style because the Minutemen and eventually the Crimebusters really exist. And readers don't want to read about real life. That's why when Adrian says... -I'm not a comic book villain. - ...it doesn't work at all.

The point of the original line is that... well, he's a comic book villain, sort of. It represents a ridiculous Silver Age plot that actually works, so ridiculous that Dan doesn't believe it. And that's why I feel like Zack Snyder misinterprets Watchmen's comments about superheroes. Alan Moore says: Zack Snyder, through his visuals, his pacing, and his artistic choices, has adopted the perspective of Hollis Mason, who has a romantic idea of ​​superheroes. -This is the left hook that knocked down Captain Axis, remember? -Look, the reality is that for anyone who decides to go out in costume to beat criminals, it is inherently strange.

The book goes to great lengths to satirize the glamor of superhero tropes. Dollar Bill's cape gets caught in a revolving door and he is shot dead. Dan loses a criminal because he has to pee. Even flashy, extravagant costumes are part of the goal. They are meant to look stupid. Dan says his glasses are corny. When Silk Specter saves citizens in a house fire, someone compares his outfit to pajamas. And the way Dan and Rorschach race to Adrian's nursery on snow segways... ...is cute. This is the point of Watchmen: dressing up is silly. (Zack Snyder): People have always said that "superheroes are ridiculous, you know, like we have people in costumes, like they walk around." And I say, really?

You know, you look at that shot and you think, wow, I guess you know, we accepted the Village People without batting an eyelid. We accept, you know, Ziggy Stardust without really making, you know, a big... it's just in our culture. So, I thought the superhero wouldn't have much reach after that. -I actually love the Minutemen and their costumes in the context of lampooning superheroes because they look silly. But Snyder and his costume designer, Michael Wilkinson, see the Minutemen as old-fashioned... (Michael Wilkinson): All these fantastically old-fashioned, wonderful costume techniques that you normally try to stay away from because it's the 21st century. - ...and the second generation as a modern improvement, an evolution. -We really needed to be faithful to the original designs and the time period, but I think we needed to address what my parents or my neighbors knew about superheroes and what they expected, and that kind of iconology of what a superhero is. - These costumes are beautiful.

But by making them look cool, sexy, badass, it defeats the purpose of making them pathetic. I mean, this is a book that features a right-wing article that downplays the Ku Klux Klan in comparison to superheroes. A book showing Adrian's inability to create a villain toy line without introducing an army of costumed terrorists into a Saturday morning cartoon show, looking un-ironic when half the prison attacks Silk Specter and Nite Owl. This is the downside of Zack Snyder. He can't help it. He has to look great. He has to look epic and he is. His Rorschach is a renegade, his Nite Owl glides gracefully, and his slow motion is transcendent, but it's a disservice.

First of all, the slow motion... well, it slows down the movie. In any adaptation, time is money. There is a lot of material, and even withthree and a half hours, the film is still missing important dialogue-driven scenes, sacrificed for long action segments, bad sex scenes or painfully slow transitions, often accompanied by music. (Laurie): Dan Dreiberg's table. -So in the scene, Zack Snyder is forced to use extended shots that match the music, but we're not learning anything new about the characters or the situation. I re-edited this scene and was able to shave forty seconds off the running time and I think it actually improves the pacing. (Dr.

Manhattan): You know, I can't. Then you'll call Dan... which is natural. You deserve the comfort of an old friend. -And in addition to enriching the film, slow motion glorifies the characters. Slow motion looks great. People hit in slow motion. People jump and dive in slow motion, and it almost makes it look like they have superpowers. They do not do it. I saw the movie before reading the comic and at that moment I asked myself: what are his superpowers? Because they go through walls. They do pirouettes and acrobatic jumps. They shoot them without being hit. And Adrian takes a bullet without explanation.

That's why I don't see Zack Snyder's version as a realistic superhero movie as it's often described. For me, realistic doesn't mean massacring someone in a violent, graphic, brutal way, but rather showing how pathetic superheroes really are in the face of that violence. Our perspective of superheroes is informed by Rorschach's perspective. (Rorschach): Why are so few of us remaining active... healthy... and free of personality disorders? -Shame on people who gave up, even though he's the coolest character in the movie. You can tell that Zack Snyder loves the Rorschach. From what the movie conveys, these are all well-intentioned characters who never got their chance. -Well, what I want to say is... we had it too easy.

It wasn't fair what happened to you guys who picked up where we left off, with Nixon forcing you to leave! -And those who gave up... (Rorschach): You gave up! - ...or drank until they retired are the pathetic ones. -Daisy flower? -Think about the opening. Comedian takes a savage beating? Or is it a glamorous fight where the Comedian comes out like a champion? (Det. Gallagher): Edward Blake. Sixty-seven years old. 6'2". A solid 225. (Det. Gallagher): The guy was built like a linebacker. -Yeah, I saw the body. For a guy his age, he was in excellent shape. (Det. Gallagher): You I mean, other than being dead? -That's plate glass.

You'd have to hit the gas just to crack it (Det. Gallagher): It had to have been thrown. -By structuring the scene this way I've eliminated three. minutes and a half, the police scene is more engaging, more faithful to the book, and better suited to the theme: a sad old man beaten to death without a single moment of triumph. I would compare the film to something like Eyes Wide Shut, where everything is. witty and hypnotic. And I would compare the book to a parody of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Dennis): What the hell is this place? Are you taking me to this? -This is a buffet -Well, I can see it's a buffet, but?

Why is there a buffet like a fucking orgy, Frank? -Well, you don't want to fuck on an empty stomach, do you? I don't want to fuck any of these people anyway! They are all shocking, strange and old. (Frank): It's not noticeable under the masks. (Dennis): I can absolutely say that! -The other important aspect of the book is the imminent nuclear holocaust. The film addresses many of the broad strokes quite well. There is impending doom, paralyzing fear, but a subtle quality of the book is overlooked: numbness. There's a certain attitude reminiscent of Slaughterhouse-Five, where protagonist Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time.

Having this objective view of reality, seeing the beginning and the end of everything, causes some to shrug their shoulders at death and decay. Every time someone dies, Billy Pilgrim says, "That's right." He sounds a lot like Dr. Manhattan, but ordinary citizens do the same thing too. There are all the warnings in the world about the apocalypse, but even when things get bad, there is still the assumption that the world will still be here, that if we survive Hiroshima, we can survive anything. (Oppenheimer): Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds. After World War II, we healed and limped forward, and there are reminders of where we have been.

Graffiti in an alley shows a couple hugging, silhouetted, and reminds Dr. Malcolm of the aftermath of Hiroshima, where the shadows were left behind. But despite that, the colors are bright, passion is encouraged, and Adrian builds a nursery in the middle of a frozen wasteland. The film seems prepared for war. It's dark, moody, rainy and everyone seems miserable. -It's a dark movie. So you see some of these sets and you know, they're lit really dark. There's that advantage where you keep the sets very dark, but you still want to show off how amazing they are. -But life seems to go on until it doesn't... (Dr.

Manhattan): Even if I wanted to help, my future is blocked by some kind of temporal interference. I can't see it clearly. (Laurie): Interference? Caused by what? (Dr. Manhattan): In all likelihood... ...nuclear holocaust. If the United States and the Soviet Union engage in an all-out war, the resulting shock wave would produce a sudden explosion of tachyons, particles that travel backwards through what you perceive as time, thus obscuring my view of the present. ...I said leave me alone! -So if Watchmen is not the faithful adaptation in spirit, does it work on its own? In many ways, yes. It is competent and well put together.

I would say that the movie makes some improvements over the book, mainly until the end. Rorschach's death is more emotional... -Do it! -No! - ...just like Hollis Mason's. I love that Dan has an emotional breakdown instead of immediately committing. -You have not idealized humanity, but you have... you have deformed it. You have mutilated him. That is your legacy. -And part of the book that I don't think works is Dan and Laurie immediately having sex so they can deal with Adrian's atrocities. Getting away and living their lives fits much better. I also appreciate Sally Jupiter's hair. This is a case where being aesthetically pleasing benefits the character.

The original Silk Specter saw the commercial benefits of heroism and used crime-fighting to launch her modeling career, so it makes sense that she looks better. Everything else tends to work by copying the original work. The film has meaning. The political alignment of the characters is clear: the right, the left and true neutrals. Dan's helplessness is directly linked to his alter ego. Laurie righteously advocates for justice on both a personal and global level, although her stance is diluted. And the morality of superheroes is perfectly called into question through the Comedian, rivaling that of any criminal. -Blake! -However, I can't say that this movie works on its own, and I don't think it works for a general audience either.

Besides being a bit weird, we're presented with a lot of material that only exists because it was in the comic. But changing an aspect or leaving something unexplained does not make any internal sense. The obvious example is Bubastis, the genetically modified lynx with no explanation as to why he is there. A subtle example is Jon's last name...-he didn't kill Osterman. -...he said he only once and in the third person. So how would an unknown audience know who you're talking about? We are presented with an alternate 1985 made possible by Dr. Manhattan's rapid technological growth. With it come electric cars and huge blimps, which appear in the film, but again without explanation.

And it is contradictory to the logic of the film. Look, Adrian and Jon are still working to solve the energy crisis. That's why at the end of the film you see the only electric car. So why does Hollis Mason's poster say he specializes in outdated models? Electronic cigarettes are also missing. They're pretty insignificant, except Laurie has to accidentally press the button on the flamethrower. In the comic, she looks for a light on the dashboard. In the movie, she just presses the button for no reason, which makes her look like an idiot. And morally Zack Snyder includes every part of the book that could be homophobic... (Rorschach): Possible homosexual.

He must investigate further. -My son is a police officer, damn faggots! -...but he leaves out all the positive gay material that could counteract it, or the reasons why someone is being homophobic. The Woman at the Riot says that because superheroes are seen as psychosexual deviants, which is easier to understand when the comedian is wearing a bondage mask. My point can be summed up in one scene: Adrian, Jon and Dan attend the comedian's funeral and each have their own flashback, but in the movie the order of the flashbacks is different, which is a perfectly acceptable change.

It's even chronological now. But they didn't change the order of the characters to match. Look, the blocking is not arbitrary. The way they stand is part of the visual storytelling, and it goes in order. By making a change but not restructuring your own scene to fit your narrative devices, you are simply parroting someone else without understanding why. And that's what Zack Snyder has created: a hollow, imitative facade that accidentally imparts meaning by adapting a meaningful book, but has no intelligence underneath, leaving a film that frustrates fans and alienates the general public. However, much like Sally's relationship with Edward Blake, he should have every reason to hate the Watchmen movie, but he doesn't. -You asked me why I wasn't angry with him.

Because he gave me you.