Natural Born Killers (Made in 1994)
When I asked Eric, who I borrowed this movie from how it was, his answer was, “I’ve never seen a film like it”.
And when I was done with the movie, I had to agree. The director’s (Oliver Stone) vision for this film is conveyed through disturbing visuals that tend to stick with you long after the film is over. You could interpret every shot or you could watch the whole movie and get the general gist, but either way, it’s not a film you are ever likely to forget.
The script was written by Quentin Tarantino, known for his movies that glorify violence and lust. These threads are woven into the entire tapestry of the film.
The closest I can get to comparisons is that this film is a cross between “Bonnie and Clyde” and “A Clockwork Orange”. The former is about a couple who goes on a robbing spree to meet a bloody end, while the latter is about a youth gang that enjoys violence and goes about robbing, raping, and otherwise gratifying their every impulse at the expense of innocents. In “A Clockwork Orange”, the anti-hero is caught and put in prison but allowed to make a choice to take part in a revolutionary new “treatment”, which if he participates in, will allow his release back in society. Without considering the consequences, he agrees, but finds that due to “conditioning”, his natural impulses like lust and greed are met with excruciating physical pain. When he does get back into society, his past actions catch up with him and he briefly pays for his sins. However, the political system and the media highlight his loss of “free will” and his treatment is reversed. In the end, he is back to being his original self.
“Natural Born Killers” is about a young girl, Mallory, abused by her father, leading a miserable life, who finds love in the hands of a delivery boy, Mickey. Together, they kill her parents and go on a murderous spree on Route 666(a not-so-subtle reference to the forces of evil), killing fifty-two people in three weeks. They are revered as youth icons by misguided youth who think they are “cool” since the couple indulges in violence for the fun of it—not for money or revenge. They both have demons in their past, which have led them to glorify violence. She often has disturbing dreams about her abuse, and he thinks about his miserable childhood, too.
They almost reach a turning point in their lives when they stop at an Indian’s house for a brief rest. The Indian tells them a tale about how his wife had rescued a snake, but the snake bit her anyway. She then asked the snake on her deathbed why it had been so ungrateful, to which the snake replied that it was just following its natural instinct. (Must add here, that the actual dialogue was a little less discreet and involved a couple of expletives that I do not want to mention here! :D)
The anti-hero wants to give up his life of murder and mayhem, but in his semi-awake drugged state shoots the Indian inadvertently. Here, we see the similarity between the snake and the couple: Both free of remorse; both killing by instinct.
Both Mickey and Mallory are then bitten by rattlesnakes and make their way to a drugstore, but are apprehended by cops. The cop who apprehends them is shown murdering a prostitute in the previous scene, revealing to us that no one is free of sin.
After a year in prison, where they are kept apart in two different cells, a famous TV journalist wants to interview Mickey for a show on killers. This interview takes place in the prison. During the interview, Mickey reveals that all human beings are sinners and no one deserves to live, and that murder gives him a sense of freedom that nothing else has given; he calls himself a “natural born killer” and ends up instigating the prisoners who are watching the live recording.
A riot breaks out in the prison and Mickey and Mallory escape holding the TV journalist hostage. The TV journalist has skeletons of his own in his closet. Apart from being completely self-obsessed with stardom, he is also having an extra-marital affair: Point driven home that no one is guilt-free or blameless.
Mickey and Mallory escape much to the warden’s chagrin and after getting the journalist to film their escape, they kill him and go on to lead their lives. Their dream of being reunited with each other and having a family is fulfilled. This is in stark contrast to “Bonnie and Clyde” where the couple pays for their sins with death. The concept of karma does not apply to “the natural born killers”. They kill because it’s what they believe they were born to do. It’s their natural instinct. Society be damned.
When I asked Eric, who I borrowed this movie from how it was, his answer was, “I’ve never seen a film like it”.
And when I was done with the movie, I had to agree. The director’s (Oliver Stone) vision for this film is conveyed through disturbing visuals that tend to stick with you long after the film is over. You could interpret every shot or you could watch the whole movie and get the general gist, but either way, it’s not a film you are ever likely to forget.
The script was written by Quentin Tarantino, known for his movies that glorify violence and lust. These threads are woven into the entire tapestry of the film.
The closest I can get to comparisons is that this film is a cross between “Bonnie and Clyde” and “A Clockwork Orange”. The former is about a couple who goes on a robbing spree to meet a bloody end, while the latter is about a youth gang that enjoys violence and goes about robbing, raping, and otherwise gratifying their every impulse at the expense of innocents. In “A Clockwork Orange”, the anti-hero is caught and put in prison but allowed to make a choice to take part in a revolutionary new “treatment”, which if he participates in, will allow his release back in society. Without considering the consequences, he agrees, but finds that due to “conditioning”, his natural impulses like lust and greed are met with excruciating physical pain. When he does get back into society, his past actions catch up with him and he briefly pays for his sins. However, the political system and the media highlight his loss of “free will” and his treatment is reversed. In the end, he is back to being his original self.
“Natural Born Killers” is about a young girl, Mallory, abused by her father, leading a miserable life, who finds love in the hands of a delivery boy, Mickey. Together, they kill her parents and go on a murderous spree on Route 666(a not-so-subtle reference to the forces of evil), killing fifty-two people in three weeks. They are revered as youth icons by misguided youth who think they are “cool” since the couple indulges in violence for the fun of it—not for money or revenge. They both have demons in their past, which have led them to glorify violence. She often has disturbing dreams about her abuse, and he thinks about his miserable childhood, too.
They almost reach a turning point in their lives when they stop at an Indian’s house for a brief rest. The Indian tells them a tale about how his wife had rescued a snake, but the snake bit her anyway. She then asked the snake on her deathbed why it had been so ungrateful, to which the snake replied that it was just following its natural instinct. (Must add here, that the actual dialogue was a little less discreet and involved a couple of expletives that I do not want to mention here! :D)
The anti-hero wants to give up his life of murder and mayhem, but in his semi-awake drugged state shoots the Indian inadvertently. Here, we see the similarity between the snake and the couple: Both free of remorse; both killing by instinct.
Both Mickey and Mallory are then bitten by rattlesnakes and make their way to a drugstore, but are apprehended by cops. The cop who apprehends them is shown murdering a prostitute in the previous scene, revealing to us that no one is free of sin.
After a year in prison, where they are kept apart in two different cells, a famous TV journalist wants to interview Mickey for a show on killers. This interview takes place in the prison. During the interview, Mickey reveals that all human beings are sinners and no one deserves to live, and that murder gives him a sense of freedom that nothing else has given; he calls himself a “natural born killer” and ends up instigating the prisoners who are watching the live recording.
A riot breaks out in the prison and Mickey and Mallory escape holding the TV journalist hostage. The TV journalist has skeletons of his own in his closet. Apart from being completely self-obsessed with stardom, he is also having an extra-marital affair: Point driven home that no one is guilt-free or blameless.
Mickey and Mallory escape much to the warden’s chagrin and after getting the journalist to film their escape, they kill him and go on to lead their lives. Their dream of being reunited with each other and having a family is fulfilled. This is in stark contrast to “Bonnie and Clyde” where the couple pays for their sins with death. The concept of karma does not apply to “the natural born killers”. They kill because it’s what they believe they were born to do. It’s their natural instinct. Society be damned.
Comments
I find Quentin's movie very funny. Don't know how this will turn out???
And what are Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones doing in the movie?