|
 |
|
|
30 Days of Night: Vampires and Abandonment Issues in Alaska
Abandonment is one of the first conjured themes emulated from the gloomy imagery of 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade, produced by Sam Raimi and written by Steve Niles. A lone man stands on the Alaskan shore watching a destitute ship entrapped by ice. Then, what could nurture abandonment more than a lack of communication? This theme burns its presence on the screen within the scene of cell phones burned and buried in the snow. Two puzzled cops, played by Josh Hartnett and Manu Bennett will viscerally experience these themes at the mercy of ruthless Vampires. These themes only penetrate a fleeting moment within the tense, horrifically gruesome experience that is 30 Days of Night. Still, the film's opening and closing scenes are sweeping bookends of the vast Alaskan landscape to the claustrophobic intensity of a blood soaked plot. Upon reflection, the last scene envelopes the first image of abandonment, though as a prescription for its cause. Without delving too deeply into the story and giving away its twisted closure, the scene reveals that we can never abandon our fears. For the sake of context, these are the fears of Sheriff Eben Oleson's (Hartnett) love, Stella, played by Melissa George. In the course of the story, she comes to terms that abandonment, or running from our fears, can only be cured by embracing the fear so it vanishes. With poetic tragedy, the film captures this by, literally, showing that we don't truly comprehend this until it has slipped through out fingers. It might be poetic tragedy, but all courtesy of a highly literary breed of Vampires. For Stella (George) this soul draining lesson, further builds upon a genuinely strong female character. While horror films and novels often portray strong female protagonists, the gender dynamic of Eben and Stella in 30 Days of Night is refreshing. The stereotypical weakness of the female order rarely, if ever, rears its ugly head in Stella, but in some ways her stubborn strength is her weakness. A curse that plagues the women who dare to bend the clichés of gender. With all thematic indulgences aside, 30 Days of Night builds a tense situation around an irresistible Vampire scenario. Barrow, Alaska undergoes a month of pure darkness every year, something one of the Vampires punctuates with his acknowledgment of "Why didn't we find this sooner." Apparently Vampires aren't swayed by the cold either and can feast off the bitter blood that often brews in the emotional solitude of Alaska. The film does suffer from a lull midway, as the town's survivors stow their survival in attics and dark corners of the terrorized town. It could've been ideal time to develop stronger characters; those on the brink of being consumed by creatures embodying the most primal of civilization's fears. As much as Vampires are beings that behold a genetic variation of Homo sapiens, they still lurk on our branch of the gene tree, albeit an imaginative one. In a word, it's cannibalism, both physically and culturally; where the very blood we thrive from turns against us. The element of fear never seems to be fully confronted in these characters, giving them a cold, unnatural persona, which should be reserved for supernatural vampires. Perhaps this just a personification of the breed of people who find themselves entrapped by the enigma of Alaska. On the up-side, 30 Days of Night rises above the personal attack seen in many Vampire films, and plays off the classic fears of an entire town being infected. The fears of disease, loveless survival and the shadow of immortality obliterating our cultural values of identity, family and citizenship. Vampires have the imposing power to drain everything civilization has constructed and completely erase it in a simple drop of blood. This further plays off 30 Days of Night's thematic foray into abandonment. The conflict that arises between sheriff Eben and his deputy, Billy Kitka (Bennett), when one is forced to abandon family to survive. Eben totes his moralistic tone, with bloodied axe in hand, when he finds Billy has relieved his family of the chance to survive. His act seems to euthanize his family from the bloodied screams approaching each residence of the town. Yet, Eben's reaction reinforces that the act was only an abandonment of one's family, where the rational of fear overrides moral obligations. The film's lull rockets into a climatic choice, where Eben walks the walk of his moral tone, diving into the belly of the beast. As much as these thematic ramblings may seem unwarranted if you haven't seen the film, perhaps it will implore you to see the film with a guiding light. Perhaps, to see 30 Days of Night as more than just a clever bite into the Vampire genre. While not of a completely savvy opinion, the film doesn't just interpret the original graphic novel by Steve Niles well, it adds its own splatter of blood to the canvas. This may come in that Niles himself contributed to the graphic novel adaptation, of which he originally pitched as a film. With this Niles had a chance to breathe new life into his characters, or rather give them new blood to be ravaged. Other reviews of 30 Days of Night on AssociatedContent.com
30 Days of Night Review By Luke M.
30 Days of Night Review By Tina Mrazik
30 Days of Night Review By LaRae Meadows
30 Days of Night Review By Percival Constantine
30 Days of Night Review from MoviePulse.net To read these reviews, please visit the backlink provided.
|
Contributor's Note
When the past meets future for Jason, the moment is fueled by a creative background in music, writing, film and philosophy providing a nexus of the complex world to come. He is currently a freelance writer and ghostwriter of books, articles and screenplays.
|
|
Film Adaptation of Steve Niles's Graphic Novel from David Slade and Sam Raimi.
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "30 Days of Night: Vampires and Abandonment Issues in Alaska" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
