Natural Born Killers

Earlier in the week Film Four showed the 1994 Natural Born Killers. A film made by the director Oliver Stone. It is a story of two victims of traumatized childhoods that become lovers and who later turn into psychopathic serial murderers that are glorified by the media. It is based on a story by Quentin Tarantino the directory/writer of the film Pulp fiction which was released in the same year.

The film is not one for the children as it contains scenes of that can be described as shocking. In fact the original cut of the film was refused a rating in America which forced the director to edit the film, since many movie theatres simply refuse to show unrated films. In total around four minutes were cut from the original film before it was released and were later restored to Director's Cut of the film which was released on DVD.

It was described as "A bold new film that takes a look at a country seduced by fame, obsessed by crime and consumed by the media". Critically the film has received mixed reviews. Some of critics claim it never conveyed truth of the reality behind real life events despite the violence of the film while others loved it and went on to give it top ratings saying that the film was so interesting it can be watched again and again. Over the years the film has become a cult and loved by many while being loathed by others. It is the sort of film that gets that sort of reaction.

The orginal Quentin Tarantino screenplay was rewritten, while retaining the dialogue, but changing the focus of the story from the journalist to the murderous couple, thus making them the central theme of the film. Originally seen as an action film the events of the time changed the nature of the film and it became a satirical critique of the media in general and their involvement in news stories of the time. The director of the film saw the media as an body that marketed violence and suffering for the good of ratings, observing that they were heavily involved in the outcome of many of news stories they were reporting on.

The director shot the film in the style of a road film and said publicly that the film Bonnie and Clyde was a source of his inspiration. This can be seen in how the film is shot, for it takes idea of the multiple cameras shot from different angles at different speed used in the final scene for Bonnie and Clyde and uses it through out the film. In terms of the two works their are similarities as both sets of couples face the challenges of  society and the time they lived in although the outlook at the ending of each film is completely different, with one being pessimistic while the other is optimistic. Without giving the ending away, Stone said himself that "Natural Born Killers is ultimately a very optimistic film about the future. It's about freedom, and the ability of every human being able to get it."

I haven't seen the film in ages but after becoming  interested in the work Quentin Tarantino, after being introduced to his work some time ago, I'm really looking forward to seeing the film again. I recorded it to watch later because it was on so late at night. Although clearly not directed by Tarantino himself it does retain much of his original dialogue and for that reason it worth watching as it is to see how others direct his work.