Review of Protagonist (2007) by Nathan S — 13 Dec 2007

Some interesting stories, some not so much (the martial artist didn't really have much of a story, though he was probably the most engaging speaker...) weaved together. A more successful, better accomplished film along these same lines is Errol Morris' Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, which also weaves four seemingly unrelated characters into one single film.

Here the use of Europidean drama (with the puppets & title cards) is interesting but way too distracting after the first few times it interjects and interrupts the flow of the film. In short, it gets in the way of the characters, takes away from their stories & comes across as condescending: do we really need title cards (animated ones at that!) telling us what part of the narrative we're on at any given time? Do we need a title card with "resolution" written on it to remind us that the stories are following the Euripedean structure or to prepare us for the ending that's inevitably coming, for instance? Just let the characters tell their story: we don't need play by play announcements of how the narrative structure itself is evolving.

..Imagine a film that spelled out for you on screen when you had reached the end of Act 1, or when plot point number two was about to appear...Geez... I thought the shots at the end, showing the current lives of the characters, was probably some of the more interesting footage in the sense that it was more cinematic than just heads talking and graphics flashing on screen.

I think if I had seen this footage earlier in the film I would have cared more about the characters, I would have been more involved in their stories. Saving all this footage for the end, as if that's the reward for the audience sticking it out, didn't really work for me.

It made the ending too abrupt. I would have liked to have seen this footage sooner to get to know the characters better.