There's "over the top" filmmaking and then there's the Jerry Bruckheimer school of "over the top" filmmaking, as exemplified by his two main partners in crime, directors Michael Bay and Tony Scott. Their films are generally full of highly stylised, in your face action that numbs your intelligence. Scott is not generally as guilty as Bay, with films such as True Romance and Crimson Tide amongst his filmography. However, his new film, Domino, starring Keira Knightley as "bounty hunter" Domino Harvey, brings Scott to a new level in this regard.
Domino is "loosely" based on the true story of Harvey, the modern-day bounty hunter who recently died of a painkiller overdose. Harvey was best known for being the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. She also had a knack for telling her stories, though it is unclear as to how much truth was in them. The film Domino suggests this as well, when Knighley's voiceover says that "it's none of our business" what is real and what is not. But the idea as to whether this story really is true is not where Domino fails.
Tony Scott, brother of Ridley (Gladiator), edits Domino with a pace that does not allow for a single shot to spend more than a few seconds on the screen. The technique is unique, but not particularly effective. It takes the viewer away from the story, which actually could have been quite interesting. In the end, the question of whether Domino Harvey's telling the truth doesn't matter because we as the viewer don't really care. We're just glad to get out of Scott's nauseating diegesis and back to the real world. (Alliance Atlantis)
Domino is "loosely" based on the true story of Harvey, the modern-day bounty hunter who recently died of a painkiller overdose. Harvey was best known for being the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. She also had a knack for telling her stories, though it is unclear as to how much truth was in them. The film Domino suggests this as well, when Knighley's voiceover says that "it's none of our business" what is real and what is not. But the idea as to whether this story really is true is not where Domino fails.
Tony Scott, brother of Ridley (Gladiator), edits Domino with a pace that does not allow for a single shot to spend more than a few seconds on the screen. The technique is unique, but not particularly effective. It takes the viewer away from the story, which actually could have been quite interesting. In the end, the question of whether Domino Harvey's telling the truth doesn't matter because we as the viewer don't really care. We're just glad to get out of Scott's nauseating diegesis and back to the real world. (Alliance Atlantis)