mark mylod's 'the big white'

i found this film sitting in a bargain bin in a wall mart here in shenyang. i didn't know what it would be like since it was only priced at 3 and a half kuai (about 26p) but it did have robin williams in it. i'm not as such a robin william's fan but lately he's been cropping up in alternative comedies (take note here of danny devito's brilliant and crude film 'death to smoochy') instead of the typical mainstream pulp (RV is a good example of this). and after seeing him play serious roles such as 'insomnia'. 'patch adams' and '24 hour photo' it's good to see he's not just a mediocre comedy actor, but also has real acting talent. so after seeing it included robin williams i thought i would give it a shot.

the blurb on the back of the dvd case doesn't give you much information about the film. all it says is that a broke travel agent is finds a dead body and uses it for financial purposes and at the same time two nasty people are also after it. this is a good thing since it meant i was totally thrown off by the beginning of the film.

since it's set in alaska the predominate colour in this film is of course white, from the snow covered land and mountains of the local town, to the bleak and lifeless insurance building one of the characters works in. although not as such a subtle reference to say, bitterness or heartlessness of the characters or even insanity as it was used in 'insomnia' it's more just for the fact it's set in alaska.

the opening of the film is sublime looking. vast mountain ranges covered in powdered snow, all pristine and white. as the camera pans over an ice covered road we see a woman in pyjamas and slippers running through the snow. instantly i thought to myself 'ah, that's where the body comes from', which looks even more likely when the woman collapses on the road side. instead it's not, she is picked up by the local sherrif and turns out later on to be robin william's wife in the film. in fact the corpse is presented in a much more novel way. after this beautifully shot scene we see the local dumpster by a lit up sign. people come and go in their cars and dump their refuse in it before driving off. the last shot in the montage features a birds eye view of the dumpster. a car drives up to it and two men get out and run to the boot. as you can already imagine they're dumping a body in the dumpster. as they chuck it in and the lid of the bin closes it's the end of that scene.

i could write out the plot but that would be pointless, so instead i'll focus from a media perspective. first off, the camera. although not exactly original in the film it's a film which doesn't need to be, or at least that's how i feel. sadly the director at some points decided that since it was an alternative film it needed to have some alternative camera work. as such we are 'treated' to two shots which are shot from foot level where the camera races along, jumping and jaunting about. it doesn't as such fit in with the rest of the film, and is slightly jarring. there's not much more to say about the camera because as i stated before, it's not entirely original.

now, idea for plot. i liked it. it wasn't something that needed heavy explanation since it all goes through at a steady pace and doesn't tax you too much. although i enjoy storylines that challenge me or make me think things over, with a comedy i would much rather be able to sit down and understand my way through it. and the big white does this, and yet still is able to be alternative in it's story line. one thing i like and which is pretty rare to find in an american film is that their are several things which are left open, never explained and which i know would annoy several people i know. a few examples of this would be whether or not robin william's wife overcomes her mental illness, also if her illness is real or she's making it up, why the guy was murdered by the two men, who the two 'hitmen's' boss really is and also where woody harrelson's character (raymond) has been for the last five years.

now one thing i would like to say is how much i liked the two hitmen. in most comedies when you get the hitmen characters they are always bumbling idiots. these two characters boarder on the edge, but pull it back and keep it sensible. in fact there is a very quick discussion between the two guys which is spoken in honesty about how it felt to kill the man, to which it's answered 'i don't want to talk about it'. in most films a moral or mental discussion like that would of been ignored. the two hitmen would of killed before but yet still simply be idiots. even when they hunt down robin williams they manage to do it by their own accord, rather then overhearing something or stumbling along. one thing that really touched me in the film is when you see the two guys attend the funeral of a character they accidentally murdered, and at which they are both actually sad, instead of a godfather respect sort of vibe. even when the hitman accidentally shots this character he screams out 'oh god no' and cries (this is despite the fact this guy just tried to murder them!). this is one of the selling points of the film to me. the dialogue between these two characters and their form of acting works well and adds a sense of realism to their characters which is missing in most other comedies (i would to add the jewish and black mobsters that collect [find characters real name] from his house, it's too ridiculous to be taken seriously).

to sum up this film is a good comedy if you don't mind it black, with a bit of gore (not to much mind, just a small scene) and some tourettes swearing in it which is thankfully never played over the top