Set in a dystopia n future Writer/Director Richard Kelly (best known
for Donnie Darko) has crafted a lush and detailed piece of
speculative fiction.
Southland Tales is a dense mix of social commentary and science
fiction in this fable of patriotism gone mad; After a terrorist
attack the US government enforces state borders requiring visas to
travel interstate. This leads to building tension as Usident is
formed to police the Internet. Amidst the growing decent spring the
neo Marxists.
Central this chaos is Boxer Santa nus , an action movie star who
after returning from a mysterious disappearance find the world isn't
as it should be.
Kelly uses the rich textures of his cult classic Donnie Darko to add
a surreal quality to what is both a dense political story and
heavily science orientated film.
The film's major flaw however is its denseness, the prologue of this
film was a trio logy of graphic novels and this back story is forced
into a drawn out opening sequence. The back story on its own is
complex,
This film may take extra attention (or viewing) to get through but
Southland Tales is well worth the effort.
