Dirs: Robert Rodriguez,Frank Miller. US. 2005. 124mins.

In translating FrankMiller's Sin City series of graphic novels from one artistic medium toanother, co-director Robert Rodriguez - who felt so strongly about sharingcredit with the author that he resigned from the Directors' Guild of Americawhen they balked at dual acknowledgment - delivers what may be one of the mostunremittingly bleak-hearted slices of noir pulp drama ever committed to film.It's also a wildly imaginative and involving black-and-white panel comic cometo life; a bruised, violent elegy to corruption and vigilantism that has thecapacity to enthral in equal measure Miller devotees and those unfamiliar withthe source material.

American box-officeprospects (from Apr 1) seem fairly solid, given that Sin City is soradically different from anything else currently in the marketplace. Thoughundoubtedly hampered by its dark subject matter and serial brutality (the filmis a hard R), and perhaps even mixed word-of-mouth given that it's pure pulpfiction dressed up in action adventure's clothing, the movie seems likely todraw an appreciative base audience because of its surfeit of 'cool.'It could then easily expand on said audience if its notable productiontechnique and behind-the-scenes stories continue to make headlines.

How such hardboiled farewill play internationally is a bigger question. The narrative proper, with itsnoirish roots outweighed by a heavy and uniquely American sadism, will likelybe less warmly received, but the abundance of name players in the largeensemble cast and the distinctive look of the picture should guarantee it atthe very least a respectably strong reception from genre aficionados.

Sin City takes three of Miller's stories - The HardGoodbye, The Big Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard - andinterweaves them into a patchwork of carnage, a thematically linked triptychfull of rapists, sadists, butt-kicking prostitutes, cannibals, unsavoury hitmen and cops both crooked and devoted.

The first story details a devotedpolice officer poised on the precipice of retirement, Hartigan (Bruce Willis),who blows off the wife and steak dinner awaiting him at home to try to takedown a kidnapper and child molester (Nick Stahl) who's the son of aninfluential politician (Powers Boothe).

The second main arc findsplug-ugly Marv (a very good Mickey Rourke) on the lam after a hooker, Goldie(Jaime King), who shows him a night of kindness is murdered. Framed for thecrime, he sets out to light the underworld afire, trading, as he puts it,'blood for blood, and by the gallon.'

The labyrinthine third talesees Dwight (Clive Owen) defend his new girlfriend Shellie (Brittany Murphy)from the abusive Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro), only to wind up inrough-and-tumble Old Town, a haven for prostitutes, where an unfortunatesurprise sets off a whole other chain of events. The Hartigan thread resurfacesas the film's concluding bookend segment.

Rodriguez shot the filmhimself with the brand new Sony HFC-950 digital camera, in rich black-and-whitewith splashes of colour. While its starkness could, in static shots, easilyfool your eyes into thinking you were looking at blown-up panels from a comic, SinCity by and large retains a marvellous, shadowy luminescence. It thrillsequally in greys and high contrast, and when colour is used, it arrives as anextra weapon, a storytelling tool to heighten pain.

For those blown away by theCG backgrounds of Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow, Sin City'sradical approach will offer even more of a jaw-dropping sense of completeness.By stripping the backgrounds down to their essentials, viewers are left with anoff-kilter, unnatural style that feels overall even more convincing than thesepia-toned hues of Kerry Conran's groundbreaking movie, which lost some senseof detail in its wilfully nostalgic haze.

If Road To Perdition- which was also based on a fairly violent graphic novel - was the cultured,society-ready adaptation of eye-for-eye bloodshed, then Sin City is itsunapologetically brawny, brutish younger brother, a snarling, streamlined beastfor whom pure instinct is the driving force. Yet for all the preoccupation withexternal artifice and style, there's also a poetical core to the proceedings.Miller's language - particularly evident in something like Marv's voiceovernarration - is bloody and bruised, but it shows you all the characters' heartsas well as the dormant eloquence that lurks in thugs, even if they're unable toarticulate it themselves.

Lazy comparison may also bemade with special guest director Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Butwhile they both share a noirish feel and episodic storylines, Pulp Fictionhas more of a crazy quiltwork confidence that holds it together, rather thanthe tonal and thematic overlaps that connect the tales from Sin City.

As a result the film doesdrag somewhat at the end, paying the price in its last 35 minutes for somedawdling in its middle passages. Yet you hardly mind too much, given theoriginality and verve of the filmmaking on display. Rourke additionally turnsin his best performance since the days of Angel Heart and Barfly,playing Marv as a gentle giant with all the life force and compunction of the Terminatormeets Beast from Beauty And The Beast.

Other performers are mostlyin line with what might be expected, acquitting themselves well and serving thestory. The women in general act out their roles of film noir dames; onlyRosario Dawson really has a character of significant depth.

Prod cos: Dimension, Troublemaker Studios
US dist: Dimension
Int'l sales: Dimension
Exec prods: Bob Weinstein, HarveyWeinstein
Prods: Elizabeth Avellan, FrankMiller, Robert Rodriguez
Special guest dir: QuentinTarantino
Scr: Based on the graphic novelsby Frank Miller
Visual effects super: RobertRodriguez, Daniel Leduc
Art dir: Jeanette Scott
Main cast: Jessica Alba, AlexisBledel, Powers Boothe, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan,Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, BrittanyMurphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Marley Shelton, Nick Stahl, Bruce Willis,Elijah Wood