Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The New Robin Hood Movie

Rise and rise again until lambs become lions

Workers saw the latest Sir Ridley Scott film with an old friend in DC for a short visit last weekend, like Blade Runner nice and dark and keeping it real. The movie is not really a tea-party thing but more like a libertarian thing. Meaning, its not a temporal reaction to current political events but is grounded in more lasting and meaninful principles of human dignity.

The movie takes place in the late 12th century at the height of the medieval economy, prior to the reformation of the church, but shows why indeed the reformation was necessary. Not to give away the film, but Robin's dad was an early libertarian, fighting the faulty notion that man is subservient to his government and that it is individual rights which lead to prosperity and justice.

The film is a fun mix of action film, buddy movie, love story, good versus evil, clever Hollywood one-liners, and the decrepitudes of the ruling class and of how excess taxation destroys capital accumulation and economic growth. There is also the necessary example of the incessent fighting between France and England during the pre-modern era and this plays well into the story of how the rulers need the ruled more than vice-versa.

Alot of the film is anachronistic in terms of political thought viz the enlightenment but the depictions of the serfdom mentality and social relations is spot-on. Highly-recommended.

Post-script: Iron Man 2 is also pretty good and shows why competition necessarily prevents duopolies or cartels from lasting, but the film is over the top, and it's weird to hear Robert Downey Jr. mouth the words of Ozzy Osbourne but this yes might bode well for the summer. And Mickey Rourke has a wonderful role, with a nice grasp of the Russian language (well, kind of like Brando's french in Last Tango, which wasn't bad!) and technological prowess. And Scarlett Johanssen as an action hero is worth the price of (matinee) admission.