The 20th Century's Last Great Film - "Natural Born Killers"

"The whole world's coming to an end, Mal."  Mickey Knox, played by Woody Harrelson, says this at the beginning of "Natural Born Killers" a movie released 20 years ago today.  The millennium was coming to a close and the world was a crazy place full of OJ Simpson and Tonya Harding.  At the time no truer words were spoken.

I saw it twice in the theater as a young 19 year old, and watched it again last night with wide eyes and a grin.  I still marvel at it's audacity and brilliance.  Audiences had never seen such hardcore bombast, and we haven't seen anything like it since.  It's pure cinema - a frenetic visual trip with a not-so subtle message.  We (Americans, Humans, Living Things) are all natural born killers.  With or without our culture, media, or government - we are hard-wired aggressors.  It's a brutal message, wrapped in a big budget Hollywood movie - a two hour entertainment that excites, confuses, repulses, and thrills.  It's the perfect movie for a young and impressionable filmmaker.

Much has been written and debated about the themes of violence in our society.  To me, "Natural Born Killers" is a kinetic feast, stylish and iconic, referential and fresh.  It's a brilliantly executed film that pushes the boundaries of what an audience can tolerate.  It's the apex of 20th Century filmmaking because it assimilates all that came before and delivers a unique, mesmerizing story.  It is the ultimate blend of style and substance.

Based on a story by Quentin Tarantino, "Natural Born Killers" is director Oliver Stone's most audacious picture.  It follows "JFK," "The Doors," and "Born on the Fourth of July" as he continues to explore the expression of Americana on film.  Like "JFK" he employs many tricks, such as multiple film stocks, non-linear storytelling, and the random odd flash of incoherence.  "Natural Born Killers" was filmed in color, black and white, and animation.  It uses vibrant 35mm photography, and grainy 8mm shots.  It utilizes video cameras from a TV sitcom, and vintage stock photography from 1950s monster movies.  It's all active and energetic, weaving a story together about life at end of the decade.

When it was released on August 26th, 1994, reality TV was in it's infancy.  The 24/7 news cycle was still young, and the internet was just about to connect us all.  TV was the big bad enemy, and the line between movies and TV was never clearer than at this moment.  No one would ever expect "Natural Born Killers" to play on TV, yet shows are now full of both big ideas and gratuitous violence.  Watching this movie makes you realize the power of the big screen.  Nothing on TV - even the best and most praised shows - looks this cool.

This movie does what the original innovators of the art form intended 100 years previously - it shows pictures that MOVE!  Again, I use the word kinetic.  And that's what's so striking about watching this movie today.  It understands the medium - in a world where very few films do.  Most movies today rely on CGI spectacle to create a bigger, louder, explosion.  But they don't really move with any visual flow - and they certainly don't tie it back to the narrative.

"Natural Born Killers" does all that and more.  It jumps from film stocks and colors while commenting on reality and perception and subconscious thoughts.  It uses all the tools to tell its story and provide deeper meaning. 

Like all important art, and other excellent films, "NBK" draws on it's references, acknowledges them, and creates a new, rich experience.  In this instance, Oliver Stone is clearly influenced by the films of Stanley Kubrick.  "A Clockwork Orange" is all over "Natural Born Killers" in terms of shots, style, and even characters.  The structure is very similar with before and after prison halves.  Even "Full Metal Jacket" comes to mind with it's two distinct halves.  Finally, "Apocalypse Now" comes up repeatedly as Woody Harrelson channels Marlon Brando with his cult rhetoric at the heart of darkness.

Led by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, "NBK" is filled with great performances that also includes Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones.  The multi-format cinematography is shot by Robert Richardson, the three-time Oscar winner who is both Martin Scorsese's and Quentin Tarantino's DP of choice. The rock and roll angst-filled soundtrack was produced by Trent Reznor.

20 years later, "Natural Born Killers" is an important film that was way ahead of it's time.  American society is still filled with guns and violence and wars and a runaway media that lacks journalistic integrity.  In many ways, 1994 was just the beginning.  And "Natural Born Killers" is exactly what Leonard Cohen sings about during the end credits:  "I've seen the future, and it's murder."