De seguida vai uma explicacao sobre o filme revolver de um critico de cinema de uma revista para o qual eu escrevi. Eu concordo com quase tudo que ele disse, embora algumas conclusoes que ele tira nao sao nada faceis de la chegar. Antes de leres este post aconselho que vejas o filmes pelo menos 2 ou 3 vezes. pus so aqui para quando vires o filme e pensares sobre o assunto possas ter algo para poderes comparar.
Atencao!! ve o filme antes de continuares a ler!!!!! se nao perde uma beca de piada.
he first thing you have to get your head around is the chess theme. As Ritchie is a big chess enthusiast, his concepts are largely based on the game. If you think of the film as an adaptation instead of a story, you begin to see the sense of it all. The rules of chess are simple, two players (unseen forces to the pieces on the board) control the movements and actions of characters [Rook, Knight, Bishop, King, etc] on two opposing sides. The two teams are defined by their colours; white/black. Certain pieces are limited as to the directions they can move and how far they may go. The object of the game is to kill the king - the most powerful (and somewhat limited) player on the board - once the king is destroyed, the game is over and won. The only problem is that those on the board never see the person controlling them (the player) and as such don't know who they are really working for. The fictional Vegas-esque city is the chess board, whereupon the game is set and played.
The best way to deal with Zach & Avi is to imagine them as the player's (the man playing chess) subconscious, reminding him of his role on the board; they are not pieces as such, even though they may take that form on occasion - with regards to the plot of the film, they are indeed real people, not mere figments of Green's imagination. Confused yet? Good. At the beginning of the film we try to establish who is who; Macha is clearly under the impression that he is king, he is in fact a pawn of Mr. Gold - Gold controls everything, ie. he is the player (off the board). Sorter is probably comparable to the knight, as he is the one who takes odd, alternate routes to his goals but achieves everything with a high success rate. French Paul, on the other hand, is Macha's right hand man, using a very direct approach - similar to the bishop. When Sorter and Paul are eventually killed they are simply removed from the board - as a chess piece is - we don't see a body, they are just out of the game. Another character that is very clearly related to chess is Miss. Walker, constantly surrounded by females and only seen once or twice to deliver information to the opponent - the most movement on the board and (seemingly) the most control - she is blatantly Gold's queen; not wife... nobody should read into it like that.
When Jake is in Macha's room, apologising, he is removing his false persona - this is shown by the internal struggle, the constant bickering with himself, "You've got a gun! Use it!" To put it bluntly, Jake Green starts out thinking he is a mere pawn, that he is being controlled by outside forces. Later Avi & Zach help him to realise that he is in fact the king and this false persona doesn't control him. Just to make it a little easier: Jake Green and Mr. Gold are the same person - Green is Gold. Once Jake set out to avenge himself he began to use the three Irishmen (his pawns) who, in turn, were tortured and killed - NOTE the line that Jake says about feeding pieces to the opposition. Green has an alternate identity, that no one sees. In certain people's eyes he is Jake Green; fast-talking conman, to other he is Mr 'I run this game' Gold; the angry, merciless, paranoid criminal mastermind. The scene in the lift (the confrontation with the Gold persona) shows Green's epiphany - the moment his role in the game dawns on him - symbolised as the lights come back on and the camera pans back to reveal a crown above Green's head. Green isn't the pawn he thought he was, he is the king. This allows him to let go of Gold (the hard exterior) because he doesn't need him anymore, he controls everything; signified by the dropping of the gun.
At the end of the film, Macha has Green's niece hostage and is awaiting Gold. Green suddenly appears (thanks to Avi & Zach) and it finally hits Macha that he is not the king he presumed himself to be, he is in control of nothing. With Lord Jon dead there is only one threat left on the board - Macha. In chess, when the king has nowhere to go, no options left and he realises he has lost, the piece is laid down, this is called checkmate. This is also why Macha kills himself, the game is over, all that remains is for the king to submit to the victor.
I could prattle on about sub-plots and sub-devices; Avi & Zach, A-Z, truth beginning to end; the 3 minutes of black-screened silence, signalling the end of the game, time to reflect on the moves made; etc etc, but by all means find your own meaning and reasons for them because there are few hints within - worth watching out for - and unfortunately far too much to keep up with, especially with such an intricate, detailed and interweaving story as this. I hope this has helped a little, Luis, and if you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me again and I shall do my best to help you further. I also hope that my site meets with your approval; stay loyal and spread the word. - Matt Stogdon (rRh)
