Book Review: The Bang Devils by Patrick Foss
or An Open Letter to Quentin Tarantino
January 7, 2007
Dear Mr. Tarantino,
Greetings.
I have recently completed the novel The Band Devils by Patrick Foss and would like to bring it to your attention as possible source material for a future cinema project. I know you have used materials in the past to base films on and I believe The Bang Devils is a match for your cinematic eye, off-the-wall characters and quick plot. What you could bring to the project is much snappier dialog and cool visual vibe that the book seems to demand and, at times, in its own text refer to its own story as cinematic or “movie-like” – including humming of theme songs (licensing these could get pricey).
The book lives in the backdrop of modern Japan and we visit through the characters of Jessica and Chris (you may want to change the characters names to something “cooler”) and their hyper view of Japanese society and culture. I think the quasi-surrealism and the use of gratuitous violence are right up your cinematic sleeve. The plot is fast and would work well for a film, but you like to jumble the chronological constructs of a film and this plot has that begging. I also think the characters are a little flat and perhaps their cardboard structure could either be fleshed out or viseversa emphasized to have the ridiculousness shine through. Perhaps you could have more violence, as the book has it in spades.
On a closing note, I think you embrace the plot and the thinness of characters and really give their conversations some zing. I look forward to your adoption as my point of view dictates your decisions.
Sincerly,
Me
