Now I'm not saying that I think Ivan is the best antihero of all time, but he's a textbook example of a great antihero. It got me thinking, though, who is the best antihero of all time? In my experience of cinema, I'm going to have to go with...
The Man With No Name - Clint Eastwood
what are your thoughts?.....
I'm not sure I consider Ivan an anti-hero. Ivan is a good man driven to a life of crime, but that seems like an older, more classical archetype than the more modern "anti-hero", who's not usually a good man to begin with.
I know I'm shouting, I like to shout.
Fair point, but plenty of films depict someone rising from zero to hero - so why not zero to anti-hero?
shareI don't see how Ivan fits even the broadest definition of anti-hero. He's neither innately bad with good methods, nor does he use bad methods to achieve good purposes. Ivan is out for Ivan, he’s a nobody who's suddenly a somebody; in this case perception is more valid than reality, so it can be argued that Ivan is a Hero, and Hero can't dead till the last reel....
shareI'm guessing you define "good purposes" as saving the world, or rescuing a pretty lady from a burning building - fortunately, this film is a little more complex than a James Bond movie.
Ivan is just another nobody in a town that won't let him grow into anything ligitamately. He can't find work. He hates his nobody status and want's to be somebody no matter what that entails, so he doesn't take much persuading to get into the drug business. He’s a consistent anti authoritarian, which means that to him the police are just another gang – so if they want to kill him, he’ll happily kill them. (An idea generally more palatable in corrupt countries). He rises to infamy, but he also rises to fame – as the guy on the run who released that record, and then goes out in glory in an epic shootout.
Hell yeah he’s selfish! But that’s still his cause, listen to the lyrics of his song, he wants to get his share in life, so he just goes out and gets it, he’s an inspiration - whereas most nobodies just roll over and stay at the bottom of the pile. Now, being selfish doesn’t mean you can’t be an anti hero – read this list - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_anti-heroes (Plenty of selfish people there). And don’t go saying that all the selfish people there were innately bad with good methods, because they weren’t.
You’re not just a hero or an antihero within the plot of a film, the audience gets to decide too. To Ivan, and to many cultures and societies: anarchists, gangster rappers and individualists to name a few, (as well as some of the Jamaicans in the film) – his motives don’t seem that unjust.
The reasons that he isn’t a hero are simple. He lacks integrity, his moral compass is wobbly to say the least, he leaves his woman with relative ease and he shoots at a woman in cold blood. Regardless of audience, these properties mean you aren’t really a hero (by definition anyway).
I respect your opinions though guys, but I beg to differ. That's just the way I see Ivan.
Peace out
Except for the first paragraph I entirely agree.
Peace
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He's definitely the textbook example of an "anti-hero" and I agree with the title that he's the best of all time...well one of the best (Clint Eastwood as "Blondie" is another). But regardless if he started off good or not by the end of the film he's a despicable person who is a thief and murderer with no remorse of anything he's done or doing, even the pain it's causing his girlfriend. But we still like him because he's a badass thus making him a great anti-hero.
RIP Paul Newman 1925-2008. Words can't express how much you will be missed.