The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
I have to revise my original review of this film-- though, from checking every archive I can find, I'm not sure I WROTE a review of this film after first seeing it. This could turn out to be a good thing, because my original feeling for it was "what the hell was all the fuss about," and after finding out that, yes, I had seen the original uncut version, my confusion deepened.
Well, it's been eight months or so since then, and the thing's crept into my consciousness. Repeated viewings have had exactly the same effect they had with Argento's masterpiece Suspiria, to wit:
viewing #1: what the hell was all the fuss about? viewing #2: I can see where there are some points made and subtexts in this film that would greatly appeal to the people who held this thing up in such high regard to me, and Ed Woodward and Chris Lee are very fine actors (and Britt Ekland unclothed is always worthwhile), but it's still kind of, forgive the pun, wooden. viewing #3: My god, this is a profound film. viewing #4: Why hasn't the rest of the world clued into how great this is? (Probably because it was so badly mangled in its original release that it left a bad taste in the mouths of many, from what I've been told.)
This film was the directorial debut of Robin Hardy, who has since gone on to direct only one other film and a few episodes of a TV series (read: mysterious shadowy figure). It was the brainchild of Anthony Shaffer, a name that should be well known to all film buffs (Frenzy, Sleuth, Death on the Nile, Sommersby, et al.). It stars Edward Woodward, already a veteran TV actor by the early seventies, as the uptight Sergeant Howie, a Scottish constable who decides to investigate an anonymous tip-off that a thirteen-year-old girl named Rowan Morrison has been abducted on a small island famous for its apples. Howie's nemesis, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee looking surprisingly young, given that he was over fifty when he played this role), flits in and out of the film, dropping hints that all is not, perhaps, as it seems, but offering all the help he can given that Howie doesn't seem to understand that police procedure doesn't have to go by the book. After all, you can only offer someone so much help if he doesn't see where you're going with it.
Yes, there are a lot of things about this film, on the surface, that could have been done better. It was obviously made on a shoestring budget that didn't have room for a Steadicam or top-quality film. Unfortunately, that leads to unconscious links about other things in the film that are supposed to look primitive (the islanders' costumes for the Mayday celebration, for example), and the first-time viewer tends to knock the film for things that should be praised because of it.
As for the content of the film itself, the acting is, as one would expect from names like Woodward, Lee, and Ekland, easily above average. The plot moves along quite effortlessly, and the underlying subtext, while strongly presented, never gets in the way of a bang-up mystery (and while the ending becomes somewhat obvious about two-thirds of the way through the film, by then you've realized that the resolution to the mystery isn't what this film is about at all, and you-- or at least I-- become willing to cut Shaffer and Hardy a lot of slack). The scenery-- and no, you dirty-minded little nappers, I'm not talking about Britt Ekland's infamous naked dance-- is breathtaking, from the opening credits panning over Howie's district, to the very end. "But," you're saying, "all of these things are true about many other films that have probably been forgotten thirty years after they were made." True. And what keeps The Wicker Man firmly entrenched in the heads of so many, I'd warrant, is the gorgeous and profoundly influential soundtrack to this film. The main theme (which is untitled, but for years I've heard it referred to as "The Wicker Man Song;" Sneaker Pimps released a version of it in 1997 with the title "How Do") is rapidly becoming one of the world's most covered songs, and all the songs in the film are extremely well executed. (Also in the "mysterious shadowy figure" vein, composer Paul Giovanni never scored another film.) I've no idea whether these songs were written especially for the film or whether they're traditional, and I can't find a single Internet resource capable of telling me, but this film is worth buying simply for the music. The rest will come to you. Trust me on this. Christopher Lee-- who holds the record of having been in more films than anyone else (ever!)-- considers The Wicker Man his finest work. I haven't seen everything Christopher Lee's ever been in (I'm not sure there's a living soul aside from Lee himself who has!), but I'd have to agree with him based on what I've seen. Once The Wicker Man has you, it has you for life. **** 1/2
(Note: the film has presently been verified in release in three versions: 87 minutes, 95 minutes, and 102 minutes, with the 102 minute version considered the "uncut" version, which is selling for close to $100 in many places. Don't believe the hype-- I got mine for $12 on ebay. It is rumored that a full version of the film, which runs 122 minutes, DOES exist somewhere and has never been released.)
I have to revise my original review of this film-- though, from checking every archive I can find, I'm not sure I WROTE a review of this film after first seeing it. This could turn out to be a good thing, because my original feeling for it was "what the hell was all the fuss about," and after finding out that, yes, I had seen the original uncut version, my confusion deepened.
Well, it's been eight months or so since then, and the thing's crept into my consciousness. Repeated viewings have had exactly the same effect they had with Argento's masterpiece Suspiria, to wit:
viewing #1: what the hell was all the fuss about? viewing #2: I can see where there are some points made and subtexts in this film that would greatly appeal to the people who held this thing up in such high regard to me, and Ed Woodward and Chris Lee are very fine actors (and Britt Ekland unclothed is always worthwhile), but it's still kind of, forgive the pun, wooden. viewing #3: My god, this is a profound film. viewing #4: Why hasn't the rest of the world clued into how great this is? (Probably because it was so badly mangled in its original release that it left a bad taste in the mouths of many, from what I've been told.)
This film was the directorial debut of Robin Hardy, who has since gone on to direct only one other film and a few episodes of a TV series (read: mysterious shadowy figure). It was the brainchild of Anthony Shaffer, a name that should be well known to all film buffs (Frenzy, Sleuth, Death on the Nile, Sommersby, et al.). It stars Edward Woodward, already a veteran TV actor by the early seventies, as the uptight Sergeant Howie, a Scottish constable who decides to investigate an anonymous tip-off that a thirteen-year-old girl named Rowan Morrison has been abducted on a small island famous for its apples. Howie's nemesis, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee looking surprisingly young, given that he was over fifty when he played this role), flits in and out of the film, dropping hints that all is not, perhaps, as it seems, but offering all the help he can given that Howie doesn't seem to understand that police procedure doesn't have to go by the book. After all, you can only offer someone so much help if he doesn't see where you're going with it.
Yes, there are a lot of things about this film, on the surface, that could have been done better. It was obviously made on a shoestring budget that didn't have room for a Steadicam or top-quality film. Unfortunately, that leads to unconscious links about other things in the film that are supposed to look primitive (the islanders' costumes for the Mayday celebration, for example), and the first-time viewer tends to knock the film for things that should be praised because of it.
As for the content of the film itself, the acting is, as one would expect from names like Woodward, Lee, and Ekland, easily above average. The plot moves along quite effortlessly, and the underlying subtext, while strongly presented, never gets in the way of a bang-up mystery (and while the ending becomes somewhat obvious about two-thirds of the way through the film, by then you've realized that the resolution to the mystery isn't what this film is about at all, and you-- or at least I-- become willing to cut Shaffer and Hardy a lot of slack). The scenery-- and no, you dirty-minded little nappers, I'm not talking about Britt Ekland's infamous naked dance-- is breathtaking, from the opening credits panning over Howie's district, to the very end. "But," you're saying, "all of these things are true about many other films that have probably been forgotten thirty years after they were made." True. And what keeps The Wicker Man firmly entrenched in the heads of so many, I'd warrant, is the gorgeous and profoundly influential soundtrack to this film. The main theme (which is untitled, but for years I've heard it referred to as "The Wicker Man Song;" Sneaker Pimps released a version of it in 1997 with the title "How Do") is rapidly becoming one of the world's most covered songs, and all the songs in the film are extremely well executed. (Also in the "mysterious shadowy figure" vein, composer Paul Giovanni never scored another film.) I've no idea whether these songs were written especially for the film or whether they're traditional, and I can't find a single Internet resource capable of telling me, but this film is worth buying simply for the music. The rest will come to you. Trust me on this. Christopher Lee-- who holds the record of having been in more films than anyone else (ever!)-- considers The Wicker Man his finest work. I haven't seen everything Christopher Lee's ever been in (I'm not sure there's a living soul aside from Lee himself who has!), but I'd have to agree with him based on what I've seen. Once The Wicker Man has you, it has you for life. **** 1/2
(Note: the film has presently been verified in release in three versions: 87 minutes, 95 minutes, and 102 minutes, with the 102 minute version considered the "uncut" version, which is selling for close to $100 in many places. Don't believe the hype-- I got mine for $12 on ebay. It is rumored that a full version of the film, which runs 122 minutes, DOES exist somewhere and has never been released.)