Comments on: Movie Movie http://projects.pomona.edu/english83f07/2007/11/29/movie-movie/ The Lives and Deaths of King Arthur Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:30:51 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: BraveSirRobin http://projects.pomona.edu/english83f07/2007/11/29/movie-movie/comment-page-1/#comment-115 BraveSirRobin Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:14:29 +0000 http://projects.pomona.edu/english83f07/2007/11/29/movie-movie/#comment-115 I haven't seen Zardoz yet, but the trailer alone is an avant-garde disasterpiece, like some horrible Celtic cross between The Prisoner and Rawhide. Incidentally, I happened to see Deliverance for the first time last week, and while its brilliance suggests that Boorman is only consistent in technical craftsmanship and faithful adaptation, I do notice some thematic continuity with Excalibur in the conflict between socialized masculinity and sexualized nature. Jon Voight's rock-climbing archery test is pretty knightly, and his Christ-like arrow piercing in his side and baptismal fall seem to predict similar moments in Excalibur for Lancelot and Perceval, respectively. Even more tangentially, the films share the supernatural image of hands emerging from those eerily still waters. I haven’t seen Zardoz yet, but the trailer alone is an avant-garde disasterpiece, like some horrible Celtic cross between The Prisoner and Rawhide.

Incidentally, I happened to see Deliverance for the first time last week, and while its brilliance suggests that Boorman is only consistent in technical craftsmanship and faithful adaptation, I do notice some thematic continuity with Excalibur in the conflict between socialized masculinity and sexualized nature. Jon Voight’s rock-climbing archery test is pretty knightly, and his Christ-like arrow piercing in his side and baptismal fall seem to predict similar moments in Excalibur for Lancelot and Perceval, respectively. Even more tangentially, the films share the supernatural image of hands emerging from those eerily still waters.

]]> By: sean http://projects.pomona.edu/english83f07/2007/11/29/movie-movie/comment-page-1/#comment-114 sean Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:28:05 +0000 http://projects.pomona.edu/english83f07/2007/11/29/movie-movie/#comment-114 I've always wanted to see Zardoz, and after that trailer, it's no. 1 on my netflix (Charlotte Rampling too? I'm there). I thought it might make a campy addition to my dystopian lit. class, but I never got around to seeing it. Frederic Jameson, who apparently has a soft spot for scifi cheez not unlike Mike, Crow, & Servo on MST3K, writes about Zardoz in his typically big ass book <i>Archeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and other Science Fictions.</i> Boorman is interesting because it's like he's 1 part genius (Deliverance) and 2 parts hack (Excalibur, Zardoz, Emerald Forest). He does actually care about the myth to an extent that he honors it and does no real violence to it. But doing violence to the myth is a necessary project sometimes. I’ve always wanted to see Zardoz, and after that trailer, it’s no. 1 on my netflix (Charlotte Rampling too? I’m there). I thought it might make a campy addition to my dystopian lit. class, but I never got around to seeing it. Frederic Jameson, who apparently has a soft spot for scifi cheez not unlike Mike, Crow, & Servo on MST3K, writes about Zardoz in his typically big ass book Archeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and other Science Fictions.
Boorman is interesting because it’s like he’s 1 part genius (Deliverance) and 2 parts hack (Excalibur, Zardoz, Emerald Forest). He does actually care about the myth to an extent that he honors it and does no real violence to it. But doing violence to the myth is a necessary project sometimes.

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