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THE WICKER MAN
A film to put off people visiting remote areas of Scotland for life... 'The Wicker Man' came out of an idea from a novel called 'Ritual' by David Pinner, though the film's director, Robin Hardy (whose first feature film this was, amazingly), and writer Anthony Shaffer worked out a pretty original script and plot. Edward Woodward plays the central character, Sergeant Neil Howie, blindingly well, and we see the hapless policeman making the fatal mistake of trying to bring some order to a part of Scotland that time forgot. Set on a remote isle off the west coast of Scotland, the film begins with Sergeant Howie flying in to investigate the disappearance of a girl called Rowan Morrison. Howie comes up against an evasive schoolteacher in the shape of Miss Rose (Diane Cilento), a prevaricating librarian (!) Ingrid Pitt, and a liberated Christopher Lee, who sports some particularly stylish sideburns and wild hair as Lord Summerisle, and seems nice (if a little weird) to begin with, but they always do, don't they? Sergeant Howie isn't used to naked young women cavorting around, and doesn't like it. He sees himself as civilized and superior. In this film you get to see an awful lot of (an obviously dubbed) Britt Ekland (Willow), a topless young woman in a tub, and a fair bit of naked females dancing, including Ms. Ekland. Christopher Lee said it was "the best part I've ever had. Unquestionably." I wonder why...Though, to be fair, he did say that it was the "best scripted" film he had ever appeared in, and, in truth, this was a film where nudity was integral to the plot. Anyway, Summerisle isn't a great place to be for a puritanical, middle-aged, maybe virgin, Christian copper, and though Howie tries to leave, his plane, unsurprisingly, has a problem. Poor Howie is ultimately tricked in the cruellest and most unexpected of ways, and he can't be allowed to leave and tell tales. His end is about as nasty as it gets. He is physically restrained by the quiet and very sinister bearded henchman of Lord Summerisle, and is surrounded by Ms. Ekland, Ms. Pitt, and Ms. Cilento, stripped naked, and dressed in a white sacrificial robe. When he looks up and sees the giant wicker cage, and he realises he might be going in it, his expression of sheer terror is a terrifying piece of film. This is a very disturbing film, but not in the the gratuitous way of many modern movies. This is a film which makes one think, and is horror as high art. The music by Paul Giovanni is wonderfully evocative, and the authenticity of the normal Scottish way of life is well conveyed, which makes the dark aspects more unexpected and disturbing. - Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com. |
The Angry Silence Babe Bambi The Birds The Blue Max Casablanca Coming Home Cry Freedom The Defiant Ones Double Indemnity The Elephant Man Escape From Alcatraz Falling Down Gladiator Goldfinger Hell Drivers The Italian Job King Kong Legally Blonde 2 The Mark Of Zorro The Matrix Midnight Cowboy Moulin Rouge On The Waterfront Paths Of Glory Planet Of The Apes Psycho The Rebel Shark Tale Silent Running Sleeper Spartacus Spider-Man 2 Stuart Little Theatre Of Blood The Third Man The Vikings The War Of The Worlds Watership Down West Side Story When The Wind Blows Where Eagles Dare The Wicker Man Yellow Submarine You've Got Mail Zulu Directed by Robin Hardy |
