Planet of the Apes - Essay Example

?Planet of the Apes In spite of the fact that it is now and the reviewed film was shot in 1968, it still looks pretty good. Of special and sound effects seem very primitive today, but the storyline and acting is of much better quality than in many modern blockbusters with multi-million dollar budgets. The story itself (philosophy and reflections on human nature) is not a finding of Franklin J. Schaffner, film director, but Pierre Boulle, who is the author of Planet of the Apes book. The novel, which has made Boulle one of the classics of the 20th century literature and canonized his name, was published in 1963. The film appeared five years later. The 60’s... On the one hand they were the years of recognition of the many immutable truths concerning freedom, conscience and human personality; that was the time of various anti-war movements, time when national, sexual and racial minorities started the fight for their freedom and rights; time of The Beatles, hippies; time when everywhere - in politics, economy, culture – everyone has felt the fresh breeze of changes. On the other hand, the Cold War, tense situation in Vietnam and Cuba, fingers of the leaders of the great powers on nuclear buttons... Time of the first steps in space exploration, when adults dreamed of the immense cosmos and all the kids wanted to become astronauts. The smile of Gagarin and the American flag in Neil Armstrong’s hands became the subject of peoples’ love and the apparent evidence of human omnipotence. This film is the essence of the 60’s: angry sarcasm and post-apocalyptic fiction; fight with restrictions, limitations, complexes and old authorities; space theme and prophecy of an imminent catastrophe, which will destroy human civilization. 1968 has forever changed the history of cinema. It was the year of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, War and Peace by Sergei Bondarchuk, Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone, Night of the Living Dead, George Romero, Rosemary’s Baby by Roman Polanski, Teorema Pier Paolo Pasolini and many others. The brilliant sci-fi picture of Franklin Schaffner came out the same year. The film, like all the above mentioned, influenced both the development of cinema in general and science fiction in particular. Now, more than 40 years after release, the film is becoming more and more prophetic. It up-ended the concept of the future progress of mankind. Schaffner’s film is not a total adaptation of the cult novel, but without a doubt, includes the main essence and meaning of socio-political satire of the author. It showed that human beings can’t overcome their animal instincts, their folly, “human nature” that pushes them to extermination of their own kind in brutal wars. We do not follow the path of evolution. A new-fashioned computer, cell phone, stylish outfit and even a red Ferrari will not make a human being a man, as makeup and Wu shoes will not make a human being a woman. Computers, inventions, machines are not civilization. They are the products of civilization. Civilization is a development of daily living that comes from the human brain, mind, heart and soul. The film shows that man in his development stuck in the Middle Ages. Not even in the times of ancient Greeks, who surpassed modern humans in spiritual development, but namely in the middle, dark ages. The Renaissance, it seems, was only a flash of light, when a man became aware that he was living wrong, but did not manage to keep on the right road and hit a loop road that leads to permanent self-destruction. The storyline is built around astronauts who get to an uncharted planet after an emergency landing of their spaceship. Initially, it seemed to them lifeless, but it was only at first glance. Soon, they find themselves in a strange, surreal world in which human beings, like slaves or wild animals, sit in cages of intelligent, talking apes. This makes one of them, Taylor, start a search for truth and answer many questions about the planet they landed. The film, masked as a science fiction one, in fact, is a brilliant study of human history, nature and essence. At the beginning, like the main protagonist, the viewers are in shock at the world in which astronauts appeared. The apes are a ruling class and people are wild animals who have neither speech nor culture. However, as far as the film goes, the authors lead us to the conclusion which is not soothing. Apparent, at the beginning of the film, class inequality and savagery of the planet of the apes’ society, at the end turns into painfully familiar and incredibly similar, to modern humans, today’s civilization - society in which there is the same injustice and social discrimination. The authors show painful parallels, pointing at unconditional religious blindness of the apes’ society, where the hegemony of dogmatic canons of ancestors, which are taken as truth which needs no evidence, is paramount and all who disagree with this dogma are called heretics. Excellent directing and acting perfectly capture the spirit of the book by Pierre Boulle, all its satire and philosophical essence. Soloing Charlton Heston gives a chance to see the madness and despair of the last man of his time. The superb soundtrack, camera work and amazing make-up, created an astonishing atmosphere of an illusory threat of the strange planet and keep the viewer in suspense from the first until the last minutes of the film. Along with the Heston’s hero, we go the way of violent denial of the “hideous reality” up to the realization of the horrors of our past and uncertainty of the future. The film is perfectly done on the compositional and structural levels. It makes one think of humankind, about himself, even about the problems which are much more global, connected with the ecology of the planet. Anyway, the Planet of the Apes is not losing and will not lose its relevance for a very long time. Probably because of such remarkable episodes as the scene of the court over Taylor is. It shows stubbornness and narrow-mindedness of the apes, which is still so characteristic of us, people. The final scene, impressive and admired, is probably one of the best ends in the history of cinematograph. Thus, Planet of the Apes is not only a great sci- fi movie, which, in the best traditions of the genre, primarily tries to examine the phenomenon of “humanity”, but also the relevant, even by today’s standards, socio-political satire on modern civilization, progressing somewhere by leaps and bounds. The movie was certainly shot ahead of its time. Planet of the Apes saga can be called a cultural phenomenon (regardless of Tim Burtons work, of course), which, though lost its visual consistency compared with more modern science fiction comparables, but surpassed almost each of them ideologically and continues to. Franklin Schaffner’s film is a frighteningly authentic prophecy, which, for no doubts, refers to all individuals who lived in the past, living today and those, who will live in the near or distant future. Day of the Woman (I Spit on your Grave) Love, desire and violence are an integral part of inherent human nature. They occurred in human life, perhaps, quite before people started to think and understand what it is. Since ancient times, humanity in every way worked out the idea of a ??woman as of a fragile creature, who needs care and help in daily life. It is doubtful that such a woman is capable of some horrible and cruel acts. But it’s not so simple after all... life is full of unpredictable situations and sometimes even a woman can pose a great danger. Especially in the name of revenge. So, Day of the Woman… In a sense, the movie can be called an ideological continuation of The Last House on the Left, 1972, by Wes Craven. The slight difference is that in the latter the storyline was based on the struggle for survival and in Day of the Woman it’s a righteous revenge. But in both cases one idea is made evident - in the face of danger, suffering from severe shock, people (especially a woman) can easily turn into a maniac being a victim once. And it’s difficult to imagine the pain that awaits offenders. Low-budget trash-thriller Day of the Woman, better known to fans of the genre under a “fruity” title I Spit on your Grave, was released in 1978. The movie did not win any wide fame and certainly did not become a cult one. But surely it stuck in memory of many fans of the horror movies of the 70’s thanks to its animal cruelty, blatant eroticism and certain social implications. Even now, in our age of all kinds of television violence, this film is still able to produce a shock effect on many viewers. In general, as I think, the film is already out of date and is interesting as a “monument to an era”, rather than a comprehensive motion picture... The essence of the story is that a young writer Jennifer arrived in a rural wilderness, away from the big cities, to write her first true novel in peace and quietness. But in the first days of her vacation, Jennifer suffered the brutal attack of local lawbreakers, who outwardly give the impression of normal men. Bastards took turns raping Jennifer and beat her nearly to death. But, leaving the girl alive, the geeks made a fatal mistake. Jennifer did not go to police but decided to hold her own bloody vengeance. In fact, the entire film consists of only two mentioned above plot turns: crime and punishment. The first half is a prologue with Jennifer’s arrival and concise presentation of “villains”, plus a long girl rape scene. And the second part, which is no less brutal – revenge, where the criminals and the victim change places. The film has no plot twists- we watch a very simple and straightforward story. The only “trick” of the film is how it all was shot. Drawing parallels with the relatively recent films, the psychological impact of the rape scene reminds me of Irreversible by the French film director Gaspar Noe. Scenes from these films are similar in their meaning (here and there the brutally of raping), which arouse approximately the same feeling of disgust from the wild naturalism. And Irreversible, in visual terms, is even softer. The heroine of Monica Bellucci was raped and beaten in the semi-darkness of an underpass and the scene has a shocking effect not even because of its naturalism but its duration, when it’s almost impossible to watch after the 8th minute. In Day of the Woman the rape scene lasts much longer. It was shot in broad daylight and the visual range is almost on the verge of porn (only the actress’s genitals were not show in close-ups). The girl was tortured by four men in turns, in many ways and in different poses. Of course, it can be assumed that the scene was filmed so realistically in order to show the horror of the crime and depth of the tragedy that happened to Jennifer. But my opinion is that it was just presumed on capturing attention of the audience, as long as the rest of the plot is not worth a straw. The second half of the movie, where Jennifer sets up the Judgment Day to her enemies, is less shocking but still very brutal and repulsive. Naturally, the former victim did not want just to kill the rapists but wanted to make them suffer and scream of pain and terror. Therefore, Jennifer selected appropriate methods of punishment... Especially unlucky was the “leader” of the rapists - Johnny. That scene made me, a fan of the horror genre in practically all of its manifestations, screw up face in a grimace of disgust. That was not a super -original scene of violence; it was shown in other films before and later. It was, well, just so painful that inadvertently causes an attack of revulsion. In general, as a variation, the film could be perceived as an extra violent black, dark drama, if you would like to find a hint of some clever ideas in it. But this perception is confused by the improbability of the film. If the conventional first part of the film, the one with the rape, can be present in real life and has some likeliness, the second “revengeful” part is totally cinematographic. What I mean is that even if the rapists in Day of the Woman are brain-dead assholes, no one is such an idiot to be caught into those most primitive traps of Jennifer. For me personally the “scheme of revenge” seems unconvincing at all. Even the subconscious self-preservation instinct of the rapists was not triggered when every one of them faced the “victim” once again. The ways to punish her offenders, chosen by Jennifer, were a bit too ... weird. Wasn’t that easier to take a gun she had and do the job? There is a feeling that the director was looking for ways to show off with the plot fastidiously but did not bother to come up at least with some rationale for the actions of his main heroine. Naive behavior of the rapists and that nice talk to the one they nearly killed and somehow believe that the beauty had come for a new portion of “loving” is strange at least. Of course, I understand that this is a trash-thriller but that even such movies must have some logic at least!? Slowness of many scenes does not add realism to the movie. After all, in life, everything happens immediately. Here we are forced to watch virtually every step of the heroine and even a seemingly simple little scene can last long enough. The detailed I enjoyed as a stylistic device is the complete absence of music. There was only one moment when the heroine listened to music but that’s it. Usually the music is to remove an emotional load at a certain point or, alternatively, add emotionality or drama. Here, because of its absence, the whole tragedy and brutality of the situation is not sugar covered. Some social issues are presented by the monologue of one of the rapists, who stated that it was Jennifer to be blamed for everything! As it was she who “shook her tits, wagged her hips, walking in a bikini”, so they could not help but rape her! This is a total nonsense and pure misogyny, as for me. If we start blaming women for wearing of provocative summer dresses and having attractive shapes, then practically all the victims of rape can be indicted of provocation and rapists can be rehabilitated and all their sins released. In my opinion, the only rational kernel in this film is that all serious crimes deserve appropriate punishment. Vigilante justice is terrible and immoral in legal terms, as it is a crime too. According to human laws, it can be understood and justified. But Day of the Woman is not about that. I have very double-natured feelings after watching the film. Probably it’s a heresy, as my idea of the film opposes the “revealed truths” of the professional critics, but… This movie is filmed for the sake of the demonstration of sex and violence, and no more than that... this is what I think. And I’m not alone in experiencing this feeling. Many critics call this film to be one of the best samples of Torture Porn. Works Cited Andriano, J. D. (1999).  Immortal Monster: The Mythological Evolution of the Fantastic Beast in Modern Fiction and Film. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Arnold, G. (2001, July 27). Planet of the Apes Is a Desolate Place. The Washington Times, p. 5.  Badley, L. (1995). Film, Horror and the Body Fantastic. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Burleigh, M. (1994). Return to the Planet of the Apes. History Today, 44(10), 6+. Hantke, S. (2004). Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Kendrick, J. (2009). Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Slasher Film. Film Criticism, 33(3), 17+. M&C. (2011, February 8). Jeff Swindoll on I Spit on your Grave. Retrieved from: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1617894.php/I-Spit-on-your-Grave-Blu-ray-Review Planet of the Apes. (2006, January 4). Western Mail, p. 24.  Reelviews. (2001). James Berardinelli on Planet of the Apes. Retrieved from: http://www.reelviews.net/movies/p/planet_apes68.html Telotte, J. P. (2001). Science Fiction Film. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Read More

 

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