tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post7625512871289803267..comments2024-03-04T10:20:10.154+00:00Comments on Anna Chen: Madam Miaow Says: The Wicker Man review: guest post by BabeufMadam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-3772914871113356682008-04-29T16:00:00.000+01:002008-04-29T16:00:00.000+01:00Howie's warning perhaps makes a brief impressi...Howie's warning perhaps makes a brief impression on Summerisle because Howie actually uses logic for a change, instead of his rather hackneyed and cheerless religious faith. It makes no impression on the island's zombies, though. <br><br>I have commented on films on the Internet Movie Database for years, including The Wicker Man. Your precise arguments have not been used elsewhere, as far as I know. What people usually comment on is Christianity vs. paganism, does Howie deserve what he gets, is Summerisle a sincere believer in his own religion or just using it to exploit the islanders (this does approach your viewpoint though the full implications are not drawn out) and the salient physicality of Willow. It seems to be mainly boys in the throes of puberty in the case of the last topic.Polyglotmenacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08297961826014248187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-37567375405217405362008-04-23T19:38:00.000+01:002008-04-23T19:38:00.000+01:00ed said: Really interesting Babeuf. One of my favo...ed said: <i>Really interesting Babeuf. One of my favourite films. And I have to admit that I never really noticed some of the things you draw attention to in this post. Thanks!</i><br><br>Thanks for your kind words, Ed. Don't beat yourself up for not noticing these things - I think we're trained so that they remain forever outside our radar screens. If you follow the link I gave in the last comment, you'll see that the lost footage in the central scene would have filled in these details more explicitly. But even the mutilated version that was released in 1973 still provides enough information.babeufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10948774996517407492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-49567519821367202852008-04-23T19:28:00.000+01:002008-04-23T19:28:00.000+01:00polyglotmenace said: Yes. A lot of comment on this...polyglotmenace said: <i>Yes. A lot of comment on this film just contrasts Howie's Christianity with paganism.</i><br><br>Thanks for the comment, poly. You say "a lot of comment", but I'd be interested if you know of <i>any</i> that go beyond the dualism as I did. I find it hard to believe that I'm alone in this. There's copious extra material on the DVD with Hardy, Schaffer and the leading actors, but even they don't touch on this.<br><br>polyglotmenace also said: <i>Some discussion of The Wicker Man focuses on whether Summerisle is a genuine believer in his religion or not, or just a con artist. I tend to think he is a true believer - false consciousness can claim even those who encourage it.</i><br><br>The key part of the script here is the following exchange, from the film's central dialogue between Howie and Summerisle:<br><br><i>Howie: And did [your father] keep up the godless charades of your grandfather, sir?<br><br>Lord Summerisle: He became fascinated by the old ways, if that's what you mean. Indeed, he went further. What my grandfather started out of expediency, my father continued out of love. He brought me up the same way - to reverence the music and the drama and the rituals of the old gods. To love nature and to fear it and to rely on it and to appease it where necessary. He brought me up...<br><br>Howie: He brought you up to be a pagan!<br><br>Lord Summerisle: A heathen conceivably but not, I hope, an unenlightened one.</i><br><br>So Summerisle is evidently not as detached and self-consciously manipulative as his grandfather, but he's very much aware of how the religion functions in the interests of his own material wellbeing. From all the evidence in the film, I would suggest that while he enters into the rituals with genuine enthusiasm, he is nonetheless a conscious manipulator - how otherwise would you explain Summerisle's temporary dismay and loss of confidence when Howie exposes him shortly before the sacrifice begins? (although the islanders aren't yet capable of understanding Howie's words) The resort to human sacrifice is a cynical and desperate act, and this strikes me as one of the most profound aspects of the film.<br><br>I suggest you read the full original script for the discursive section of this scene (including passages from footage that is now lost). This was the script in the form that shaped Christopher Lee's conception of the character, and he was very unhappy about the deletions. You'll find it here:<br><br>http://www.steve-p.org/wm/script.htm<br><br>Search for "Christopher Lee" and you'll find the relevant passage.babeufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10948774996517407492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-58343204227366587592008-04-23T16:01:00.000+01:002008-04-23T16:01:00.000+01:00Yes. A lot of comment on this film just contrasts ...Yes. A lot of comment on this film just contrasts Howie's Christianity with paganism. But in fact it is Summerisle who in this film uses religion as social control. <br><br>Some discussion of The Wicker Man focuses on whether Summerisle is a genuine believer in his religion or not, or just a con artist. I tend to think he is a true believer - false consciousness can claim even those who encourage it.Polyglotmenacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08297961826014248187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-50208586971473765252008-04-18T11:16:00.000+01:002008-04-18T11:16:00.000+01:00Really interesting Babeuf. One of my favourite fil...Really interesting Babeuf. One of my favourite films. And I have to admit that I never really noticed some of the things you draw attention to in this post. Thanks!Edhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11986710256832859804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-20736668155128256692008-04-14T13:00:00.000+01:002008-04-14T13:00:00.000+01:00Yup, gimme some of that good ol' Aristotelean ...Yup, gimme some of that good ol' Aristotelean unity. It all means something.<br><br>That retrospective connection of elements is one of the most satisfying experiences a writer/filmmaker can give their audience with their clothes on.Madam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-21949365233490691972008-04-14T12:51:00.000+01:002008-04-14T12:51:00.000+01:00Shaffer's great with the misdirection, isn'...Shaffer's great with the misdirection, isn't he?<br><br>What I love is that once Howie goes to the island and the trap is sprung, there's only one possible outcome - you don't see it till the end, but then you see all the pieces fitting together. You just can't beat inevitability.splinteredsunrisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11512033657370443477noreply@blogger.com