Film "The Wicker
Man" became a debut of nobody known before, English director Robin Hardy. Inspired
by David Pinner's novel "Ritual", screenwriter Anthony Shaffer helped
the director and wrote the script for "The Wicker Man".
This classic English detective
story instantly becomes very addictive. The main protagonist, police inspector,
Sergeant Neil Howie, has to question people, guess, reason, suspect, speculate rather than just finding clues
right in the middle of the road, thanks to an endlessly lucky coincidence.
Philip Coppens is correct when
he states that „The pagan details are
what made the movie an underground favourite.” The viewer, who is more
familiar with pagan culture and customs, will be amazed how detailed the
paganism is described (written) in "The Wicker Man" : rituals, songs,
items etc. This picture is made relatively
realistically; it has mesmerizing music, which seems like it is coming from the
depths of centuries. Old folk songs, original ballads of musician and
playwright Paul Giovanni are performed by rural men with cigarettes in their
teeth. In this extraordinary picture, there are a lot of songs that perfectly
convey the atmosphere of paganism. Vladimir Gordeev(2008) point out that „Scriptwriter Shaffer carefully studied pagan
and neopagan rituals, the history of pantheistic cults, primarily Celtic.”
Figure 1. Pagan ritual(2015)
„It seems almost impossible not to recognize the pagan islanders–in
their rejection of status quo norms, their embrace of sexual freedom, and their
search for more ancient and mystical alternatives to the moralistic religion of
their fathers—as stand-ins for the 1960s hippie counterculture [...]” (Smalley
G. J., 2009) After all, the film was made at years when the hippie culture was
still flourishing.
This picture is not simple at
all, it offers the audience an exciting game, tempts(seduces) them in the same
way that the daughter of the innkeeper Willow seduces Sergeant Howie, who
arrived in this secluded county in western Scotland, to deal with the case of
the disappearance of the local girl.(see fig.2) Being a churched Christian, Howie was very
shocked. All his investigation, which took two days, is accompanied by shocking
discoveries. Howie gives the impression of a very good man, who does not betray
his faith and principles. Such character evokes sympathy.
Figure 2. Willow seduces Sergeant Howie through the wall(2013)
First, the director awakens in
the viewer their primitive feelings, the rejection of rules and morals, a
return to the roots. However, over time, the viewer realizes how wild and
immoral everything that is happening in the film is, and towards the end of the
film the viewer is disgusted with all those involved in the ritual. Throughout
the entire movie, a struggle of consciousness and the unconscious is happening
inside the viewer.
At first, the film was not
successful and few knew about it. However, gradually "The Wicker Man"
began to earn popularity and admirers, in 1979 it received the award as the
best horror film from the "Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and
Horror." In 2006, a remake of the film was made in the United States,
which was also called "The Wicker Man"(see fig. 3) and this became the best
evidence that the original is a picture worthy of your attention.
Figure 3. Poster of American remake "The Wicker Man"(2006)
Bibliography:
2. Gordeev, V. (2008) "Рецензия на фильм "Плетеный человек""[In Russian]""The Wicker Man" review" Translated by Anastasija Strelcova At: http://www.ekranka.ru/?id=f854 (Accessed on 23 April 2017)
Illustrations:
1. Figure 1.(2011)[Film Still] http://www.steve-p.org/wm/, accessed on 23 April 2017.
2. Figure 2. Martyn Conterio(2013)[Film Still] http://canvas.grolsch.com/film-works/the-wicker-man-vs-the-wicker-man, accessed on 23 April 2017.
3. Figure 3.(2006)[Film Poster] http://www.joblo.com/movie-posters/2006/the-wicker-man#image-18687, accessed on 23 April 2017.
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