Once and future viewings

The Wicker Man (1973)
Several months ago, pursuant to a discussion on a fiction listserv, I rented and watched The Wicker Man, a 1973 British Lion Film Corporation production that seems to have languished in undeserved obscurity for thirty years after a postproduction management shakeup doomed it to a halfhearted release and nearly total destruction. Literally. The British archival copies of the film were, according to those-in-the-know, discarded and entombed in a landfill beneath a highway.

Fortunately, though, American B-movie icon Roger Corman kept a copy of the US-released version of the film. Christopher Lee, who played Lord Summerisle in the movie and has described it as the best movie he ever appeared in, seems to have plugged it persistently enough that it was eventually, finally, re-released on DVD.

It's quite a stunner in its own way, a practically uncategorizable film that has aspects of horror but does not conform to the standard cliches of that genre. It occasionally incorporates music and dancing much like a musical, and the plot follows the general outline of a police-procedural thriller. But what really sets it apart is the philosophical and mythic underpinnings of the story, which are only gradually revealed and which I will not discuss in any detail here. One can easily see how timid, unimaginative executives might have been afraid to release it.

It's beautifully filmed, also. The fields and trees and skies of "Summerisle" seem to glow with an almost supernatural radiance. Not to mention its bonny lassies, whose charms are, um, quite evident. (Note: there are several nude and sexually-suggestive scenes, including one in which a very naked Britt Eklund tries to seduce the protagonist, a staunchly orthodox Christian.)

It's enough to make one think that Lord Summerisle may be on to something after all....

An excellent if disturbing movie, well worth seeing for anyone who's interested in religion, myth, and cinematic suspense. James Berardinelli has an insightful review posted here, but if you're at all interested in the movie as I've described it so far, you probably should see the movie before reading the review due to the presence of a number of spoilers. Among other things, it may be your only chance to see a young Christopher Lee dancing down a country lane in drag, wearing a long black wig!

Now comes word that Neil LaBute, the writer and director of such brilliant little gems of cinematic misanthropy as In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, has remade The Wicker Man with fellow Detroit native Ellen Burstyn in the role of Sister Summerisle. LaBute discusses the film in an interview here. It will be quite fascinating to see how LaBute and Burstyn re-interpret the film's story. A feminist cult, perhaps? Goddess theology? According to IMDB, the release date is September 1st.

Just in time for the harvest season....

Edit, 2:15: LaBute discusses his interpretation of the film here. Spoiler alert continues -- see the 1973 movie first!