Visions of Paradise: Images of Eden in the Cinema 9780813552415, 0813552419

Depictions of sex, violence, and crime abound in many of today's movies, sometimes making it seem that the idyllic

122 43 194MB

English Pages 232 [231] Year 2006

Report DMCA / Copyright

DOWNLOAD PDF FILE

Table of contents :
Frontmatter
Acknowledgments (page ix)
CHAPTER ONE The Great Escape (page 3)
CHAPTER TWO Eternal Summer (page 43)
CHAPTER THREE Paradise Now (page 86)
CHAPTER FOUR The Uses of Heaven (page 128)
CHAPTER FIVE The Promise of the Future (page 158)
Works Cited (page 195)
Index (page 201)
Recommend Papers

Visions of Paradise: Images of Eden in the Cinema
 9780813552415, 0813552419

  • 0 0 0
  • Like this paper and download? You can publish your own PDF file online for free in a few minutes! Sign Up
File loading please wait...
Citation preview

VISIONS OF PARADISE

3renee ; jPRR es Ba: iy2 : ;eee Sos pps arr Re oa aS tetas Sate at : :i ses ESBei sa i ct RS & 3 2 2s aaa ee

Ree Bee

Be Sa

Rast sone Shoo eae ites Se

“AE Seis ig

; si iis 7c eer iia

BRE ee - . : . a oe. somes‘ 7 .ee as ‘ ‘ Sehnert: Be

Rae eee Re si as apaar;

‘ ‘paonbosootad tae panos psseeen ‘ ia ae as sigs pare sennet ty OSes asec Diem sen

: ae FE ae wicca Br Ba oe SAG aa ee eit i ha aySNS es eng Bearers :oa3 i RR Sieeses vases BSA aes Sireseerss wey nae aaa Bro ae cad SERN esBes serie Rapesco eondet enctee oe Laas san Lis poe Oe nib Sino Satan pathos ESE anes ee ae oyeetetoeees ase sucstancnenes, Besa en RLS poe ean cas aa Soh osmee Sa Rae eee sachin Coase So Seip hs sySSN ann tepies ae Bo 5, ae SSea reapers apater ESSti suuvguerasrencacn eaeSPST RS et Saor PES SA RR Pinsaasit ataSS Pease te SR i RR sr tae an Sbikectercocs at S eS : pence aaa ap oS ro Matin sora GS Rees Sen. senna re. » AS 4 aS eae ete . NOE XS

ee Saree Secnaaaete St ea : a DSR ia ak MSS ce ae cencens i Se Berea aeBRE Bia5.Biehs oe-a soora yas 2 wx tees : > si Ko Rae Sen Soe ses si S rs Sperone ioe a es Sy aad Rs

Scie sana aseniaes sas ere i Ve Wass Repeppeaaon ee 2 fie comes ae oss satan Baa Steamers erin Schacter F setae arora cena) eee aaa RR ersaa BasaSo Base naRSE Ace oe Saag Sate PSraat Frrenaerer oStePores anceOs Riese Rees hetss Shc Cae ieeeBios asain Benes 33 a ane Srp te SSE Mit SgRennes sags SERS iyLeasetons ESR SO Se Sea cia Bea sparen SNe ts: Si PeeneaBeeston so2 a Se SESS spi anne ee ay egies re as asoho coeammiannea. sare Ns SOR ee or aaae tpohteae ae SNS fieCramton de SCR Se serene e eri eRe Sshat ssteme paseo Sosa .ea ee Spee :s TS ERS Sa Naeso eeesanna ERE ERS MENS ae aan sapere oaT A 1=pebsisirgs ERR Rasen ERS Ske 2 SS Se Shag tat pees :4 eseconecata omctcissnst tt oe Rise Schnee Risers ees ae Rear Sega Sse roSerene Se: SS as>Oe Bese aeee bx: : cee ses poss aseen tees peeataaaaae iheSENS arrJct er Bhs cents Roatan +RNS oSRT cea SN pat ae oe See : Stes 7 oH 3: oes ttscea beScernematernaes Suiseatieastes Sosa Set eae fees ae comeay RES ee es ess ote Sch SRR RE cee Bese Seen 3 :pasate Sa ieee Lea tt! s si. SR seem cote? hepemectmeast Reese eeoeRape es: Seana patie tance =

: ; sets : S SS ca ea TARR pis Re Ge Oh Sco a Spee SS gee % ca Sanna ae

eee : ‘ se pees Berm eos : sear, aaSoo a ce oe Si achaeeacat coe eee J Sree euhipseheeeeceaeNe os : ; i:oe Poona Seem ; eh Rane: ct esa2ae ce ae cae Ree Seo Rr cera Re poacs Sees Srabrsnea en eee =e Cac te: aeiSea ees Sethe ss. pets cae IigReentry Ree ss SERS Stohr - ee Y, Siena ete peas oe hae oar - at Seana SSeS feraters tiget Nine ae 4Sas 2Se herb ne Bae Se :os ceecone acne aNs Petes oS.) See Re ee *na peronencnNa nk na Sos meant asePS : Sana - :Rammbmsnr BU ao SEERA ERG cco ae aman aera tenes een Sses aria epg Say 3 Sea 2SRLS e'ssates Beebe. See aeceaee otra aneee aSes St:eo es pakke maaan Aen cee comes Steen raion pee

sors Bee Roe a , se eee Rea seit eases : ; Science satan Sivenwop eens Seinen aaanrc eee sie sae es ats meanest oe aS SOBRE rors as aaoman aike Reiman eR eet Cie Beer 2Bigcnne aseCSO “Ei SS aae taShien eae eaSook aa Saas aa Sik Suaeeecot ete Secor panama sets Sigictiaiaeeernaetey Sebo SS Se :oa SSSec oS Sos Parmenssiesnencncs iSeance : Spence

Bee ;anetn BS ne ae Si dace sgiteeassohe SR DROS Besos geos eee ane ;Sates See ieee Sian eure aee anes eae Rietase oe eee nae aN cas aaea see Poseasenunrnn cant :“ tnnue sar LESS OO=SS Sie eeonn PE ae JSaag ‘ ~SS eecas Siac aan carne Bernasen ks aes RS:ee Seer ‘3:2::pear .¢.peck snes eterna nae pacie oneness pn sia ates ea eSee"aaa ere, Scene =pe. Sine aeBe remanent eno cs aeBEES See ss au Rigeee yoann soar eeeeSee ee ensant

:: ise ace Pe isSTINT Pr ON aPars: taiiernencnc Se re rs : ieenee : cna pars seat eam pai Aes sac snocuelni aaa se ee Se spti setae emaaeaa :Ps ‘=Bee : SORE “CeO Reae Re tapers sees Beseecnran cee tees ‘cn :: Ses Sate eaaa Ses oe Bornean snot ratty stones =7 fr:Soctonae ;Rect secs Siena : niet Rie etait nicks nes i se ea sitter nee etre Seen: sage Be ¢ : es OEE aie Pes / trance Oo Se SS ; Zh moet pepe oan Se sienna ae eter acmanemtencs ns See can ce cree SSG connor 7 Pe SERS ea cceRN 3

:Beatie : 4 Seeeeaeas Rahal SRRONS ss ee ; SE : BRU ero es ae

Recent Sees meaner Cates asaitan MANN teaes Bases Kae Bienen ass, YOON wen :-: Cena ‘rene Riper atts aCea shes Seats sate Maer os:

oo paneer Rik aang Peete ros CReae epee rnaeesty as33ea RSS Ree Parton) : seein ips gaaa ec indseepoescenmne eee ee Li a a ante na esc tie te sheoteees Se cn en Scaatens ree er Sacate sencannnnts eeNee 2 NF See BA a Se Ba me rae gesture as ROR Raa SSassseaseamenten Rano Pe RS ae aes Bosses pes ie SR Sec hey seign ay Bees ee une ts eS P Be ee em ne gates

: feat : Sacea aaa ; — se Brett a es rs 2 Loe Rae hs Se

Se ;* reer aN See Be ne rman eee eetie iecerts Baie Gee 3Soo: :a 33 Ses meet San! Spaces naerag Ne Aeen Sao Sianete Seee wnt Seog ad

erin cs api Mess ROOmSiescumter ER ast ~aes Ps. oh) SE SEES SS eaeet Ronacegti, Sp hsreenont pageTeiey PasirSESS earsCieSate tna thee BSpanes eet PONS tie oases a7.Tene Cee Sayers SatiaNgSRE eaneRParas Bemaperns ORE Peso Sisk ome Papaomer canteR TeEE : Speman cenrnatan IREreSao anne Sas EySt SSMS eessecs Sis2hstp eeeeyos ISIN Neeana SSS anaes ee 3ery ea Pieamrsan apo paeaatetteSoeee essiaeca See TEER Taesens aee ne Pe Sn. eeeene nySOS mann Seas Ruse casTne Cie Be atbeet SuaSane os ae eS ANS Se

a SR Ge: — see SiarGena atemrsaie eS : .; ‘peas Geka ios EES SS aN Soaheeeene ae ty aig easheBata eRe :soe Stoners emt soi amie eee Bet Sa aes Sissons Seb Be So heeoo piety Ei oiepce NN SER BSGree ee Cae eeBeesees ee seaees pete amtancney htshe:Resa ee OS eaesee A eS arlanetes Baeat aesis cri eee Re eer

%Benes : eeeaetase RR SE NONE SORES Aa Sipe coterns: Sear te REE Se PAS sy eeSecs es pete a Pats Beene mace ans 53x teste seaman sen es RN Acconne eae oie PiaeesSome ks poacatiie Baltic secre ses nen :SeSO gessaa % Saree Steins tear tas Yara naaeCee Boe Ren tcc tes acai Pie Sc See Sai ae Pee Latter a Beitr arco Ras Shc pies ce abe eat) ceapeers ane he Serna ¢ope REN oa!SRE Get ios chapman aes caterers caenine Breese sinter Soto omen Brox ie Soa ec Seicccnsnsinressn aee Sn teeaigs)» aeen Raeees atesSra sssaatis ERana OO Reeroomesstnaeean oy hon SE aati neSedebe Sahara nee ee Beuccinanuiti eae sistansanencen anys sais Naren ehagonai saeSat ROR ikeeSerene ae eee Sea ee Ww eo ie RDU sf ieee sere eapresen Seas pean Peer ie ; aera eean cs fabs . eas Ses Bacar 3Sy Meet Reese hes Ne mer nesen sCree keep PaRAS Pate ereee a Lease Stcst ete ya peReecet BISa7? eece OOee Gane a: Seas Pasentenne nee < setae cence ene “3 iawn NeaTe a s Reece: SeaireefeBag Nanni: : Napiee sn mee ‘ uesasa aaaneseea Roaneaepte Poy Soimaeneaden Rg. ee Recent as soem era Beeoierr nan Bee Sa akits

: Sassen Geers «1 es pe— ae Be besicee Serer ee Speier BSBHR Haran ces gatePONG Bae SoSte RAE ares :Rea eaBe atieancetn ecte tee .— =.ee Eeeee er rR scons ee Oe eens cee ‘Sis aera Bee Soe cs aaa Leet a eae. Betas #.. §cseeatieetse BRO ISeras aOre Be ea Seas ; :

pene nto natn ceeinen 2 Sea Bese a Say DsSaaee SaagSSE Noe sete RS ane ae aSeieepey pecans stir See aa se Genin espentane ia ee Bsa - os eserticcnnen SRS. BRON ATspammer en PT Ons nna oorana aseee Psatanate Soe: INS Racer Seeceraasren assis Pertenece Spo torent BSA SOD soriahicrenssent on aeBrot eas Beetree ate,ero eer jean Rta ee reer a te * =es . >“ saeippecans ones Separate eseia Bares renee REARS ERS SN: PSSA a oS Ss eteomae mentee Marineese ONESS Mes ecete rt os ater caeas ne aS eesSe eheetnd eas seasons potencaatces seme niga : Werden : sass Raresesste oare ie BROSNAN OCERGT aan eget Sa RNAP ON poms Eps eRg ScSaotee SSaveap eespeta EPR ERS akSPasaacigne Ga Sib Orisa eeaN ns ae seca 3 Hg teBe

; egies Soe BS Sones iceSpnchsse eae Boca eae eas fate ascrseneneaao Sieeerenceton Regret crite $3ae oeaie Sate SoeeRe ee pe cates sot ae z pn : SarN SANs e os Sess Sees ents Sone Baer csPe ets Cacao Bansiaaernery: petom eects ane Res a atpae ees Breton ney sonic Sige Soaabitne ore oa Se ree : ERB cee Se tetoie Geet nie aie isss SeSpeerbens ci ES eae ttc ate Rceueaee Ree aR yeees eesmaectieee eeroe hekes gees Rome Ries SCE ie es eae SS.| Sire Shee Sepsec SOIR SOLES ON Crs ma ioscan cone aes emcee pea Pitesti pobre nssaca sn rsena natesPapin eaeSins! ape Pace tantesare nays gssivenanse racer ORs aa enLOSE OSS ER Sota oie hich eae SOR tere nna ed sane : wage, Pa iSince diss cca Nee pasties amauta ia Siucsean a neaceas Bsinaneen ees Bac ceSemen Cee Bees or RRSP Sosaan, Soe Se =Beran : :Rea .* ene Ren ana eeSateen setaReacts remain Sapte tage Raateerea mapas pees AOR sO ateebfoten aan OPCS aeceUeeerts is Bice Songer Sess Sets tessais Si Secies ~Se be Basseeta ste ees gionsPNA eae BE meaneae oe Pirates etna, Ree Cocca eins ce Hes rs: Piesteaman antes xcar Sistas Sacsrescce sires ead were irs MdSS aoe EER SSS nents eae Sperone Gk CeSE SoySpats SSS ar es oseat aie Re LEEett pean i pies Bhan ene os (ee ercreey Soy seers Sa Naa setae ties 2, eee Bc eer aan Bicece eames esse etcas ss aaa CR aioe ee Sujal ostoe cehaunnn mane :;: Seccinoersemeeene Sagres mmyaner ereNaN Pees ESSERE es Stee richie aaa aa os SRS aren Bs Serena petetea sentPa ne eae Sttuemeanscaas teaepassenemnne GesA Ses ae oe OSU ewes esiaimaree eae Sn Senin Sieh Rn ae Peay 3 shat teasRST SNe eTme SYBerner ee 39 :AS roe. Ns Satserncere ea Pate et psec Se cecoer sentatives eae sea RR rancrat aneatncme ee soe seanenons Season Se Rae asa ter aay eine :2>ans Rianne i : sae Pena peesunieenmn oeReet suneantecs pieSpann onsnetnaneenn te nase te ince athena pS AORRM Gen tant th EP Naor aaa aeasawn SES CORST ae pos once eae aeDias apare Sommecntiaccet cane aMo oa ae Sree Keanna Ee tanc skascien esoneohome sgsnunap entre ei ate eeutes in tasamia Seiad anennmanne ya sacch i See Zs Sycea Sele omnes POiri ie i ee Ba SSsien ae cS=ane aygo ca Ss Ep Bawicsoeee SaenpoN nae Soin sas oe SS gta See seNS San Os Sarg tswasher eiecrerertt Phoaesecep a site Pesca RORY : Recetas es _aSiR nees Seeman eeear aepea Seieecanaanantn oa2: Soeeem ea etapa So OeDia Seihcoesencani areaaGansenseraor ne Saye spadantaa Seas aaa peeccpena Nite peop rion eee ROR Oa Ss Hew neseens Rr Sane ce Bioncpienr Soon sosPenn casa eo ieee ae RRI eR oeaaaneaeine ae te sspaetient % otc Seaaats seamen nena Woes Krag Uae tetera rae massac hs See % bese Speen ~ eet Reconene eSParke: Seeens, Bit Derren iica Tinoseme Nees sabeine Sena Sane tipi aees eam spate aSsaree os Sia: prsBie cennntete maaan Eanoipe ooe Sep spacesreate Leena eeemanent Mapas csncenn ress She enasee ns sitet Serre catsa nasses senate tees eae neinpenbna a0 Sac

Scien pb titer Sanne ene ect cee Pik a geeraa secon pticham ai aseatcence SIRS LEAN ienes. Ceaaa ee ts Semone aa eats mn eg siganoasonuaamar NS Gesamte see Sores Ne Sener neat ann centnay ee eae: (kwh vieneeae SEES SY SOR rare cence Soe Biagioatenet BSGian OCsaaeeonSer Sroantaninn ceetes:eestor Big ona stinr igs kc sn pence Onesie Seeeas oteSama ee eeenoSeotStace

aes Siiceeainee tose arate TERER eee tea aches ont rnsoats eters ehogee nate mata eS EONS DaSeemann hs cient peters saSetee names contr counts Sinaago ss SRD Nee ek ae eas awor spate: a aMesias suSh surapciore a ee Seat PRR PERS NR seBei Sone Sanaa greets nue Pre cease Sine cues pes Sete Reeser Seb ne aaenn geSERN BERRA Raaoa eaten ee entene Bisitncrvan tot Sanat aSiesta Boones os Recor Seas : Son isrrncier eecirenn ee trae Sopeatnr carraN aaa Wasery hornet baeassanrennc satan pees senate taney Sivas ncn treaty ne SpSips en es RS Sate ae Te eaten tpn span CRBS NCR) poneae area nee se eoBeeman PR eG Sonam aaDapeernas RES etc ca Seas Se pee Sep Reeneen eee Lien ae orcs TRE toe semen Sesmeatenan nape Pipes ee petenaecnaes Rigi one ae ng Raa Ss Se =ILOPantescnss Uae Uae oe cages >eiiccsies >ens asshtornnniss Ces Bt seria aee tae ts te aRee Seite ss en pcasees ae 2 peat S : “cre ese Sa “ ges tes isis Sire .iat eee ee Sak GaUN anne aSeuiramrupanton seaseieten et AS BPRS ae tanec me Seer Sacha ne canes RecsSt sagece eee aE pense eas boners antenttns tine Sones bop toasstntec erro Sears pu Sense eee: Saisiepraia cos ne ne Re SPRSS pete newer aet ones oa ARONGeta ey ReeceSS oa enone

: Met Se Sp eae spa otis ema Soon Sa SSS SN SERRE date se natant ees Sass = See eR ts tea a betas cuentas non pte ims Saran tegen ee SOR Seg pees neaatay Syren ea ema a ‘ soe aoa Binernarnccc caeseen cenoenty SeSareea Soren toh ican ane ote os aaaa re eet ene— Se ee SES Sei sa aae ee Sane en ea SNES een seh cat . : aes aac ara 3 ; : eumemenci scent Soa cerneeaeae aaa EES Bias ticker Bese ae eetSeen RpChatman toa ROR * Seman : ata foessohionnmngniastieg paras arr ae aN Mccabion 8 esateyations ecPia eee REN a ea Sane canie ea Reaa ea eyCREAN

cers : Sivas pcentneteateet supe ee oe ees Neate pen Vata Re ieRS Paar ae am me: 3: :: : Pesce ye societal seme arntoceercn IRconcn sho Sache Siche sneepae BNtea chess Abi ee fe oe oe Ce sa Beer saan cena aisSpi Saat saree nea bath : rasPGES Renee tesaes sng paid cc Senne sae ne=Sones cae aa pScn Pace gaane aS Bes cs Spine ge aah Coapant na oe ane 3: nes otePERN Shh Soeeotcrn aa:senna arent EER eee eae an, tr ecaan Sew ee saSea Sones snccanrnt patiePetech aeeter ta Sane eae nigan SaaS Soci as israea Se aN ROAR a eeSir poe Beans ; : tecana Seats estan haar Sic es ee positon aoa SE Denn RU aat cnnSe seaECaRN a pital pn eihae ninee eects phe SanteePesan oa : seeace secaRac pantera . iis a epone eceena eee ara Bree manera enunbeeine Riera eee caAe eo Rone caret eeeomtecee ceeine SERSats anats ; SiS BcBae wreesenset a Here ate Beesibaaemcmnens :3 ‘ : Panna ane sateen nae : Sienna soniapaternity Siang anteater epson: eres = : : G

oe ae SR. SS : : : s 3 : : TASS Neg Pe eae ae . :eiaeaiSe5 Bisco Bi 8 ; RRR : , |

O h d h ther (except in| ll volleyDall/. . yb . Il) hey IreWhat | | th such overzea

||1

-

| a ait Y c e l a oralirea an Y=yf| l V n Ithou h such films were produc d

1 a een , the mi1dq~ Ss, an ing merel m1 | 1s

an epit ph

| d lon -departed genre. No m

| tingSthe magic O | more rud ent 1n Exp Oltl

kd d Annette ouldW ha eVStl, hit West Coast beaches, Fran 6 ar the Deae| Ss reall al rived. h kin| d4l l’9that Ww |

| Asher iliSers beac ; l Willia n n n m 63 5. Annette Fu 7 Ohlin Archives h tesy of eThJerry Inger AC ; nn Funicello and frie S SUIVey

Be es er peers as

prusenesnerincnnhd Sot eae Be

ramen aS Pati LORE WarinerERR ma gS poche Rates poicececetienseiar tacoanna eROOM ree tates Ratner SR eeaR aeee: ee uae| ag Sie bet ies pasBe Saeeteoecru abot cine tape ane ag Seitrengs Se niase Menno Sak igi eee ie see Sere Sis ec ar pam sie ata a a Sp Beeps Soccmnnnccas, ny, Tee eer Seek: RR ose Soa : xSa Me aSBees SaeS ee BS ne Brice ie ae:serie i is Saeco anaes eet ee ieaeBaa DA Sco eee aac ater acta Se en oa ee = geile y SE” eeena cee ae aoFBs Pe sais xeee| Steamers asset nonsna Sinn Sees manne Se Rea sy Pa paceman Shatner manana SER Ceara a outa $noose Sogn2k eerie BS aSaeee, bi $ RT SS Sas ateSER OR Ma ag an Z Bee gesgece sore ge, ey aSine TRSepee or eR Ssshcued sSuciasseatiarssbre trensehaar anes a i- in picasa een teSee esoTbetes Sch panera teat PER atntaan Sesae satscence Goena 2.) aE Se.eiSS = Peers

— ee. ii, Pare ae OES ene ee Ben SESE ee AP Rey.: SoeftBR eee , Ree, bs Be bce Reco carer ne bentaee Pisceta hatin Be an a oes Seapg age E cSucemi chEs ee Si: aSere. SRee cgeaeeait ORES, ERS a Sas : i see 3Src Se &¢¥ EO tid Se oh Sesetae Baha arRes, eantedbeh peetanceaaatern rere Mo utente Rtaipi zs eo j : Saasisance ea aren ee Se , igs BREE

EE aepontiac cea cS nance soa EE ae Picton oe:meta peBOR eee o SeSas BS Pei iSic A ae : "3or-arcs Cretetine ste eee eee Bees sq z Cy — Ee ee SRR ae ees as Reb omnes Sawa meas 3 BAe BS sot Shubin: noeer nsPgaepeso 3 eM eene : ERE ——C—S Gata cats ss ES; oeaes. ST RAM iSRO Be AE; ee. aBssa a“Ruan Stee, EES EEE ee ee Bese

ioo OR ‘Semen: meats atone rn zs 2a A ie. ant oe .ee % Bea eaniok heater eo tenERE Sees ca ee3% oe mS eeeBe gooey meiames RoR rroe : See %eee eeScere ee tae asco ise CCI ng, Rese pcos = eee asae Sa ene eeeae spate Sater se oe aa °F eae ae See: cece Rea: ae SECs aaa pe eesee a SSE REki a ach ea 2isc apie oan SE Sa a ra i Sere ae aN: SBOP RRO EOE, Sabena ss =Loe = oe % POE RI IESWea SR aera econo a Sate oe SOSSeta gies ee eae ee CREE SS, Scare ei ee seo aaa cay oS = aoe SS aia ects” wee sSpee gS ate eeBEE ee ee Satis ne eC ite Sion si panne Sas enc Ree OS be5eS oe eae Sook. :a>; ae Saoe> “Spectres eS ee =eteen hoa Rtas SMR ee aSt.SN a oS rhr—~—=C' ee ee : PERSE: ss es : aaa po , Te ake See ‘ake aoe sone ; eee 3 e3 Fs Bee Soe Oa 3 we ee spi eS ARCA ean aR pian nv « ome BS ; SES eae ceaeane tea eae Ro Bees ; ae a 3 x Bet ; SEES 5 ea ac me Rie 6 Be eae ca ap ean cus Price . ‘ : ‘pesigicatiainracs Neaeeeanoa eae SERIES : Rapper a < Sot ss = Seee x ten Ae Saar a Ro ae as iSoar ees Eee Saco esati eee ROSE R Tee in,caeS Saemea SEs - eYeisen Sore ncnatee

:44hee Spire ee: : suai wee ee elie %, :Rs Garten te Ke Beh :32eee ees ae Basra onan oe Sint ‘Ps.seen Ge Ce RT aPaee Me “RR meili éJ SE *:hy:§ fsSEES Pi OSE aee SO eee) ec emi Me SR at=CRD. — :a=Pi=ee zBeBoo —se eg |ar oeRee ae =ieihee Prmn Re eaaeRaseaceae ee i:as +veneer &, See ores Ss Ry, ich CA... aa. isTES 2 Dis cepa Seite cae eae Ra baste eed Se Racin teSe Cane emery aac SRRR EREPia _ SES.

De: eee ‘tee, Ci:Oe ie; Re: SESEse Farss er ca oe of r2 ¥eees Begssee igen. Sear % Ne B35 SaSe Se ie ees és Sia“3 Se:SRS sev SRO —oteXi Sei| Se ee se =RE ae Rae — EEE SE s Bacon cu aie Sohn Sena amg eee B ee iSS, 3 a“ere a, tN, ee :Sei.Sera : an ee FREES x Pe Bert ;feegees paiement ae 3gease aBt& Bee

Sheng eemeee eeee ei oS dls Aes UES crciea : SR BS sas ieee a.nares ;beSES EEN RR eS ilecee . Go aRe2 Lee eine enone e Ee ge Pace aes anPet Era sean isha atetorneo aaacee Be SSeS eae aWo Sos tho = aSparco Biren pap ncnrenee amen Segntes tas | ier alee 1ceeOe Ee seme Rees Betas bsBes eSSRN -ame. Sees ae: SARS aan as Pies 2he Me Seeepee ‘gn eee 4PeSite. Seeono one pete besctre is-te snl eaSE neePees Santee em 3Be Pater od Sze eSROSE Sea ace aac in, ore oe 4iaenlsantsecccpa ie. sites Ses oe Be asaaa aes oS eeSERRE —, re -Peet ..C : Les Sanit ce eae ea Pete weteim ae ‘ SSO enon aces tater ee 34 od ere gga Sg os ‘ ae emer ieBssaa, Wet :eer ieS. seid =. :oe i.Te EELS Eg pines Se: Se Nig pe ae aeP eae s& Sef sees Re ace es Rump eee sas ete at Bs ee pe r*% ee iat ;Se*ees salle iina Be aa ee cSNES eS cee RS ss 33 Maas ete4MR 4es afe m ae a”age ate seein yeee %ie Bastien .:oe oe “SRE RUPEE EN? gy 3ae. me *Sees onieee — pa ee ng, .~ — Apes $e. Ss ae fos NSMe SRR pt ROR me 5 : ee utaOe ncaa ss aMERS, Sapcueee OO ae “ahaa ae = ae | ‘Deeper oe sia2 Bie cca ea ee eee Bacee Bat: ke ae ees Heke pete ea: 3RR PERSO SSE e os en acca Rie CAS BS Serres atest Bestia ea: Se eee. 3sisson Ea See Soe aReerie SEAS: TERS %.a3 rss RGR Rhee noone sonens Banaras Hess S xS55 Sepene ar eine BE Eve eS ee *ge. 2‘3aRS Wes iii eae ee: "3 «4 _. eo & SOS SRsens ear reesaORR Se : SSSR si¥ aianai ee ema ce G5 . Fe. om ae FEfo" Se ageRn Saree aNe eReeRe —

— oe Beceem eee ies: 7se: SadiPg come | Seam— & ;eC Ce i ee aeraénone Srna RORBees ese BBs.- Sn Mies erfebias rhaasta Sees # ig * aes iawn et3yn ee

iihnPRR eeKono eeRE PseeSS ireRR aS SAeae #glee ae eee Sena xea FiiBesame agama. seem : tectCo odFens ners Sots Seen See sess ‘Srey: e$ Seye be% . PPS 2se. ‘Saat 5 Fg dNBe NS a ge Pye MO a Sac CN ae ss Se io Bee ee zy oa SeRenee ges ts &Se “abe :* Was ga ieRe Hes ee Pee Ft ie oyeesa ee ee5Bes NSE cers ee Oe SESS. i eg = ee St a?" tee RRC ego soe ieeRessppaccase Se ge Bene: a ae Pessckiascnuan 23 ee =a : ees é : OME ce. cme RR ale ane eat Mime ss tisha ihe oe Bite ees 2 Beene Lp ERR genase gee ae ae es Pesce a $e a ee Aerie ae ; ‘ oS ees Ray eens ae noes i BEE oe tet Sa BS a ee ae Ore RR RES oh eee he OOP RS SES mi aa icine = x $> SERRE Se a Pep aee “See ‘ ~ 7 BS. : Se coma Rene eee Snel wn ee ct RE oe ee eR es ee pean 7paneer ee Re. te eta OOO eS Seneca esKe PySe ee cad , Pret ‘ Ree Sox ene asats Sccook anmmmmaael Se eae Be See — — :P|| permease eit ee aa “: cooeauaes am sees Soars Ps 2$SSSSreke Sec aceeben Bre ne a ieBanton ea Eee eer pe panes &Bee PS as REY eg Ps Sot ocaaeneas eod 3hee og- it ‘ 3$a7Les nce Rasa eco tenes Spee oeeae aaleh Fe Sepa SeEse See eR Ranier eit SO ew pay Ste ee aie cE tne, rma BE 3 P ee , » Lee. Rg Orage a a Sige ea aS Bacar ROOST ce SPER _ Gs aaa ere eae fore _ me. Fx x wis, sd os: oe Se si ON LGN ater i Re ek arc a SEE TSR RR ee a NE Dee ae eaves BS he Se Ree ee Me Be RY pe a Se a” eS ey, ad : eae airieane: Dek eee ae patos gagisiin Pasian oe ent BRU ria Ae ecw ee Beers: & ae Race asi ee es a eu RO OR eis iii: megs. CER, et d nN Psa sesh eee ECP ee Sui SRR AS ee Rios ea eo ee eos Pr" 2SE eeSESS aGo Sen oes , iki a eee EN aes ¢&oe J cere Kea? PP eee oa a iSota aint SEs Oey Sashe acacia aes Sree Saaee peat Botan Ca MN ete OE EREE ST cn ae sh ee neg salts Mme Snes 5 3% i RO _ SE ma eh Sas ae patna hneae nronauae menmara Be Soe aie ee naan RON ok etBO SSS cy ed ek aaa i ag SS as an ™ éaay ieR ,Rae ‘ Ct tee ita ieee srs SEER A ae ee eNOS Se Nes eee a pp NE eM Sener a REE REN. “UN amare so atPectin nsot . re. Ong SRE OS nase capone seat Rian snide Seotaa Siting ee aa se aBee ee SeRte aeeau Sahig ehcy ne ne SSNC ae SsNe aepFE Ohi SSG cna ean PRE aieSe iene SOR osc LETS cd is Siw - Speen... igs Filia, Me aeaten On hee Sees EsterSore Sa tecoecg ASS: BENG aE PR see ata ae bee cance eR. ao Nia Se ke ~ Waal SFELS. Hae SS geeamecare se pees noc Da ie teeta kh Ne gaa RR RN ae SS Oe BAS titi ‘y EEE Re Sah wena Kee MS RR Ie Se ne ee wee eres reine ae Mine ees A Ses Nes MB oN Pa ier ere SE eran oa pe Ue Toso gia fo Pi $ Gee ee Bake cs Lots sa .4ee esse ee eetuna ae aN sai es REG ae sis ee8s pa aBaan eee Be —oe —— oe as oe :: ares eS . ee one Site ete ne ee 2Ries -OE Seeman cee Bees a Ractnne Bhp geme gre Se. ane tee Beta Sere eS cae ae ee ORS aon Se Oe eeSa Brn See Soo: se See ee: a : . : oe

So st po entesce aeei oa sites gee oases RT ee as f eS ee 3ReF ee dee i "gene ence Sopa .pont ee se —Rote . ceean oS ee oe Seape . gs os ey ae eeececraaiaere ie eeSsaspe Ss PS soca See recess te earnest 7ey seseke paseECON a eas emer Secreemease Bae Be css eteo ea Pi og ee a; S. eI:. eae :: ,: :.sos: Pas AO. Berane 5S Be Ra 9 itermeta Pe iEG ii 7paseae ienaa SaSamer ae Ronen Na seoC Bee 8eeAeeS @ TEE ee 3 EoAa ee cca Ss$3 pote seme Sr cn RCSeta ec eescrnscts Banke Seeee ae aster SSEaes Sp Bsns once is netay pa Seat Rifas Cit: LE

Sl :: eOES oo =aes ie :ispen oeeee ees Ssops eae pe eees 2zeie =eae gach? ReBeStes Roa enn aetna Beckesti ee ES oe Bee oS Rae éHee SePS is on ps see oR ag oS: ; Ree Samana Renee Hiiees Sese ea ee SO Beer eegate OS ?Recon “is See ae5;es:aR Rees :ss;: :;ieat : REA Ben Saris tune Ee eee 25etaSeas 3Bee Ge SeBre iesae ma SY : ON pia ale 23 eeeenenaenre eee feeee weer See aeee Soeews a ae ste SSRcara Se Soa BRRE pans Re a pies oasesOr shag aa SSS SO Sy aS Same rea Ba Ser es caseSe Saa3 Sasa Seine anaesReiter ee oe i.era -

ee me peeRee Ss aae 2ae:aeeee oe -LS ES S/ Sepetee Soo epee Be oeSRR SsBee ae leg BER Saaawe geen aee eernRe SR RENEES Senge Be ee ee ete Sige See ease 2BS at Bos =See as ee :pre: : Cpe & ety =tists Sra un cence ase acne nace Pues So ets poset sos xate Soa ereae SO oepene ek =aBees :PERE aosRoe Bs Siionsencna ated Pe Sea eyneta Se SS aaa Ze ee Gm aa amee ies oe OeaRCS eeSerie Sp :anes : es ;ec, : ote Pe eR aRzSeaton Ee Sey es Seen | Bens 3aSats :aseaencen amnesia :aieSaar Shik .=Po. : ‘-eee : rae: oe : eaten Rhee SunaSiti ee aa =cr 3 HEaaoe 7: e SEER ee Bees as: BR sR es Sas.Say aes SE Bee aesee ae 5 See s POR ak oe: Pet eS |Gah Rep seen tae eae S|

eexan: : ee eeaaRRS nnaePee SyBe: mee ce at: purist Bescon aoe Siei ee Bee: Banas A pamee eeeae Ps aa eee Sapa ts ae se Bes ae ae 5. sai Ree sneriet ? aes ee zsananic See os oe tneriae Ss SU Boeata SEEtiene etn Peon cance

pee een Sea SSRN sc Renee Se See seanee fislat.o % a Rectan _aea>59 |_es,aeoe — es Fis poem 8eee Bs Ste Sees Begins etanan Hapa eccccumnane Pea aap ince : :Some ee :: 26 bane SRS = Se ec ES Sige aRate Saas Sco arse Se uae : Rees :cutee : :.s be aecence Re EERE. ite aSes aoeeat seta 32 Seecome jaansen SRR SeeaeBare ésSapam SS eran Seon Becresi teeSorin ca ee Sees peice BSaaa Begrei So GeieLe ge alRa ee Bet a.ok a Re es cogent Sots ze Be : Kae Sos Seaiscsi tye tumcaeee ta

Serre aces SEES Seances Rises oo a eScna Grates: Soe aes _ Sika ieee ee SPee aig3pe Seasaaa Si ees ta ee eiase : BERS y :a oes sasPeesaeeen ie Bip carne‘ Z Raed ee See eens | eae enanae Tage Ras Ce ae caSa See essii ; airs oe See See eee Pe bere EY iS aeeeGai RE pacts ea Sosaeaeye,SeeeCaer oe Seo eee Peete: ae ees tes sae pen Ese he eewe Ree: rnne aeons Ee = =Sens :

eee PeeSerene ee esa.ease aTIN "ae|:OSE “ays sa, lee . SP SR Se 2a oe aeege oe ORE ee ge Ge Re RR 75K ail Rc BS ae stearate: cs See Be eae Mp ate Scr Seep oeeae se ene SS a ec ba naias. aae Sa nee OcMM BSS eS i 2TERRES: Saas :a Stage :ssessiy aeRute: aSee Se a:REE a Soe ee es ties. 3er apie ee ae digg ie Be ESN: Aaa & age. eeee SR Ge SNoer eae:Ge oor anaa Re agEE SERRE at RR a AaRE Sta eanse * %. : Se Res. Speci: SamaShear jReg eeSh Pees eigen aS

GR oRSBE Ne RY: eiBe see Engat Paci oa 3uneetisk er.ae S BONERS. : ¥ Pe Reg a eeSSR % ese SapaBe seRS Ri AS Gece oe RS es a ACE SS iOEEN Si ik CRSe ENG eeaeeaai. oo gees eae2carer a ae SSSR Sees SoSRE eaea ‘ Rae Serna eS RU ek ge eas Bosca ae ae Eire EST Reecnssiae kAMR aSR CSS Si ea ie Se eS eece b: a FS RO” be ae Bs OS sae aBSS ee eR MLS leseeceDos SeRe NR ieeSe ai aM ag ae:egoP Meg niaePeESeS eS

See .Ri [ES Spee aN 4; So SaaS Sea ee *ae esRRR Bae erRret Be eae eefesse eRe Fe ee osRe eet aCoat ea ‘Se Si a~ baie ae oy aezt [istaee Sha +bee RRR Sais ath ae, :eres cd Sa Pie Pas LgaeSPR PR. Ree: BS eR pes NS eee aSs**Sih aninst. eee ee } pata Be ;he TRESS pte: aeiace Pre ont :a.io SRE Sains ae me RO Rete Saar Rs, pac >3ae Pe ;mraBisa Bee i pce OR Sec eeaa

ca aeee4 $Eger ee eSRCSA a SER pe ES Ny ae SeoeESeae ; essteoraeeR Bseee Ra ae ha ize eeeak.iRO ae a eee ie RIBS Sets eee Pe ee : % : # es RS aaa “le aaa St oe Bae ; oe Go ROT ae i Bie 2) gue earn th ; P 3 es Se Seasons = , Be : Boe Sco SSE eee Soares Sr, gestae s Goi Bese

RN Tn Sad See ae S e eae a Sass : & aN a are Sige “3 e 228 > = See

fs.pact is =oe>wai 48ORE Breos See ee iGiese, Foe)ae mainte SS de oe seo > ees se Ki ns epi sa Sree Sh, aFig Seo Sea en oe 22 Se| page eeipga sie pecuioeot a8 Bes : RS eS.9SSS ee ae oRares See Bea mn pe Pees x EEE %at Se Bae aaes SS ae peer BESS ; ee Ae 05) POS DB ITE 7Bcc ‘soi es Be ea gn : ee ae a PE ae AO Ra “a — aS i a BERS : 3 oes sige. oS aS easier ae rae = Se Beas nk ‘ oe ; a 3 ae a é lees ee ss Pe] ee 2 PMR a a Peseta Bi. oes oe »* 4 * } : 8 Bcc ies Ss tae fi 8 : eee ee ee ey ee pa Re esate ieeS are ee . : 5We st 3 erp SRNR aba SSS53 ES s “i saat Bessie aeParse Ls 2 aithi: Pages Bern Be: cae” ::: ;oe : 3EE®S es ag a.See ne Sd @ aoe es Ros as es ae esie ME aie eR RES Ses So naar SasiSioa % a R: ot illmaae Rarer ma aRae Se Tes ESS ki SN rn :Se aei Baie Y ReBie. eeSE PoeaBees aaa ee ssee Si me see essee : y ae Re ee:Pie: Loe : »Ea Passes: ae SESE ice ee, Mae FES 2S es es wee See SR 2-0-2 ai ee Bcguney pe eneneae ae Cp es i Pesan nee. Sz >, ee : eisai ‘ pasa y eg‘ Biss ; Ue &niETI Oran ROR a be 5 aed Pte ti. Senter: MOR: : ee : : Rie See aeE Re scene eran scopic cesnrinheevanbetwnnhntt SOLES, RRS 2 aes * nn Saas SNR.ape Se Roo ania ae ssue SBEee eS feEse See Rivas ee Geen utey ott osNe ste: 8Seats Eg seeeRete ven Eoaenae ets : geee

I pe wee iitRee Sa ie 3 ke cette geRe ” oy eae eeeee aa eae ee Bas J eget Ee se EEE Bee Pee & BiaEE ean = oreSUR a aRaefoPi, ES ee ear >=

Ley WO Be aSP Be teSCN econ? ai : ’ Begeens Grae. ire a Se Near UR Sie RR ceca=| t POR. Flgatai iESE Oe ie % Sak NG

PREERE pe ees ote? 4 Se Se ais 5G i OR ES PS aon paren cite ane pen, 2B Sa: Cie a Se ge: pa ‘Shee ee SE ea >Foe Soir EEE SR Rie De Se :ae SERS. 3Se Seaton 8eon Bese: 5ORS glia... es aEee eee ee ec See % . Sorte : Reo Saee She ORR oan Brora goign carmen ees Pio. aNssamen eeecmmmmmamane Sa ss aSeer Rare ae ae sea3 inc sng nae : ~— ‘ ae ; *Sees ces a SNe aay: es ae te Ey Rrra ee ee ae Ee Baesasts Pe Rett sy i aes :pie fo See ate Be seats ce # a ae Ma Pati Wg SSO Ceca see oe 22 a seaas Ee es, a ee es % : q . e %. ; a. Soe P : > ae : i a nea ea seers wee at Ss Apo ee SE bc Be 4 SE SRR $ Sas Bi: aa tapeers. & aaa,g:teeRB ache See nn meen eae esSeWee he ae We ek Fees atiNini Bi re Yes a ae : tBas Sctalie ape Bathe ee eae ES Ee ee eee *ms EE Sec aSR st csRS eeSRSa : ists Renee Wig na eA are eee Rit aSto Re De hae ee ee ceee on ia ee tap.s omtntan nen Re aot Eee! aaaSea % on PS a ISR patience mums eeees a “43RR Ee se Satie, Soca ee ae : :ie, ire eS se : Me oe ehesiaeteenperige mane ee oa SERS aae ae ee ¥ee 4ROSE paenenee EERO ca Sete te RNA TN RRR meree ESSER ines aa Gana ‘et sp, etSs eBe eee . peer FS RN CET cee aAE GN ae

Mie eee I gee ee) BES NS RG geeNga BO atom ke ee BEN Ss? ROR a ee ee Ce Ne ee See aSoS Re.SI 5Be Rep icc RA iu eect 7BSE CRN eR eg abi. iAO av 3RE eee oe ES ESE ee Bee Ssh BS one x. AEROS ORES NY Rrra One 2BeWeer SSieSaeco NR Bae Ree eee eae &ee : ns SMEG Seas:PE fees Se aa es Sab Pees :Coc See Spits PS OTSESS NLNE AR EN 2SES BERR EAE *esGEOR i BRS ge Sa “eS sc Sas SR RE Bt Sais ran oe oo Soe ig ee PE Reiger nen Woe cia a rig , per Re Sees oes 2 Ee eee OR Le eee Ce < ee a, eee a sear eae owe thie Opa OA SO a ie of Sees Sa ee am 2 oe Pats. “thes soso a ene eee mea sa7 fs Se Gare eaten oak Ge ae 3 aes, F eee Se eR S| ES SR ees F Poe. Se Gig a ahs eee are. sins, een ee itis, eh Se, | a ae ee Pegg ee Gi Perce or? mmm ee CN eee RRC eh Mia ei eeene ee eo rc ue BeedeeSS eee eae See ee ee eTES: EE :RE arpPigg conne Ge POO ee eyMEMS. ae ee Base :See 2aieec ® BOS SISOe: Maan 3 sioa aise EO ReRS ar :eee Bec: eee ee 4 Sosees aeeae _— ineeee cee Bo eS. ase SSR SRR SRE SSN a ahsRo aon, a IN aSag aaRA Pe a fe -_deabcpitearsee tater eo a Pk siti Bee a. “TSE LS ghex ea ao%‘aSa |S oaghateneers peaereraeee ener BSS SS ea :aati AR pi RN egShc sayaR Ma RE eee So

eee a si "4 ~~ oe =. er OLN Bway BaeeSe ee RR ee ec sae DeeS ae ste OO i ae a FrIRE RR eege rrr gimme. kee ee LE ae ec si eH ON how Cai cc ia eee is a ae oe ESN ae Bs Ag sso EEN : Ce MaRS Sen ON Se aS, SB RN ea

RES RE by. Joa eines 4gig Pn ey ee ees iePES 2 Beik ie .*iER Shae eeHg oP SRE eee Sere Regs feee pe¥ae aBER Sy ke BoORS aha yea Sage zret FC RB SeBe DR asheEN Scare see S ise i Pec Se BLS feeae RS FR ee

I. .I.

9. Michel Piccoli as Milou (seated, in white hat) presides over an idyllic spring picnic In the

French countryside in Louis Malle’s May Fools (1990). Phot h t f The J Ohlinger Archives.

. .. >. .. ..P]. .I

Claude Carriére dir ct Lis | B n : | tl ll b t M

..‘

ools Gemonstrates that even when en seems limitless, its true duration can De measured in the span of one persons tie 1 this Case that O 1lous mother. S ong as Ma ame Vileuzac §& increasing| tenuous -

I

O On iife remaine ife at the amil estate was measured deliberate, seeming etermmal. rier aeat as thrown Mi ous entire orld into a State of flux.

alle stages the nlm ina dreamy torpor; thou revolution 1S brewd

a4 In raf4ris, the characters in ay OolSs are Tar More interested in their or a nation teetering on the Drink OF anarcny.

VISIONS OF PARADISE

The film’s original title, Milow in May (Milou en Mai), is perhaps more indicative of the film’s real ambitions than the American release title.

Although the student/worker revolt of 1968 keeps threatening to intrude, in the end Malle’s film is about Milou, not France, and about his personal crises, not those of the government. Indeed, what little information that comes through to the house is wildly speculative, and rumors soon become “facts” as the various members of the household take measure of their lives.

The same sort of redolent golden splendor also suffuses Jaromil Jire3’s decidedly dreamlike Czechoslovakian film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Valerie a tiden divi, 1970). Once again the action takes place

in the countryside, as Valerie visits her relatives at their turn-of-thecentury estate, only to find that they are vampires, engaging in a sort of ecstatic summer orgy into which Valerie will be initiated. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a deeply eccentric text, infusing a coming-of-age

story with Edenic concepts of purity and lust, inclusion and banishment, into a sensuous tapestry in which nothing is as itseems. Written by JireS, Ester Krumbachova, and Vitezslav Nezval, the film's brevity (a mere seventy-seven minutes) and its seductive mise-en-scéne, sumptuously photographed by Jan Curik, make the film seem almost an outlaw project, or as Tanya Krzywinska argues, an act of social criticism designed to “enforce atheism Iby embracing] an anti-Catholic stance, particularly in relation to sexual morality.” Yet the film’s embrace of

sexual excess, and the almost fetishistic depiction of bodily fluids, color, light, flesh tones, and gauzy fabrics, bespeaks an atmosphere of absolute sexual license, rather than creating a fantasy world of repression. In many ways, Valerie is very much like Alice in Miller's Alice in Wonderland, reacting to the bizarre circumstances that unfold before her. The film begins with an image of Adam and Eve, as Krzywinska notes, and Valerie 1s often seen eating apples in close-up, her overripe lips lingering over the succulent fruit with undisguised satisfaction. Thus Valerie provides us with an image of feminine desire before and after the fall of Eden but without the attached blame that Eve shoul-

80

ETERNAL SUMMER

ders in Western Christian mythology. Instead, Valerie is seen by the film as a giver of life, a force of purity too intense to be corrupted, while her grandmother (Helena Anyzova) becomes a vessel of corruption. As Krzywinska notes, this is a film that is deeply tied to nature at its most gloriously ripe season, summer, and Valerie herself partakes of this lushness with direct and unabashed delight. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders presents a world in which all is al-

legory, one’s relatives may be vampires, and all authority figures are suspect; in the opening minutes of the film, a “priest” enters Valerie's dazzlingly white bedroom and almost immediately tries to rape her. Valerie extricates herself from the priest's attack but remains ustly suspicious of authority for the rest of the film. What protects Valerie, above all other things, is her connection to nature, which preserves her position within the film as a force of hope within a crumbling family structure. In many ways Valerie and Her Week of Wonders can be read as a more

sexually explicit vision of the coming-of-age narrative, centering on the freedom of youth, than its numerous American and British counterparts. Valerie emerges triumphant at the end of the film, despite all adult attempts to corrupt her, and the purity and innocence of her metaphoric quest 1s valorized by the film’s ambiguous conclusion, in which all of the film’s events are called into question; it may all have been a dream.

Lindsay Anderson's equally surreal If... (1968) presents a young Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, the leader of a surrealistic rebellion at a British public school. As Mick enlists his various classmates in his plot, the world around him becomes increasing fragmented, to the point that it becomes impossible to separate fantasy from reality. If... 1s punctuated by sequences that do nothing to advance the narrative, as 1s Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, but that do a great deal to

enhance the mood of the piece as a contemplation on the precariousness of youth and the unreliability of one’s perceptions in an often deceptive world.

8|

VISIONS OF PARADISE

At one point in If..., while cleaning up the school’s basement as an enforced punishment, Mick and his compatriots come across an ancient chest filled with various human biological specimens neatly preserved in jars of formaldehyde. In Mick’s face we can see a sense of wonder as he confronts these embalmed fragments of life that remind him of his own inevitable mortality. In another sequence Mick and his unnamed lover (Christine Noonan) engage Ina playtul, animalesque flirtation in a roadside caté, followed by a victorious romp on Mick's motorbike in the fields outside. In the already highly homoerotic atmosphere of the school, two young men who are sexually attracted to each other are found sleeping peacefully beside each other in the same bed, lost in a reverie of homosocial bonding. At the film’s end, Mick and his coconspirators climb to the top of the school and ritualistically machinegun the school’s alumni during Founder's Day, and the film ends with a close-up of Mick’s anguished face, blasting rounds of gunfire at the

school’s “old boys,” a vision of what Mick himself might one day become.

Director Anderson filmed If... on location at an actual British public school (although, for obvious reasons, he had a great deal of trouble

identifying an institution that would allow the production of such a script on its ground) and used color and black-and-white stock interspersed throughout the film at random intervals to further distance

the viewer from the spectacle that s/he is witness to. Further, this displacement of a consistent visual medium (it’s not in color, nor is it in monochrome; it's a mixture of both media, switching back and forth for no apparent reason) enforces the artificial, dreamlike quality of the piece, as if we are witnessing a fiction film that is also partly a documentary, as in Straub’s The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach. Then, too,

Anderson uses direct sound throughout the film to further enhance the “realistic” nature of the project's surreal scenario, creating an unusual mix of cinematic reportage and apocalyptic fantasy. Although the film owes an obvious debt to Jean Vigo's anarchist masterpiece Zero for Conduct (Zéro de conduite, 1933), which uses a French boarding school as

the site of a similar rebellion, If... 1s an entirely original work, and ar82

ETERNAL SUMMER

guably Anderson's finest film, in its explication of the mechanics of youthful revolt.

Summer has always been synonymous with freedom and a relaxation of normative social standards. For many it is the time for vacations; for those in academe, the summer months represent an Edenic hiatus during which the normal exigencies of classwork can be momentarily set aside. Much of If... takes place in the summer; the trees that surround the boarding school bloom with ferocious assurance, much as in Joseph Losey’s Accident (1967), which documents the quietly decadent world of Oxford in the 1960s during the height of summer. Summer 1s, in itself, an excessive season, in which all that has been dormant for the winter springs forth in a riot of color and sensation, a cornucopia of sights and smells. Summer is a time to make love in the fields, a time to take long walks at night on the village green, a time to ride your motorbike through the tall grass, a time in which all 1s renewed and

made young again. , | | | In such films as Delmer Daves’s teen romance film A Summer Place

(1959), Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue fight back against the hypoc_ risy of their parents during a stay at a summer house on an island off the coast of Maine. In Sidney]. Furie’s The Young Ones (a k a It’s Wonderful to Be Young, 1961), British pop star Cliff Richard (as Nicky) and his

backing group, the Shadows (as themselves), work together to prevent

the destruction of their clubhouse by ruthless impresario Hamilton Black (Robert Morley), who wants the site for a new office building. Unbeknownst to all except Nicky, Hamilton Black is Nicky’s father, and so the film becomes a clash between generations with a predictably Edenic ending in which Nicky and his father are reconciled. Clive Donner’s Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) is yet an-

other tale of youthful promiscuity centering on Jamie McGregor's (Barry Evans) sexual exploits as a young rake about town, set to an 83

P ) ...

. Pp.. .etrie > > S$ ° . ).

and the Cheer aVl1S rou nN anie trl € Lao Re cr O-well art student Marco Michael Parks isa bad Intiuence On lim-

ot onn Le ton the rown son O Carol ennirer jones 1 ESN 8 ote .

presse socialite O treats Limot y aS a CNI11qd. VAY it London In tu

Op, arco sets about S

rom his overprotective mother and simultaneous! seduces Carol |W ig

. ) ) . . . . . * b] . . I

events and pefsons around her.

h .| fi. tne |. | .fartincia :. h | pes hFd ¢| thiq| f>|Pfad>eeqaom, OW art are cOnvincin anisne ere 18 no aiiterence, rea or

tween the visions of personal and social freedom offered b y these ad-

mitte y cCOMmmercia Ho y wood lms and Bo WV iderberg S Elvira Madi-

g ( One of the most gorgeous OT a ms Sec (1h tae O O

|

10. Pia Degermark in the title role of Bo Widerberg’s Elvira Madigan (1967). Photograph courtesy of The Jerry Ohl nger Archives.

2 LIE iaa aaeiRRR SSR Oe, I SR iene tal Reaace 6 RE See eet SE aeaaeee ceeee ,37 3

ee eae Se Rae i... ee 3

Reeceae SRR. BNR aia oS ie Bi eerste Be es g accen eeeS areneSee ; 5 : e. SE Sete SON ee Mee oo Gear fiiae ets Se 6 ccaeaeSa tee Seeaeeer ae eae CEB. 7Beene ana a iii % Pk pea ; Pes $5 STR SE 2 Re Sst wane as::Bes & OOS TES SSR TRSea ee a cae 4= Bees ced BS Bee OS ge Se ON ili i see eg See ean rasae SS EF F Baas 3 we -aso Bish ne RRR ces ay 3a anna pceae ee pa es REeg aeSS mSee SSE a: ‘SS Seas SU RRR cre ae SE A Nis aieSS era aeBY : ss a a

ARES Sn a oaSESS. ARS Rs ORR See oe; ees ;Beer es ‘; 3 Bie tr ESSER ate aeee. Z So*PRR ee 3phenetan oe Sees es Bt, ‘‘gee Sc SSS SSE acote CORR Re eae. aRe em Tee ncaa 3ae “Te SoCo SR Ra me aosERG RS pris tate SeaieSite RAS Ba Reeseaaanae Sas space as nse ay ihe eet eeeasier Ny Di TR ales ae 4 Co Bee See St ea ete 2 “Sm cae al : Maes RE gee Pre ae a is oe _ sae ro . iP eS ae SR et et A ne i lr a Bet ett ; ae & ae RES Se Cee ee ; Pee aon SR oe ba eee amma Sie ; Ber a be vcs: Se 4%ce ieEe Rect. Masa einai as net Bao lige neh es;;-Bee 3 Ea oar ERR: eS Oiee 90tSeo > rrcareme Pe cies rma Bc eee : ‘Seg aPe een he tae ee Seinen osnaan Be ts 3erSn SesPena =os) Same mnce. Reaeons =ER : SSesES ea

ca RE:Pies BeAER SARS seerpoe me4 bree % Ae a eee nae5 aay. oom ee: Aes se Sage RitDae By pen sting re soo Cit Be 5 3E 3

Ba fons 3 Br AE ae Sc Ret cua“ete Fs eae aaa SSE a aaa esa eae SoS Seca tea Se ee E BES ‘% esee See gama 3fe ee eae ee 3 ah & ee Se Fi Pee ee me | Z;ee: £ Be i Be = a ee ee Be Fs oo es ee, SMES 3 Snes Saas Sees Hee ses ae eaBet Sagat bas Sie, Sone $e es : nts pea Got“Sa tae Saas Bi REE Te

a — Se 4

3 seater % Saas “> ‘gaat Wem Be Ba ;; alae eae ey Gane Reece ps a se ee or iSee Bec Soe a Sia mms : Se pais So es Sate nee Se ’ peg a Se Bia. SS os 4 Se nacater. ame oa oe Sipe Ste eee SS :oe % Ba cee 4 ae ack Bee “eee =3% Pe Sie a 3aeSee sae SS. Ree pte &83: & aes. ae es Ree aN — RS ra= Se Re 3igs Bais es2Bae Cae ae : cas: Miao Se -ESE F ie Reece. ya:| |Bae aBe BE ies: : Bae §—Sn F gh), ll Po ee a3 Be Sg ae oe Sena a ee Go 3 2 Sea Si Uc Dae , one Be Ce KS E > iz ne ees ee Be Re amis eaeBe ccnaoe 3 aes pesBe eae ae mean = :BRS 9 Be 3 Ras Be| eae ES : Ss = aap 2 aa $ ee os : Sees Sees FES BEE & om

33 aM we. Sa ae : aa . Bocce poem Soe SE

# Danes ae apes Ea——. SSS Ste aoe Se RR SS PRR. aS a Ne ae Bay 3 Repeat Sea cats (Degen eerie cnr NR $e. Sees: Seer PRS Dk Guna ae ne es pe ee : Sass oh Pegepnhon aneah sear Steers Peete ~cS Beets Reeser, Spite eae REPS. Pees SS EeSE eeaae aSae es Be Be Py SB etre neat soa een SBR Soke: Se, 3 EER SES

es Re et SS Ba om oa eae age) poe ce Ste eke Se Se =pavscnmenteniion) meGaN REE=aah isomerate: cori Sees RS a ROL? eee ree ee ORE: S.Se Bsa oe BC a Sia aes : SS Bie ese eeaca cas magettte natin erreg RANRe SERS Sa Ss aa ce 3aeae Pec? aaa aBSS Byes Bee: Sees Sc aeeee Sens 4 ice SEES SSeS a a SS Sore ee RS Se So aN ES. Soa Es a” cos Ben ON arene Sa ¥ “sh gieemeeencmmam einai 2 S SRS OR Ses sen Sa Se = Py iS eg ACA oa # Baws BS SR ace SCN So ne Sa fo Ei a ae. SR seer RPE eretee ae Eee iahage sates BOSS aa gas geoe Siero aheatynears ;ae déso SSR RSE S/Ssie Bahrain se aoe oatSanches a a Pcie Oa emer once raeSia SSBgeen gl ER I Se fisaa co sac fasee secenema saa aera tee Pe See eae ita en aae aa aR Se ae ae #aime Le ge aes #6 Say aSG eee SERS ey See Se ieSER ener Reser Cn oeee 44SU : SORES pee Ne cv ances ox RRS Baia xaee isets Se. . Sen. St Se iea Ee ae ae eae aetee seein aa ean SR Sc-as Re eis, Gea NE Ne ene Rey perma mie eS See SeFS © RE iaes tais es cen Ee Se ee OU ge Be eS a ea ae pos eS ee See os 2 = eS Soe eC: Dae oe Bee Be eS Bere” 2 Se eee 3 oe ME 2 et RN gee | ees eee, “ rs Soe ee een Sienna lr Oe ga tees 2 “ gee Re in cs ie Ge ae oe se PS fe . SPS Petit cr eee eens eaeaeyeae rh wan sateen age SSSoniteSee ae So Bei” copePs, ane a Reo 5 Soe * SIR atiten aaawarn BRS sence ee NS Be aNSSO Suaeepn REGIS aEnn a eaa SS ae Sana RCE S S remmct rien tee ee . Santino coe cane Res: icc. ee che Sects aareatennatereecrtennenear ss

oeBo a SESE 3: Sioa Reece ENS SES eae aees ae dee aa Sk:csey bs ROE eee ee soe SeBe ae Seance saeco S PORE CS a! ORE oNah aSsSe sie: OP SR ane Bs il aSee SS Secret eeBe Ri ayHR Be SSRIS Co Past witness Sk aa neacat mehng meas is Rareos: aeee seeener 2 ae aaSeet Seen Se Sapa Sia Rc ns SR od ereee BRS seSN .eee ere eea Bee

Bins eeprrae. aetc Pee ae 4 PGR Ree ene eee ees Pina Saas bigest Le eecc B ieMEN :oe= EeBe eeSean ‘sar Rey anacenas saat encanta ERR SSBS aa cae Seaes he aaaon eebaa: Ma age SE Bares Rose aes Acs. aentae Sy ” RMR Seep. aa eee eae i aS istic She aa Re Spree. < SS Se S7pees an Ce ee aaa See sRans a oe saeicles = S“ORES Sea ar ae Seen. ae 2aeres See aeS Bs ae alae SS aHe Tsaa Seeee ae set Se Ree Se om oe ee Ceaa gene een ba sci Nees Ee ee ee see roa ae 7NS Beco PR SS cca. Oe re ee See ae Deer. Steere eta Seats RR apc aes ge RE A Ba Aa eae oe aES ae a3 ra ee ae Bec eee Sees, ~NaS Seah penta SER aR aaa.” aaa es segs aRee SRN SS aaaaeee perenne CEN sn ete ee (al ee Geis. Gener eee et Bc aa me FS a es Ge 3 Ss ee ee ies a vy Fe i oe ee as Bae ee Bee CNG eee SN le REST RRA SO Sa Se Ste RES oe Bearman pens .:oS ie & eS : ¢ GES aaa a ga ae Daa 2 Ge a Se a DG Bie ee ARS Si TO, ee ser mein eR Fa AON. gi re Sate BR ay AY oo os tae cornet crs a Pa > & Seay La a See ea . eee i i ae a LS : _ sf eee . “— Be oe ee 2 Se ao ce So cet ae 3 $f Seeger rei sana Si Oe 4& od Setsae ae‘s ny anacos Saran Reena Sa aS a RRR sa a pe eaeFeea Ricans once oa Sc BeOS peaoe Se eae Se ie ema ‘lag ii % ps BiG ae ORE Sica Tae: fairer ce eee Ce gaa Rae ess 2oN es os 28 LEGS BN SGN aeee SSieGER AN ee meee eee RS 3=aeRe React Bie a : — me - Speeneren Sane ents eee NeSEES Fe sae eeSE Ree, De aieaSniper SE + eepam BR NR

e gs Ras 2eaeRea Eee Serene ee Gopee eee Bee EN RIE: See ee Ga°RR RR neaNN eae “ae ? RS eeRNG BSsci rin eae Rah sok ni Sa Bh RR en na Sear eae tata BsSe SoePe Be Sesame “Sraa ee ie pn Cee aee 3aemeinmnrie SMM cn ag ie ie Ri RE oe “a ale ge: SL ee Bao. BSha ayan Se, Mee Seabee : Seance Naa ai naan Ra ay Sis7S eae gis . Bese ee pen a Ml ain te mee a eh oes SRS Ree a ie = it Bo enti esom Sot & ee Pe a ao Sea i aaa oa Sepa RS Cae Pee TE GER eS ae as a Be Se a “Siena ore Roa 2a, Sea, setae Fe peace: $ a Se pore 3 Sas sare see. Mae BR NSS RRR ea See BS SR SS SRS se. Sees: BP SACO Se SRN : £25. See uum Se x ee ee ance oc: ES RS eo ass ee. | ee RR a a ame Bette take areas Bee Be Sse 9Mea ee aaes eh Re eee Re, se RR etection cee ga es Stem .< eae ga Re RaSSE ce apRa aae SSS SeYa aeSS, cheapest Shee. : i2eSemer : ES SERRE: Saas meee. Beep Paes Veaoe aa =a3Esc taeaes a enemas, hecs = Beso oSBSSe aeRR seam 3he PEN Le

ae Se os i occ BSR aa eScata Se came = aece ae aoSS aaeeBex? Be inne sat itera vcemice cera SO 2:Se =aaeDice — EES esOe, iRS, : EEN See an See pie :eee PSS oe Seine eae iicaacs sa -Se eee” Sh. imamate ener neBNC * acae ASe RR Sn pratges Sen.aR ae Bes &. Se ss aan cco "ica. hes eeSa Se ;eater ae Serena cage nea Sea Fa ySoin ESS: same pee ER OS SS OS Aish ei” OR Ni a ag a Si. Rech no sneer nares sy Br eS oRRae :ne aeseen gi 2ae ne eongeemntr aae 3eeGey aSoa LITE eee: “AS ag. ae ee Pao eee CS ie ae pesmi terPepa) % oa RB Ra BO. SO Posen . ee SS ena ee Pee Se: oe pattnnun : eee ese. era eae BES cee Scare ie, on am Be a 22 peee rs. ie Fee Fae aa Si a ae “yliraees e : eee Be ae eeras srimi ae sc sgh Sse sie So he eaebeasapmeasss ee os st a EERE BS aa ae Be Gee 6 ee ee me [Ss : Sex. Bessa 3Sa>sacra OE eeFae eaee>ieas oe SSS: ee RBu Sie S: ; Pei S. 2“Sige sSet “Gateeaeesee nce eee Gage aes 2, 4atSea yee pe "4 & Br Rie ace Se Boos ny Sn iS ae eae i Re sinc ep aueee Br es Kena es eee ae eS . a eSA PS eae So ‘Gee Pieri noes) cote Le aeEs ROR os Sapam: 32G ess. Br: ae MS seOO, eg apd eseyee #3 Serta Rene Bes Benee eee i5,==Sh:égh es ea Seas areactan og eS, ars esee Sotees aeSy Roe ESSE EES :se eee See te Lo SS Ne aos ee oe Sipe Ri og :SS :See eres teeahasemneme Gate SS ae OSS SS Rae Reet aS P teats: eas PA ibis. SR pcsee Mae? ee hcapepecmmotamcnmmene: Sate >. 8 aonesoamenn, Pena se me: a Sy : es aR a eae ieERR Sey es eee 2 eae 43 ‘ =Beg nS ee ir % * me acannon SSS eta os PRS or . SRSA ee Bestia ak: Bye Sears eea CR. S. gre Sent hee FoR .cenBUSS coerce SS Sok Ne ae SR ae Bs ;eeee Saupe sal ce ihsaSotxeas Ee Aa‘(4. bight Coe citer nen ema to% LE te aN ao~ Be esto a aeee aos Neile Se rg Seae aioie se Fnapa atte phihcsseumannenen: ceio eas oS Siuaataan theSs oe SS rece ea aea SSS ae aBonen 2ROR Spas pee late ae Coen :¥Se ae rRR a= Sas OR Sane pee TS Beanies Se ee Stee sper Fy sie x ees shy Soa aNN sees eeaSARE Se +Sees SRReee Seems |Bes Ea Be oP SER. Ra Se egakae ‘ Bom sets BSc ReeRatt Sees Somme ‘Sinica reptenene

. 2SRS oe .a: Sees Sebegk — ek Peescee Ba aSe a , Fe. gh Loee LSee SES ee Se cs

| Bh aeeeCe caer er cece a ae Be Se eaee3 & i ee ee S EAS

j

»Ssa|a.eas a;SOE ‘a OP Fee se GR Sete Sees ie:Lea ARE we Be La fae he : Sea Sees Be Rese aeek ee.te ee - 3i.+4. *ee bgio Se RE ers :Se aeRENCE arts ¥ eRSS eae eect

ee eee ei ee teats i a ae ee ar ;SS We.tae asi tects VnRES BA pace be SS nace 4 Be 2 Reg es at RS ies Peagen MRR ceche soea

ee, BS Mga gSRass aa Sess &Fes Be Be Se elSe PERE. ee . ad 7S meme en EN Soar BR: :e4aCG ea ae 29A oe aaiass 4aeRee scape Ape nS nc;SS aeeae Sa ais ;Bis =oe $aesaNEee ee es bag to Bae 5Sikee Soo ‘RG aee ‘sicone ae Rae gee 4b:s Be aee ZBe :Hg ee ‘Ge Shai aan naga & FMR > ER ae aes SSRSS See Bae os iSR caeaeien eos iee Pa me Se a ax = 4 Became oe Tastee aera ers = pane 2 Bees Bere Perse Pg oe 3 Soe rn Sa SPREE SOR ae. a eee Be Ara ee : bc EE pi ea eB: TORS Pa Stine same wee Ps: ‘ 3 SS ene con SS 4 a pe aes nd = = OSE REE pet Se eee ; ee aa so Oe S/n eA 5. CoB 2 7 Re Res wate Ser cin ite es ae ee MPa are eee a 2S ap maaan ace 8 bi Sa Spee aa = a Petrie wernerint soe ee pie ee SRR eR > Ree oe acco BP Spiess 5 oe eens ae ee a es = 4 BERENS a Bree. i ea Bases fa See se ae Rec pa oo SER enter Setar ae Sh aa ss a aa ae ee 3 RNS RSS Seale eeon. Sean seen caeSea i oes osBeg ae aN =md orakan ess aesSe eeceBienes .Fee “oS ee SsGB i RE Ss Rae as Stone ae eeBis SE SR amen ee Oe ee age ¥ aoe peneeae Renee “4ee (POOR Ree Giese eecoe aaa as Sts GB ree eS. Paks rs sa See ae a:ssia5RpaoS ene sane sc aBarSe ad SSR eo Be OE ES eeBete as ERS RS a Ty MR Rs PR oe ee Saree Bos See ee soiRee emanations St oe See $saBM ee ok pen esieee Se ee me Seem Op Boopeneee eet ana anemia esee: ae BS i eRRae NS MRE IR aMer ae =Roe SEER ENR Fe Seee eeee Peas span eae Se SPE PORS SAhoe caoS ee Le a eae ae RE Bi depes: sie ae 7oe RS ee Pe7is “EEE eaxLE, asASAR SSMS oeceago egPes SY Be3i REL B SE, Betas as Srss reteE DES ES ae :pen m Bia SONS -Seca Sots soon” sehata aprae ecegie FNai =OR 3se SRS a aR Be aeee a ROS RRR BZ, Seance SAE. : Se smr

ee ee Somer, 3 i Bo Rc ee ae é b scare, SS ea CES, “oe a

..

. . ° ’ A St. Matthew (1964). Photograph Th Oh

he Gospel According to St. °

ograph courtesy of The Jerry Inger

.

THE USES OF HEAVEN

section of humanity, as in Alfred Hitchcock’s famous wartime parable Lifeboat (1944). Between Two Worlds offers Sydney Greenstreet as the Rev-

erend Tim Thompson, the mysterious Examiner, and Edmund Gwenn as Scrubby, the ship's steward, who tries to keep the passengers ignorant of the true purpose of their journey. None of the passengers on the fog-bound ship can remember how they got there; they only know that they are drifting toward some unknown destination. One by one, the truth sinks in; this is really a voy-

age across the river Styx, and Stubby is Charon, the boatman who will guide them to the afterlife. When the true nature of their journey becomes apparent, some of the passengers panic and try to bargain their way out, most notably the millionaire industrialist Lingley (George Coulouris). The Examiner, however, is unmoved by his threats, bribes, and blandishments. For the lovers, ‘Tom and Ann, how-

ever, there 1s a happier fate. Convinced of the stupidity of their attempted suicide, they are returned to their gas-filled London flat as a conveniently timed shell fragment explodes through a window, allowing the gas to escape. The lovers have received a second chance; the film implies that we are each responsible for our own destiny and must soldier on in the face of adversity, as the responsibility of the living. Reginald LeBorg’s The Flight That Disappeared (1961) offers a simi-

lar moral fable for the Cold War era. On a transcontinental flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., a nuclear scientist, an expert on rocketry, and a mathematical genius are suddenly transported

from their normal flight path into a stratospheric climb ten miles above the earth. When the plane finally comes to rest in a nest of clouds, the three scientists leave the plane and its other passengers (who have seemingly lapsed into a coma), to be judged by an otherworldly tribunal for their involvement in creating a new and terrible atomic weapon, the Beta Bomb. The two chief designers of the device, Dr. Carl Morris (Dayton Lummis) and Tom Endicott (Craig Hill), are put on trial in a zone that is “beyond space or time” and shown the po-

tential results of their work, in a world ravaged by famine, destruction, and war. 155

VISIONS OF PARADISE

As the tribunal’s chief examiner (Gregory Morton) concludes his indictment, the three men agree that the Beta Bomb potentially promises to destroy mankind. Their ethereal advocate (Addison Richards). speaking for all the “future beings of the world,” argues that the scientists should be released on condition that the results of the work never reach fruition. Returning to the plane, the men are transported back to Earth as the other passengers regain consciousness. Saying nothing to the others of their experience with the tribunal, the scientists destroy the plans for the Beta Bomb after landing in Washington and agree to lie to the president and his advisors about the outcome of their research. As far as the world will ever know, the project has ended in failure, which paradoxically is a victory for the future of civilization. A deeply personal work by LeBorg, who had earlier made the proto-feminist Destiny (1944) from footage excised from co23. Nuclear scientists face a heavenly tribunal in Reginald LeBorg’s The Flight That Disappeared (1961). Photograph courtesy of The Jerry Ohlinger Archives.

a © =. | re : |

ee - = - oS _ ety |: Meg af oh . ; 3 :

7 — — . NS ty ee ae | —

eee fF : — ee ee |. .. |.Ee 7 XS Pa a. fi lf | =oe

— = — | . Seu oy il ee =——lUlUrUrUr”—~—O~—O—OCCCCCt—~t~S~*sztC;:CS&S See Shige Pipccn SS ENG cn Sas aeie Ras . eaera SERRE coceitae bo a«Yall ‘aap He oat t PS aeiae: soe sg each ain area Sy saree ie RS : Banus opp RR ER aSesser EN in REN oe "eee” 5= PS. .s:scien aS: Bi ERS Sheben ch eR on Cee aeES See See Beasts asaSa Bes aS eeae papitata icant heRRS ama es ee ste a eee Reacher amet Se ea s rece SSirpeeenee vencacos see onausten ens areca reEES NSN “ nce Bente Shc. ae candmama Ses eS gos ZN Ragan heSee eg Seater genoa eRnea SSS AAS EN es Ba once Bao a 4noe i yRe‘Se= heeee BSpico amence Ss BESTS SS SG SERS Saco aaa RG. cine counter SREBS SESS Sneeeae aS - SSN ¥. Sok =a4Rae Gaetan ee| ee: oeoes Se wrasse tana cect :ROOD : aageoans FREES Bat tore Fe oeme Ui ge ae Same SE eect ‘ >imatamsrteernneeree RRS ae cata aes Oa paren TORR ANGESRR Se aanOO T ReCE RACs MRS eR Shr ER aeSoa ERRBoo oo Re‘4. aa oe 4Saat Br esoe a4 cence

— rrSsS—SG et eee Beamoaaan anaes SSS Ae eecees eat ese tsi acest ne oe a oe, «ease, Bs Be cc epee

Be ee ee ee eS Be Mae ate Se ieee gage: Meta. : ssi 3Ranta sea Siaepapttkone Misemcecnwes a reeRL op) secigeatian caterye... ay eR Bre Se caeeae Ms >. a Coane. PRB oesnccenreNS e ae . i pas pees eee Bee oe ae a Dt mm : Spoon! : .#2 SuanBeker eater dt Sener age RS ecReact Saat eee oe 5 an eS : 4ae oe Monee een ee SAG SR 2 ;oe PeJ moos A eo SSS ee eS oe Sa eeORE -— 7“mn — |oo oeee||. SSE 7 PIM ee eR RS 3: aes sa BSS ‘ : eota ivesa5aaaare 5 :earansnemenine ae cas SSF chee eee eee ESSEeee eseeearecsiaa a 2¢:Ri seamen ati achic4 teobes apees : *:eR biasabetee sitemeter We pin Te See . Sees ‘ome = «i Shtenant atat/a ESAS ON ee so Hc ARN - : ean Rane mgs sone tet Tot ots 1%ROR Pio arene none

THE PROMISE OF THE FUTURE

era increasingly dominated by television; perhaps God knows that television will emerge as one of the greatest threats to Hollywood's global hegemony.

In 1939, when attairs in Europe were arguably at their bleakest in the twentieth century, with Hitler on the march in Poland and Czechoslovakia and London bracing for the Blitz, H. G. Wells wrote an essay for a short book entitled Travels of a Republican Radical in Search of Hot

Water. Never reprinted, the volume contains a key essay for any understanding of Wells as a scenarist and social visionary, “The Honour and Dignity of the Free Mind,” which was to have been delivered at the PE.N. Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, on September 4-7, 1939. The “war crisis,” however, forced the cancellation of the congress, so Wells, already in Stockholm, presented the completed essay to “one or two writers who had already gathered there” (Wells 122), hardly the ideal audience for the widest possible dissemination of his work. In the aftermath of the disrupted gathering, Wells coupled his essay with a series of other topical writings and brought it out as a slim paperback volume, offering us the only record of the work that might have been undertaken at the canceled Stockholm conference: the creation of a united defense of artists against the Axis powers. As Wells wrote, with considerable passion,

Are the creative and intellectual workers, the universities, the teachers, the hunters of knowledge and wisdom to be at the beck and call of obscure government officials obeying the behests and even anticipating the wishes of some gangster adventurer, some financial trickster or some vote-wangling politician; or are they the masters whom it behooves all governments and social organisations to heed and serve? . . . Can there be any doubt among us here of the answer? Is there any question that the imaginative 167

VISIONS OF PARADISE

and creative brain is the supreme value in human life, and that its

freedom and dignity are the primary concern of every civilised man? Is there any question that these belligerent sovereign states which rule us everywhere, their bosses and their officials and their cants, are now an intolerable menace to everything worth while in human life? (132, 150) These questions had preoccupied Wells for quite some time, certainly since the film adaptation of his prescient novel The Shape of Things to Come (shot in 1935, released in 1936), which accurately predicted the outbreak of World War II (although in Wells’s vision, the war lasted

into the mid-1960s) and ended in a Utopian vision of “the world of the airmen,” a global democratic technocracy in which culture, art, and scientific enlightenment were the sole aims of humankind. Stunningly directed by William Cameron Menzies, who three years later would design the entire production of Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind (1939) and in 1953 create the ultimate childhood dystopian nightmare of Cold War alienation, Invaders from Mars (1953), Things to Come covers nearly a century in human affairs, from 1940 through 2036. John Cabal (Raymond Massey) 1s a pacifist who opposes war, but as Christmas Eve draws near, in a brutally effective montage jux-

taposing traditional holiday merriment with newspaper headlines blaring “war IMMINENT!” it 1s clear that Cabal’s hopes for a peaceful world are doomed.

London (named “Everytown” in the film) is bombed into oblivion by unnamed foreign forces, giving rise to a zombie-like plague called “the Wandering Sickness,” which robs people of their will and sends them out into the world to murder and pillage. The only cure for the affliction is summary execution, something that the now-ruling “Boss” (Ralph Richardson) is more than willing to mete out to his subjects, even as he presides over the ruin of civilization, without adequate sanitation, food, or medical supplies. The war rages on until 1966, when a certain kind of feudal order uneasily descends upon the earth and its inhabitants. But social government as we know it has collapsed; in 168

SS . ee ¢ oe i os - : : _

— A

; i cd et a: Se a iEanes gfI *eee FE!oe98. $y. _— “SS **. , Te 2548 Gren Oe OM ie ee i ee

. : : —— - 2 a, ye 3 ops ®. ris ii 7 4 a 2 ," a | 4 oS he A : : 4 ‘ : «@ ep By '. on < - .. he a4 i 4% ‘4 2 . b.- . ¥ . S 6 * 46 a ao oo i 2 ' 7 , Le Et 2 a ee ; & ‘ wt < a Z 4

u : We a AW a q : Ls ‘ ’ ha ke A se , P = Ms g 4 - rt 2 a ~e = ee \ =@ ae +

_- 2 «6 gee, «Ot kt Le Be oe. ae? Cee, he

AAioag 265 -%, ,¢ 8° “See @ \ a ad ee bs

al a!) || [ee aa Sa E ) ty " AFe ) Pa " [| Fac! a \-¢ + 1\ 26. The future as utopia in William Cameron Menzies’s Things to Come (1936). Photograph courtesy of The Jerry Ohlinger Archives.

its place, a group of warring “nation states hghts over the surviving scraps of crvilization.

The Boss, indeed, is just another feudal dictator presiding over a corner of the earth, carrying on the centuries-old traditions of conquest, plunder, and dictatorship, despite the feeble efforts of a surviving group of scientists who oppose his reign. All this changes when John Cabal, now much older, arrives with a fleet of massive airplanes as the representative of a new government that 1s taking over the world. The Boss is soon vanquished by Cabal’s superior technol-

ogy, and “the world of the airmen” takes over, bringing peace and plenty to the citizens of the world. The film then shifts to its final third, in which the “Everytown’ in 2036 has been transformed into a 169

VISIONS OF PARADISE

paradise of robotic automation, plentiful food and water, enlightened cultural education using television and a forerunner of DVDs as classroom tools, and the hope of sending a man to the moon in the first manned spacecraft. But with the intellectual freedom offered by the new world, there are those who disagree with the new regime’s arms, chief among them the Cassandra-like Theotocopulos (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Delivering a dramatic warning of doom to the citizens of Everytown via a huge telescreen, Theotocopulos foments a rebellion against the proposed moon flight and leads an assault by a group of malcontents on the landing site, where the rocket is launched moments before Theotocopulos and the members of his mob close in. At the end of the film, Oswald Cabal, John Cabal’s great grandson (Raymond Massey in a dual role), heralds the new scientific achievement as the first step in conquering the stars, which he sees as the ultimate destiny of the human race.

While the implied social equality of Wells's vision of the future is highly debatable—the “democracy” of the airmen seems conspicuously sterile, and the vast sets recall the gargantuan buildings of Metropolis (1927), which dwarfed their numerous inhabitants— Wells was trying to show that rule by conventional politicians was doomed

to failure and suggested that a Utopia created by scientists and artists would have a better chance at realizing human potential. It would be an interesting experiment, if attempted; for the present, the world seems to have learned little from Wells's prophetic vision and seems more divided and war-torn than ever. Indeed, the plethora of otherworldly visitors with benevolent intentions in the history of cinema indicates that we know that, as humans, we are fatally flawed and doomed to repeat the past, ending in our inevitable self-destruction,

unless some outside agency (angelic or extraterrestrial) comes to our aid. Things to Come asks whether or not progress for its own sake is valuable or if it needs to be governed by something other than mere scien-

170

THE PROMISE OF THE FUTURE

tific curiosity; that is, by the human conscience. If the march forward

into new technological landscapes is inevitable, no matter whether the outcome be salutary or dystopian, [Things to Come seeks to assure us

that we are the masters of our own spiritual, artistic, and technological destinies and that we alone bear the ultimate responsibility for all our actions. While Things to Come pays lip service to the concept of a higher power, it ultimately argues that humankind is the highest power, for both good and ill. The question is, what will we do with this freedom, and what kind of world will we create with the aid of technology? Lothar Mendes’s The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) posits

a different question: What would we do if we were able to create, at will, a new civilization; if all our fantasies could become fact merely by wishing them into existence? Based on H. G. Wells’s short story, running a mere seven thousand words in its initial incarnation (Wykes 71), The Man Who Could Work Miracles tells the story of the very plebe-

ian George McWhirter Fotheringay (Roland Young), who is granted godlike powers by a trio of bored deities (Ivan Brandt, Torin Thatcher, and, in one of his first screen roles, the inetfably bored George Sanders) who argue that men should never be allowed to control their own destinies; they simply don’t have the intelligence to manage their own affairs.

In short order, Fotheringay, touched by the hand of the gods, sets out to create a new, Utopian civilization, only to discover that his own vanity and greed have foredoomed the effort. Progressing from a series

of insignificant parlor tricks, Fotheringay is soon reordering the entire planet as an absolute monarchy, with himself as the Earth's ruler. Even as the evidence of his miraculous power spreads, Fotheringay 1s met with a chorus of naysayers, who challenge him to prove his illu minate power once and for all. To do this, Fotheringay orders the earth to stop spinning on its axis, which negates the planet's gravitational pull and nearly brings about the destruction of the Earth. As a last wish, Fotheringay asks that the world be returned to its initial state,

171

VISIONS OF PARADISE

before he was given the gift to “work miracles,” and that he should return to his life as an average, pub-going British citizen. His wish is granted, and the world is restored. As Alan Wykes observed,

Wells's great strength as a writer is his ability to interest the reader immediately in what he has to say. His style is straight forward, serviceable, untrimmed with decoration or rhetoric. . . . He was a Common Man himself, he understood poverty, he knew

about the dependence of the lower orders on those in the ranks above them; he had views on the emancipation of women at the precise moment when women themselves were probing the same ideas; he made himself a spokesman for the very folk whose interest he was engaging. (16) The Man Who Could Work Miracles was a resounding success at the

box office and touched a chord with the average British citizen with its tale of an everyman given limitless power; a common fantasy to the present day. But in depicting the Utopic world that Fotheringay creates as disintegrating into a feudal dictatorship, Wells was merely repeating one of his favorite arguments: that society must be governed by a political, literary, and scientific elite and not by the artificial dictates of a too-easily-manipulated democracy of average citizens or by a common man raised up by the union of circumstance to the level of dictator. And yet, at the same time, a number of films from the 1950s seemed

to argue that without a guiding, benevolent despot, the world would ultimately fail to reach accord on important social issues and vanish in a cloud of nuclear debris. In these films, aliens arrive on Earth with a warning against self-destruction, but they often have to threaten the world with extinction in order to get sufficient attention. In Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Stull (1951), Klaatu (Mi-

chael Rennie) comes from outer space to bring a message of peace and harmony to the earth. Posing as a human, “Mr. Carpenter,” Klaatu falls in love with Helen Benson (Patricia Neal); when her jealous ex172

THE PROMISE OF THE FUTURE

boyfriend Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe) discovers Klaatu’s origin, he

attempts to turn Klaatu over to the police for investigation and imprisonment. But Klaatu’s faithful robot servant Gort (Lock Martin) rescues Klaatu from death when he is shot by the authorities while trying to escape, and he successfully returns to his ship. There, he delivers a warning: Disarm, or perish. As he tells the assembled scientists and government officials, “We shall be waiting for your answer.” With this stern admonition Klaatu departs, ending the film on a note of Cold War uncertainty. Will mankind embrace Klaatu’s message of nonviolence? Or are we doomed to ceaselessly repeat the past, assuring our inevitable destruction? Klaatu’s world of pervasive nonviolence is more perfect than ours can ever be, a world of sanity and reason at odds with the combative, fear-based values of 1950s America. Interestingly, the message of The Day the Earth Stood Still was so powerfully

resonant in the Korean War era that it spurred an uncredited remake just three years later, Burt Balaban’s The Stranger from Venus (1954), in

which an alien (Helmut Dantine) comes to Earth to warn civilization of the imminent perils posed by nuclear weapons and falls in love with the sympathetic Susan North (Patricia Neal, essentially reprising her earlier role). Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956) offers an equally compact and convincing vision of the struggle between paradise and damnation in its tale of Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), the reclusive mas-

ter of Altair 4, an obscure planet on the edge of Earth’s solar system. Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) and his key staff members Lieutenant “Doc” Ostrow (Warren Stevens), Lieutenant Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly), and Chief Engineer Quinn (Richard Anderson) arrive on Altair 4 in an elegantly designed flying saucer (“United Planets Cruiser C-57-D”) to investigate the disappearance of the earth spaceship Bellerophon, which vanished without a trace some twenty years ear-

lier, leaving Dr. Morbius and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) as the only survivors on the planet, along with their companion Robby the robot (voiced by Marvin Miller), a device Morbius has cobbled together “in his spare time.” When questioned by Commander Adams, 173

VISIONS OF PARADISE

Morbius relates a seemingly fantastic story, claiming that nearly all the members of the Bellerophon party were killed in a single night by a mys

terious force and that the surviving members of the expedition were

vaporized along with their ship when they tried to escape. Only Morbius and Altaira have escaped this terrible fate, and in the ensuing twenty years, Morbius has built a paradise for himself and his _ daughter on Altair 4 and has no intentions of returning to Earth. Adams is understandably skeptical of this story and becomes even more so when key elements of his spaceship’s radio are smashed by an unknown intruder. Adams and “Doc” Ostrow return to Morbius’s house to investigate, and eventually Morbius relates what he knows of the real circumstances on Altair 4: that it was once ruled by an omniscient and benevolent race called the Krel, who developed a series of “super computers” to control all the life-supporting functions on the planet. But, as with the members of the Bellerophon expedition, just

as the Krel were on the verge of their greatest technological breakthrough, the use of computers to do away with all manual labor, the entire Krel race, too, perished in a single night without any rational explanation. Morbius conducts Adams and his key staff members on a tour of the Krel’s staggeringly immense underground city and then tells them that, in view of what has transpired, the planet 1s “cursed” and Adams and his crew must leave immediately. Adams refuses and tells Morbius that “a find such as this must be placed under United Planetary control,” a notion that Morbius immediately rejects; he is master of Altair 4 now.

In the film’s harrowing conclusion, Adams, who has fallen in love with Altaira, is menaced along with his fellow crew members by a monstrous “creature from the Id,” a synthetic creation “whistled up” from Morbius’s unconscious mind as a concrete representation of his dislike for Adams’s intrusion on Morbius’s domain and Adams’s love for

his daughter, which threatens their extraterrestrial paradise. “Doc” Ostrow has divined Morbius’s dark secret and confronts him with his responsibility for the deaths of the crew members of the Bellerophon and his resuscitation of the monster to do away with Adams and his crew. 174

ae i Ri . :x : Ba we 7 @ : : = 3 “ a ‘ ¥ : eo a S % ‘ : ¢ "i To OR 4 PR ;i.a She se Pre *4 3 % ed Z ne * & : Be

6oeen ae aThe Bas oo Sewema sa ¥x‘ FPO *; Rcd ae ed a=

Ba .? ae :aSe Sn 3ee Jfe SSS Sears i a: Se iae: ve Se eS Sa,aaa pe See x3 Beene S-5 wo mac "hs % ae Ea Baits a Seek et 5es 4Eo Ea Ge eames eee. a sPes Re, ES Pg ae eo. ee ae 3 ‘ oe ie Ee % ee Be Sas ae * Be Bs yy > pe ; =e Pa Hee Ro Hees ite as see eee : - ‘‘3; 33Pa.sn=5BS2:Sate Se —* ie ae Step =e x ee rs:oe%sy3 fs 5 3 A : ae SR i be*22 eae Ay fee feRa ae ee Bae eS ie . i ° Ss 3 Sete Se fees 3 a oe: : ge Sy ae ap bee . sgt s Stee REY aes. Seer & % : cpm bs igs : ay aes ee ies ee ape be cag Se “oy * 2ee 4agia : , = . % Eo en 2 £ = ‘ * ele SRR S ease ee a a E Soa $ 3 ae 5Pe aPS Be: 4Sas ty * : Ee : § "a : oe ; ESR fii‘SS § 4Ee eae : a ¥ : : 4 Be sap Es See 3.;‘aSe :Ra Bias eS ae SaaS g: wn ee asae esSa 3afSs te al 4 ;: Bee RS, ae ae re 3ee ce ee 3eee :ckePeek ‘: ae Soa eae ae .3:ees

Bs Bo es “SR . ::FR ‘Se | oe £3 é ee * i) Se P i&,. se ee : ;ie Be: ae ‘ . 42Feae iFSeRee & = 3a op eee aee- = : Bite oeiSs S&S 3 See cae cunts ee ai, ea ee SRO RE - a age 3 Z pa Bato Se. tsa Oe sa ss

: Pe ee. cae ed: 5* er as SPOR SS . . ak eS. ae i :afSS :A : Sst Perce es ee sSeen: ®aS He3 8 #fsAER: eRS ee iEg te eepre Rare gi % Re a aeet ee - ofa : See ee as eee ‘Rea peRS :aBese ee Se ae aeeeee ers ; ee S.ySo agg OP 2Be: ae. Es oe eee Saha i Ses Re: oe Oe Re See sper .See Sees =“ 5as ,=ee >=aae Te a Sapee 4peers a eo gies $3 rd 2‘abam SS ae pea Bee g Be: “* ss 2 eee Pris : ae ts sete Sie ‘Sees % Ss s ee Be ae Se ae “a s Bg re ee Se ee ee ee 3 poses #8 bs. . ; ieee : i ae=

Stee moe Be oe ae bi ee 3 : aa 4pas LE Bes Bs:aasi: ct = ¥£8Sees a : spit a. 2k

me = ae eeee 3ieee & oe Bt 93 Spy We, 2S Sake oe > oe Seas Pa gee BM;gk 38 =j 4Ena eg eeBal 8me SSR = Se zs - :yee ge ae z SOR SSR : cae. st a pea ae be ae Sao : ca 3 Pan: & : poe feo. igen SS Pgs a : Ses ae a Bates: a= y¥ ois Bee es: ie sa ee ssh Bas ho 3SS 5 aRe Bes. oe Be SS oe "2ae SS eae 5. 4ae. Ee oe iee se Sg aaR Paes Bes: eegee er % Sa ;oS4Nee oe Seas Ses Bees. Soe ae cae — ‘>es Shee Be as2 Shape Sy SENS ee aeaa :5: ,aes ees: oper eepast ¥ Babccres 2See eee SSeS ES Bs ee Bias co eo Nise Sa ae 3 ry a & .. sh ay genes RR Sy pea 3 ; og ee ye ee ree Sie x aa Beescanes eS ES aepete ee paar 3 ae ic?ME ce Si eeeoSea ae Sages, eee ¢..3Mabe oS as Saunteee ae ce: nae. - é> esters: = : te ee, iesSS $ 3 al Beate a, se Pei ea re cS Sa * gee 3 4s Ce o ages. ae 3 Rg Bee Pa FT a eee aaa 3 rt ae 3 SES es ae a Eo ee ae Be he See PGi ee Sas pa &4“Me be 2Seak Besi ee: ©AS RR Egae of aeee S esi Peni skooncer nasty, Be geefi sae eee 4 ; : oo ORE ec ssggricgenesae : ip eae Bess Sar aa See eeola =e |S s Se eo > = bce te PRE N a 3 SERS Meee Bic aes Sik ROR Se onc Soe setts Stoaaehe eee Sa 33 Siac

or oy Diets ye “ae ae a ee S oO coee43oo

- Tey * ’&ees RE¥Ss raesee TT esGarena ae Ee seGees Be es Seea aae se ceeRe ‘s es oo See Sac Bas PRL asee gs eee hy. eae Sie Ne NE ES eet SR Si gets: aS tS ke :eee 4 4 Ree %& ge seeee See pe se noes Eee OReR RNS Sree