film notes
Jan. 22nd, 2008 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
molly_oMonday morning, flipping channels, we came upon a movie called "The World, the Flesh, and the Devil." It's an odd film, made in 1959, about a post-apocalyptic love triangle, and I'm going to blog about it at ridiculous length because I can't figure out what the heck it was about. The first third was very reminiscent of I Am Legend (or rather, the other way around -- I am 99.9 percent sure someone involved with I Am Legend has seen TWtFtD): Harry Belafonte, apparently the sole human living in New York City, hangs out with mannequins and makes daily radio broadcasts at noon.
But! In the middle third, it turns out he's *not* the sole human in NYC. There's a young white woman, Susan, also. She's not shy about wanting to pair up with Harry, but he's reluctant -- he genuinely seems to like her, but I don't think he's interested in dating someone who most likely wants to be with him because he's literally the last man on earth [which, to be scrupulously accurate, he's not -- they make radio contact with someone who only speaks French], and also she's offensively clueless: When he turns her down, she pouts and actually says she thinks she should have what she wants because she's "free, white, and 21." (Harry later explains to her just how wrong that was.)
Then, in the final third, Mel Ferrer shows up. (and here RM and I had to take an IMDB break because I insisted it was Mel Ferrer and he insisted it was *not* Miguel Ferrer's dad -- and lo and behold, we were both right, because Miguel Ferrer's dad is *Jose* Ferrer. Mel and Jose are not related, but they both went to Princeton.) Mel is adamant in his pursuit of Susan. It almost doesn't even have anything to do with her -- it's more like he doesn't want Harry to have her, and at first I thought it was a racist thing, and I'm not saying it wasn't, entirely. (There's a great scene where Mel says, "I have nothing against Negroes," and Harry says, "That's very white of you.")
Susan keeps trying to get Harry to step up and claim her, and Mel keeps trying to get Harry to leave town. Harry says, "I won't get in your way, but I won't get out of it, either." Mel finally starts sniping at Harry from the rooftops, and Harry picks up a rifle in self-defense -- a rifle that he throws down when he runs in front of a wall engraved with the biblical quote about beating swords into ploughshares. (In the movie it looks *exactly* like the Isaiah Wall in Ralph Bunche Park across from the UN, but multiple sources say that wasn't carved until 1975, so I'm confused.)
So finally Harry confronts Mel face-to-face, and Mel drops his own rifle, and Susan runs up and she and Harry hold hands, and Mel looks utterly dejected, and then they turn and invite Mel to come with them. And then it occurred to me that it wasn't so much that he wanted Susan, or didn't want Harry to have her, as that he didn't want to be left out if the two of them paired up. So the three of them walk through the streets together, and instead of saying "THE END," it says "THE BEGINNING."
And I don't quite know what to make of it, but I'm not ready to dismiss it. I'm sure there's allegory there, but I'm not sure who represents what. The title suggests one possible reading, but it's still not entirely clear to me. And I can't tell if racism is a major theme or a red herring. And until Monday morning, I'd never even heard of this movie -- but someone has, because they totally borrowed from it when they made I Am Legend.
Tomorrow: Cloverfield.
Oh, and one more thing: We saw the trailer for Ironman, and whatever they had to pay Black Sabbath, it was TOTALLY worth it.
But! In the middle third, it turns out he's *not* the sole human in NYC. There's a young white woman, Susan, also. She's not shy about wanting to pair up with Harry, but he's reluctant -- he genuinely seems to like her, but I don't think he's interested in dating someone who most likely wants to be with him because he's literally the last man on earth [which, to be scrupulously accurate, he's not -- they make radio contact with someone who only speaks French], and also she's offensively clueless: When he turns her down, she pouts and actually says she thinks she should have what she wants because she's "free, white, and 21." (Harry later explains to her just how wrong that was.)
Then, in the final third, Mel Ferrer shows up. (and here RM and I had to take an IMDB break because I insisted it was Mel Ferrer and he insisted it was *not* Miguel Ferrer's dad -- and lo and behold, we were both right, because Miguel Ferrer's dad is *Jose* Ferrer. Mel and Jose are not related, but they both went to Princeton.) Mel is adamant in his pursuit of Susan. It almost doesn't even have anything to do with her -- it's more like he doesn't want Harry to have her, and at first I thought it was a racist thing, and I'm not saying it wasn't, entirely. (There's a great scene where Mel says, "I have nothing against Negroes," and Harry says, "That's very white of you.")
Susan keeps trying to get Harry to step up and claim her, and Mel keeps trying to get Harry to leave town. Harry says, "I won't get in your way, but I won't get out of it, either." Mel finally starts sniping at Harry from the rooftops, and Harry picks up a rifle in self-defense -- a rifle that he throws down when he runs in front of a wall engraved with the biblical quote about beating swords into ploughshares. (In the movie it looks *exactly* like the Isaiah Wall in Ralph Bunche Park across from the UN, but multiple sources say that wasn't carved until 1975, so I'm confused.)
So finally Harry confronts Mel face-to-face, and Mel drops his own rifle, and Susan runs up and she and Harry hold hands, and Mel looks utterly dejected, and then they turn and invite Mel to come with them. And then it occurred to me that it wasn't so much that he wanted Susan, or didn't want Harry to have her, as that he didn't want to be left out if the two of them paired up. So the three of them walk through the streets together, and instead of saying "THE END," it says "THE BEGINNING."
And I don't quite know what to make of it, but I'm not ready to dismiss it. I'm sure there's allegory there, but I'm not sure who represents what. The title suggests one possible reading, but it's still not entirely clear to me. And I can't tell if racism is a major theme or a red herring. And until Monday morning, I'd never even heard of this movie -- but someone has, because they totally borrowed from it when they made I Am Legend.
Tomorrow: Cloverfield.
Oh, and one more thing: We saw the trailer for Ironman, and whatever they had to pay Black Sabbath, it was TOTALLY worth it.