From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie Zardoz released in 1974.
Starring:
Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman
Directed by:
John Boorman
Genre:
Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
R
Budget:
$1,570,000 (estimated)
Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
5.8
The Synopsis is:
In the year 2293 the world is separated by mortals and immortals in which one man is destined to liberate them both.
Story:
The story origins are very unusual. After having a track record of making critically acclaimed films such as Point Blank (1967) and Deliverance (1972), John Boorman wrote and directed this film after his attempt to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" was canceled in the early 1970’s.
Believe it or not, Zardoz was inspired by The Wizard of Oz, where a terrifying over sized head of an idol controls people, while itself being operated by a single man.
In this film, Zardoz is a statue of a terrifying head, which used to be a spaceship at one point or another. He is pretending to be a god to the people of the outlands called the Brutals in the year 2293. From the Brutals, there are the chosen ones called the Exterminators, who kill the masses of Brutals to quell the population on the planet and force them into slavery to farm grain to give to Zardoz as an offering.
Like the Wizard of Oz, Zardoz is a figure head controlled by a group of people called the Eternals who are immortal and detrimentally suffer the loss of excitement, sexual desire and procreation.
Boorman said of the film, “In a society where people live forever there’s clearly no reason or need for children, and therefore does sexuality disappear, does the sexual urge no longer function?” And those questions about sex are strongly expressed in the film.
There are several very interesting intellectual questions brought up in this story about population control, classism, and the ramifications of immortality.
The story was also inspired by “After Many a Summer” by Aldous Huxley about an immortal wealthy man who regresses into an ape. Boorman said, it had a very powerful effect on him since childhood.
In my opinion, this is definitely a high concept piece.
It’s not a unique exploit, having been the plot point for many futuristic books and movies like Soylent Green which came out the year before in 1973. As well, you can see that the film was also inspired heavily by late 1960’s films like Barbarella and Planet of the Apes, both released in 1968.
It’s almost as if someone put all three of these movies into a blender to create this one.
I love all of that stuff. It’s incredibly fun for me to consume this kind of avante garde science fiction.
However, the biggest problem for me really was the confusion of the script and dialogue. There were a few awesome monologues, as well as hilarious and fascinating quotes, but one of the first things that Zardoz says in the opening of the film, is simply unrepeatable. If anything it came off as very hilariously cringey and clunky.
However, when the film hits its stride it treats its audience as if it is the beginning of the film, piling on more dialogue and banks most of its storytelling on exposition and flashback footage which really dulls the momentum of the film.
The confusion really comes from the fact that the audience is meant to experience the mystery and surprise unfolding the story and you do experience that, but again, it’s written with clunky hand.
On a lighter note, it was fun to see what weird, awkward and cringe worthy thing was next said or done. I had fun with it.
Pacing:
At 1 hour and 45 minutes, the pacing is fragmented because it feels as if the story is told out of order, which forces the film to tell and show us concepts repeatedly. However the bonus is that it goes by quick and there are many oddities for you to visually devour.
Challenge:
The challenge is quite strange in the film because it is anyone at any time, because this society so so complexly inept.
The Eternals live in their own oasis called the Vortex 4, in this futuristic dystopia within a periphery shield controlled by a powerful crystal technology called the Tabernacle. There seem to be other Vortices too, but we never hear much about them in this story.
These Vortices were created to keep out the Brutals and safekeep the comforts of their world to themselves. So this is where we get the rich / poor disparity social commentary.
The Eternals were created 300 years prior by scientists, who discovered a way to prolong life with the use of the Tabernacle. They did this by implanting a small crystal into the 3rd eye of all of the citizens of Vortex 4. The crystal allows them a psychic connection to one another, join minds at a meditation state called second level, and mentally domineer mortals.
The Eternals initially wanted time to figure out a way to advance the species at a point and time they refer to as when the world turned dark. They even went to space, but found that it was a dead end.
One of the drawbacks to immortality is that they can’t have children because they lost the physical ability to and they can’t sleep. From those drawbacks the Eternals became fragmented.
Eternals were normally the elite with all of the power who appear to be young. They are the ones to uphold the laws of their society and keep their species going. They “are the custodians of the past for an unknown future.”
From the Eternals emerged the Renegades first, who were middle aged when the society was created so they revolted against the way things were being run. To even think differently than the majority will sentence a person to be aged and cast out as a Renegade.
Since they cannot die, the aging process is not only a physical representation of scorn and being undesirable, but also takes away their mental awareness, reflecting a little bit of real world ageism to the audience. At one point, one of the Eternals threatens to age another, in which no woman or man will ever find her attractive.
From the Eternals were another subgroup of individuals called the Apathetics who are too bored with life to participate. When the Apathetics began to appear, Zardoz told the Exterminators to stop killing the Brutals. Instead they were to capture them and make them farm grains to feed the Apathetics.
This was when their world began to unravel.
Their perfect Eden is fragmenting no matter how much the Eternals try to hold on to it. They are a formidable challenge, but not very smart about survival because as much as they manipulate mankind, they ultimately craved an end to their boredom of life in their self-made isolation, trapped by their own devices.
It was driving them crazy.
Empathy:
Unfortunately in this film there are no characters to really feel much empathy for. The character that is clearly on the cover of many posters is Zed and he is supposed to be our protagonist.
He is one of the Exterminators of the outlands. His first introduction to the audience is pointing his Webley-Fosbery revolver into the camera and shooting us in the face.
He kills and rapes blindly in the name of Zardoz while enjoying it, feeling superior to his victims because he’s been told that he was bred as one of the chosen ones. For the Exterminators they feel as if are close to Gods themselves because not only to they wear the mask of their God, they have the power of God to give life and take it away.
So now we get to the plot. (Yes it took that long to get here after all of that explaining!)
The Eternal that operates Zardoz and in control of the Brutals in the Outlands is Arthur Frayn. He has been breeding mutants for centuries in order to create a being strong enough and smart enough to break into Vortex 4 and destroy the Tabernacle so the Immortals can become mortal again.
Arthur shows Zed anonymously, how read and he showed him the book, The Wizard of OZ which sets Zed off into his adventure when he connects it to the true identity of Zardoz. Zardoz is not a god, but a tool operated by a person.
He tells his fellow Exterminators of what he learns and hides himself in the head of the fake god to exact revenge on their puppet masters.
This would be the point we would become endeared to the struggle of the protagonist, but you don't learn the exact details of these events until nearly the end of the film. The time up until we learn this, Zed really seems like the monster, as the Eternals often refer to him as.
Once Zed is in Vortex 4 he meets three key players among the Eternals, May, Consuella, and Friend. May and Consuella were loving partners for a long time until Zed came along and put them at odds with one another.
May is interested in Zed for scientific purposes because she believes that he holds the answer to regenerating the species through procreation.
Hurt by May’s obsession with Zed, Consuella wants to see him executed and for much of the film she takes the form of the villain of the story insane with jealousy and contempt for change.
So it really blows your mind when suddenly she becomes his bride in the last nineteen minutes of the film.
Friend is a secret co-conspirator with Arthur, which again, you don’t learn until the end. After a few re-watches, I noticed that he often takes up for Arthur and is concerned about what happened to him. He’s flippant, but acts as a literal friend to Zed… probably the only one he has in the story besides May.
Once Zed becomes the hero that the film wants him to be, with mysterious powers at his control that are never explained. He is the chosen one and no longer savage. Unfortunately, it still doesn't help his likeability. You don’t care about what happens to him, but you do want to keep watching to see what happens to him and how this wacky adventure will dissolve.
Technical:
The technical aspects are probably the most subjective to the viewers point of view. In mine, I can see that this production was incredibly basic but they worked that $1.5 million budget to the bone!
Yes, they did!
For the ambition of this story, the funds were used well and you can see where the lack of budget suffered in this visual psychedelic kaleidoscope.
The costuming was not especially impressive, but it had their moments, like the masks used by the Exterminators, made in the image of Zardoz. These had been modeled after John Boorman and had a very primal aesthetic, perfect for creating fear.
The savage design of Zardoz’s floating head was an incredible idea for the film, stimulating curiosity when you see him in the very beginning.
The sets and staging was particularly fascinating and unique for this story. The simple ingenuity that I see in this film is really outstanding.
The film also made use of the Irish region it was filmed in such as the director’s neighboring lands in Annamoe, County Wicklow and filmed the Renegades in Ardmore Studios.
A big part of the story is the value of guns to the Exterminators instilled into them by Zardoz. When trying to obtain them for the film, the Irish government initially refused to allow the production team to import prop guns because of terrorist attacks occurring at the time. And the irony was that they had to use real guns.
There was quite a bit of issue with the way that the film was shot. Cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth filmed scenes to create impressionistic look. It seemed to be fine until the film was duplicated for release in which 20th Century Fox forbade his process on future films. Even my copy was highly grainy at times. The technology just wasn’t ready for his ambitious vision.
In many ways that sums up the flavor of this movie. It feels like an experiment.
The sound design could also fall into that category. There are sounds played in reverse and strange magical cues. Much of it reminded me of Barbarella’s sound effects.
The music was in particularly well used with a mixture of classical and an original score by David Munrow.
Performances:
The performances are the highlight of this film.
Burt Reynolds was set to play Zed, but fell ill when the time came to shoot. And in steps 6’2” rugged leading man, Sean Connery into Zed’s thigh high boots.
Sean Connery took the role because he was trying to keep working during an acting lull after his run as James Bond was over in 1971. This wasn't the first film he took after it, but it feels like a role you wouldn’t expect him to play in a million years. I suppose this is what makes this performance so infamous.
Not only that, he took the role for a mare $200,000 and offered to keep costs down by living in John Boorman’s home and driving himself to and from the production.
I think he’s fantastic in the role. He makes the character as realistic as possible and I love the fact that he is taking this role serious all the while wearing that skimpy costume. His inserted personal charm kept me glued into the story.
Sara Kestelman plays May brilliantly also giving the scenes quite a bit of gravity, especially when the film goes into hyper drive with ridiculous visuals and drama. I especially liked the way she was shot, with very little makeup accenting her natural beauty. I enjoyed her on screen immensely.
Another acting heavy-hitter was Charlotte Rampling who was particularly spellbinding on screen as the disgruntled Consuela. Her performance is done quite subtly for most of the film, until she unleashes her inner warrior by the end. It’s quite entertaining.
Many people comment on how the film is devoid of diversity and to the film’s defense, it was a small production and they mostly used people they could find as extras in Ireland. John Boorman and his three children even appear in film.
Best:
The best part of the film is the idea. I absolutely love the idea.
Some of the best scenes include the touch teach scene as well as the unique visuals. I love those aspects.
I also enjoyed the scene in which Friend, May and Zed make their motivations known.
Friend:
An end to eternity.
May:
A higher form.
Zed:
Revenge.
The Ending:
The ending can be described in two parts. The first part is loaded with chaotic pandemonium. Zed becomes Consuela's boyfriend, Zed becomes like Neo from the Matrix (1999) where he is refered to as the one to deliver the Eternal from their prison. Then the second part is a slaughter, when the Exterminators arrive at Vortex 4 to kill the Eternals.
It just feels like a big mess that you don’t care about. The Eternals are dying and there isn’t much remorse, so in a way the film makes the viewer loose a little bit of its own humanity in a way, desensitizing you.
That’s not good.
And the second part of the end, is an artistic montage that symbolizes the simplistic lifespan of man while Beethoven's 7th Symphony plays. It’s a commentary on how humanity essentially follow a structure of connection to a soul mate, the procreation of children, the children leave the nest, and eventually there is death. It’s a broad statement, but these ideas are timeless.
Wish List:
After screening the film 20th Century Fox asked John Boorman to add something to help the audience understand the film, and his answer was Arthur Feyn’s freaky floating head monologue at the start of the film basically telling the audience that he is Zardoz.
And I think that Boorman missed the right information to give away. I think it would have been better to just tell the audience the backstory of this world through and unseen narrator, May or even Zed. We needed that set up, similar to the Star Wars opening scroll. For example:
"In the year 2293 an apocalypse has separated mankind into mortals called the Brutals and immortals called the Eternals.
The Eternals created their own oasis and kept the Brutals out to live in the Outlands. Exterminators were appointed to quell the population on the planet and force them into slavery to farm grain to give to their god, Zardoz as an offering.
The Eternals’ perfect Eden is fragmenting no matter how much they try to hold on to it. They ultimately crave an end to their boredom of life trapped by their own devices."
For such a high concept, the film really needed a bit more finesse to articulate everyone’s language, so to speak. There were so many unintentional,
I enjoyed the idea of second level meditation because it reminds me a lot of the kind of the outer body meditation featured in the film The Fantastic Planet released a year before in 1973. I wish that the film showed us what that experience looked like within the mind.
I also feel as if the love story aspect came together too fast that it seemed abstract and cold. We didn’t earn the union between Zed and Consuela. This is where the audience is passively watching and not invested in their survival.
Enjoyment:
Of particular note, Zardoz is among The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in John Wilson's book "The Official Razzie® Movie Guide." Even in John Boorman’s comments about the movie, he admits that the film is “laughable.”
Much of the film is like The Room (2002) where there are a lot of laugh out loud moments, much to do with the dialogue as I mentioned before. It’s a pure riot! It’s a lot of fun to watch.
I remember watching it about 20 years ago on TV and it was one of those movies that they played after midnight. I didn’t remember the story, but I remember being completely glued to the screen. It had a very captivating nature about it and that is why fans and critics alike can’t stop talking about this film. It had a powerful impact on the audience.
This film conflicts me because it’s a rough movie to love, but I do love it. It’s completely wacky and confusing, but I understand it. It’s detailed in it’s massive confusion, but my brain sees where it should have been organised.
Besides that, I honestly love, love, love the concept. If only it were executed better.
This is definitely a secret guilty pleasure. Shh! Don’t tell anyone.
My Rating:
6.6
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off! Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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