dev_chieftain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dev_chieftain) wrote2012-02-11 12:09 am
dev_chieftain) wrote2012-02-11 12:09 am
Entry tags:
Zardoz
There are words to describe Zardoz but it's a little hard to convey! I'm pretty sleepy, for one thing, and for another, just wow! We finally found a copy of this lovely film from 1974 and it did not disappoint.
Cool things about Zardoz:
-It features a utopian society based around immortalism created by classist divide
-People who yearn for the conditions of actual life long given up by the immortals are 'renegades', and punished by being aged into senility, yet remaining alive
-Everyone is connected to the tabernacle, which regrows them if they die, not allowing them to return to mortality
-Lots of crystals!
-a surprisingly positive perspective on the impermanence of humanity akin, I guess, to Ra's al Ghul's
-floating heads! Hilarious, hilarious floating heads! Stone ones, people ones, all kinds!
Things about Zardoz that would probably not sit well with some folk I know:
-It's from the 70's, so the treatment of women alternates between really forward-thinking and awesome, and really not. Rape is a curiosity at one point, since the ultra-futuristic society has stopped caring about anything and they don't have the capacity to sleep, let alone have sex anymore.
-It's kinda corny because it's trying so hard to be artsy and meaningful
But reasons I would totally recommend Zardoz anyway:
-Predestination paradox through prophecy handled in a way I thought was actually pretty good and not too heavy-handed
-FLOATING HEADS
-Stone masks with faces on both sides!
-These lines are in the movie, verbatim: "The penis is evil. It shoots seeds, and brings new life. The gun is good. It shoots death, and cleanses the world, bringing balance."
-It's from the 70's so honestly, everyone is pansexual with everyone. Have you ever wanted to see Sean Connery lick a guy's hand? Or a crowd of people suck the vital energy from Sean Connery by hugging and kissing him? 'Cause this is the film for you if so!
Honestly, I can't sell it to the skeptics without scaring them off, probably, but I really enjoyed the movie! It was wacky in all the ways I dig about sci-fi.
Then we watched Snow White! And it is still a fantastic and lovely film. The amount of effort they put into trying to match things like the effect of light on the scene is still really impressive to me, and there's so much detail! I personally still see Snow White as being pretty awesome, making use of her talk-to-animals skills to forage for a safe place to live after she's informed of the mortal threat posed her by the evil queen; she totally takes charge once the dwarves accept her offered bargain to stay and do housechores as rent for being offered sanctuary. The only thing I don't like about her as a character really is that she's so naive that the Queen is capable of swindling her at the end. Seriously, anybody else I can think of would have at some point gone "Waaaait a minute, you seem PRETTY EVIL, and excited for me to eat this apple...what's the REAL story?" instead of taking a bite!
I seriously do think she's just dead at the end and the 'prince' is really death, though. Castle is NOT on the ground. Definitely, definitely in the high-up, fantasy-land, Death Works Here clouds. Especially if you add the fact that the primer Disney originally did before they took more art classes and tried to up their game was the "Goddess of Spring" short, which is the story of Persephone in cartoon form! Perhaps Snow White is really Persephone!
Rewatching reminded me how much like a lady dear ol' Prince Charming looks. I kind of want to see the story redone with Princess Charming and Snow White being all flirted with by a cute sword-wielding lady! I think that'd be super awesome.
...and once more for kicks: ZARDOZ!!
Cool things about Zardoz:
-It features a utopian society based around immortalism created by classist divide
-People who yearn for the conditions of actual life long given up by the immortals are 'renegades', and punished by being aged into senility, yet remaining alive
-Everyone is connected to the tabernacle, which regrows them if they die, not allowing them to return to mortality
-Lots of crystals!
-a surprisingly positive perspective on the impermanence of humanity akin, I guess, to Ra's al Ghul's
-floating heads! Hilarious, hilarious floating heads! Stone ones, people ones, all kinds!
Things about Zardoz that would probably not sit well with some folk I know:
-It's from the 70's, so the treatment of women alternates between really forward-thinking and awesome, and really not. Rape is a curiosity at one point, since the ultra-futuristic society has stopped caring about anything and they don't have the capacity to sleep, let alone have sex anymore.
-It's kinda corny because it's trying so hard to be artsy and meaningful
But reasons I would totally recommend Zardoz anyway:
-Predestination paradox through prophecy handled in a way I thought was actually pretty good and not too heavy-handed
-FLOATING HEADS
-Stone masks with faces on both sides!
-These lines are in the movie, verbatim: "The penis is evil. It shoots seeds, and brings new life. The gun is good. It shoots death, and cleanses the world, bringing balance."
-It's from the 70's so honestly, everyone is pansexual with everyone. Have you ever wanted to see Sean Connery lick a guy's hand? Or a crowd of people suck the vital energy from Sean Connery by hugging and kissing him? 'Cause this is the film for you if so!
Honestly, I can't sell it to the skeptics without scaring them off, probably, but I really enjoyed the movie! It was wacky in all the ways I dig about sci-fi.
Then we watched Snow White! And it is still a fantastic and lovely film. The amount of effort they put into trying to match things like the effect of light on the scene is still really impressive to me, and there's so much detail! I personally still see Snow White as being pretty awesome, making use of her talk-to-animals skills to forage for a safe place to live after she's informed of the mortal threat posed her by the evil queen; she totally takes charge once the dwarves accept her offered bargain to stay and do housechores as rent for being offered sanctuary. The only thing I don't like about her as a character really is that she's so naive that the Queen is capable of swindling her at the end. Seriously, anybody else I can think of would have at some point gone "Waaaait a minute, you seem PRETTY EVIL, and excited for me to eat this apple...what's the REAL story?" instead of taking a bite!
I seriously do think she's just dead at the end and the 'prince' is really death, though. Castle is NOT on the ground. Definitely, definitely in the high-up, fantasy-land, Death Works Here clouds. Especially if you add the fact that the primer Disney originally did before they took more art classes and tried to up their game was the "Goddess of Spring" short, which is the story of Persephone in cartoon form! Perhaps Snow White is really Persephone!
Rewatching reminded me how much like a lady dear ol' Prince Charming looks. I kind of want to see the story redone with Princess Charming and Snow White being all flirted with by a cute sword-wielding lady! I think that'd be super awesome.
...and once more for kicks: ZARDOZ!!