Post by gavincallaghan on Nov 9, 2006 19:44:24 GMT -6
I finally got round to seeing John Boorman's amazing film Zardoz (1974), and I feel almost embarrassed to only now have seen something which can only be regarded as essential. Not a Great film, perhaps, and certainly not for everyone; but if not a masterwork, it is at least masterful, and is surely a work that should interest some of the browsers of this website, i.e.: those with an interest in magic.
The film is introduced by a magician/trickster figure named Arthur Frane, with a vulvic beard painted on his chin, a pharaonic headress on his head, and a black mustache pencilled above his lip, his disembodied head floating in blackness as he says:
"I am Arthur Frane--- and I am Zardoz.... ...I present now my story, full of mystery and intrigue, rich in irony, and most satirical....
"...Be warned, lest you end as I. In this tale I am a fake God by occupation, and a magician by inclination. Merlin is my hero. I am the puppet master. I manipulate many of the characters and events you will see. But I am invented, too, for your entertainment and amusement. And you -- poor creatures-- who conjured you out of the clay, hmmmm? (Laughter) Is God in show business, too?"
Later, there is a magnificent exchange, between Sean Connery's barbarian hero, Zed, and this same magician. Arthur Frane is gloating:
"Here I would like to claim some credit if I may. You see our death wish devious and deep. As Zardoz, Zed, I was able to choose your forefathers. It was careful genetic breeding, which produced this mutant, this slave who could free his masters... ...It was I! I bred you! I led you!
Zed: And I have looked into the face of the force that put the idea in your mind. You're bred, and led, yourself."
This leads to the very interesting exchange: ""We've all been used/ and reused/ and abused--/--and amused!"
In many ways, Zardoz corresponds to my own Penetralian outlook/deductive method ---Sean Connery's Zed character's main quest being to dispell the hoax of Zardoz's existence, and destroy the Vortex's supposedly indestructible control system ---The Tabernacle. But certainly Arthur Frane's magician character (who later reappears in the form of Merlin in Boorman's film Excalibur) --who engineers a complex series of hoaxes and illusions in order to undermine The Tabernacle on behalf of some hidden, destructive force of nature-- could be seen, too, as an example of the Cthulhuian/Chaos magic paradigm of fictionalization.
I forgot to mention the absolutely beautiful, very moving score of the film, which is based on the theme of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
The film is introduced by a magician/trickster figure named Arthur Frane, with a vulvic beard painted on his chin, a pharaonic headress on his head, and a black mustache pencilled above his lip, his disembodied head floating in blackness as he says:
"I am Arthur Frane--- and I am Zardoz.... ...I present now my story, full of mystery and intrigue, rich in irony, and most satirical....
"...Be warned, lest you end as I. In this tale I am a fake God by occupation, and a magician by inclination. Merlin is my hero. I am the puppet master. I manipulate many of the characters and events you will see. But I am invented, too, for your entertainment and amusement. And you -- poor creatures-- who conjured you out of the clay, hmmmm? (Laughter) Is God in show business, too?"
Later, there is a magnificent exchange, between Sean Connery's barbarian hero, Zed, and this same magician. Arthur Frane is gloating:
"Here I would like to claim some credit if I may. You see our death wish devious and deep. As Zardoz, Zed, I was able to choose your forefathers. It was careful genetic breeding, which produced this mutant, this slave who could free his masters... ...It was I! I bred you! I led you!
Zed: And I have looked into the face of the force that put the idea in your mind. You're bred, and led, yourself."
This leads to the very interesting exchange: ""We've all been used/ and reused/ and abused--/--and amused!"
In many ways, Zardoz corresponds to my own Penetralian outlook/deductive method ---Sean Connery's Zed character's main quest being to dispell the hoax of Zardoz's existence, and destroy the Vortex's supposedly indestructible control system ---The Tabernacle. But certainly Arthur Frane's magician character (who later reappears in the form of Merlin in Boorman's film Excalibur) --who engineers a complex series of hoaxes and illusions in order to undermine The Tabernacle on behalf of some hidden, destructive force of nature-- could be seen, too, as an example of the Cthulhuian/Chaos magic paradigm of fictionalization.
I forgot to mention the absolutely beautiful, very moving score of the film, which is based on the theme of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.