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Oddities Film Review 3
King
Kong (1933)
By Kimberley Davis
The mother of all monster movies, King Kong
is deemed the be the first major “blockbuster”, raising the expectation of
Hollywood films. Yielding a highly generous budget for its time, Kong was the only
film to have had two directors, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Cooper’s
inspiration for this feature came from reading about gorillas as a child and studying
baboons in Africa. Willis O’Brian was employed to help in the construction of
Kong itself, creating 4 scale size models. Three of his designs incorporated the use
of a metal armature, allowing the flexibility needed in the gorilla’s movements.
Its body was filled with foam and skinned with latex, a suit of rabbit pelt was
placed over the form to give a realist appearance for the fur. The forth version was just a stuffed suit, used only for the scene where Kong falls off the Empire State Building. A wonder in
special effects and stop-frame animation, Kong also has its own specially produced
film score, which many movies have since followed suit. In the 1930’s, American cinema was slowly dying due to the increase in poverty. The dismemberment of the slave trade caused an influx of individuals moving from the plantations to the cities, increasing the already dire unemployment crisis. Families where often left starving and homeless, blaming the African American population and causing a proliferation in racism. Newspapers, along with the Ku Klux Klan fed the population racist propaganda. King Kong came at a desperate time, giving individuals the chance to escape the harsh realities of life, and become fully immersed in a world they have never seen before. At this period, Kong was perceived as a work of art worthy of praise. In more recent, times there is underlay questions about this picture’s true intent, and influences in its creation.
As a plot, it is not
overly adventurous. Our 2 main male protagonists Carl and Jack embark on a
voyage to create a new film. Running into the beauty Ann, Carl woos her into
coming along with their tirade, completely unaware of the possible danger and falling
in love. A local tribe spot out our heroine and kidnaps her, placing her in the
ritual so that Ann becomes chosen by Kong. But, instead of devouring her, our
beast treats her gently and protects her. Carl then rushes in to save our
damsel, in the process capturing our supposed antagonist and transporting him
to become a show for money in New York. This proceeds to go horribly wrong. Kong
breaks free and snatching Ann from the stage, he then escapes with her by
climbing the Empire State building. Unable to free her from the beast’s
clutches, our hero summons a bright idea, bringing about our antagonist’s
demise and saving the day.
When thinking about the
development of Kong’s storyline, it comes across as boring and mundane. It holds
the liner principle of man meets girl, falls in love, she succumbs to danger, the
hero then shows a brave act and saves the day. Except in this one, they shoved
in some apparent monsters (ones they haven’t really stretched their imaginations
on). It contains sexism, light hints of racism, elements of stereotyping and
factual flaws in their supposed dinosaurs. However, in considering this, King Kong
paves the way for future creature movies to thrive. This plot line is often
used as a base. When expanded on, some to the Alien instalments it holds a similarity
in capturing a monster for a purpose.
“Ultimately, the mystique of the film lies
not so much in what it offers today, but what it has contributed during the
course of the last six decades.”
James Berardinelli – Reelviews
Our main Protagonist,
Carl, represents the symbolic posturing of a hero – Handsome, tall and suave. However,
his personality comes across Misogynist. He shows resentment to women, often belittling
Ann and reprimanding her. As the only female lead, Ann is made out to be fragile,
having a ditzy and waifish persona. Often, she is screaming and fainting,
signifying that she needs a hero to save her at every turn. This trait becomes very bothersome. As a movie star, Ann would have held great influences over viewers,
especially young female audiences who aspire to be like many divas. At this period in time, this may have been the director’s
interpretation of what women should be like. Carl’s friend Jack comes across as
scheming, he is uncaring if someone gets hurt as long as he can reach his aspirations.
On arrival to Skull Island, our tribe holds the stereotypical imagery of deity
worshiping and chanting. They have an ominous witch doctor adorned in feathers
and bones casting rituals, which typically involves a human sacrifice and drums.
As for the cast, there is an obvious ethnological divide. The crew and main stars all seem to be caucasian, visa versa being islanders are of an African descent. However, a noted scene on the boat is
when Ann is talking to the cook. She stands above him and talks down, he
himself is performing mundane duties as she swans about wistfully. Even among the hubbub when
Ann is snatched form the boat, he is turned away from helping because of his stature.
This behaviour would reflect the psycho-social element of America in the 1930’s,
casting Ku Klux Klan ideals and superiority.
“Modern viewers will shift uneasily in their
seats during the stereotyping of the islanders in a scene where a bride is to
be sacrificed to Kong (it is rare to see a coconut brassiere in a non-comedy)”
Roger Eburt
www.RogerEburt.com
Kong himself holds a range of emotions, one of them being the of the obvious is curiosity about our siren (who does
nothing but scream). Even just being a puppet, he is able to show a deeper, more caring nature, enticing the audience. He chooses to protect Ann, cradling her in his
grip and portrays jealousy when he is bound up in chains. His mix of persona
makes you want to focus more on Kong, the main characters almost becomes irrelevant. His animations are techy, there is some
symbolism of primate behaviours, but the limitations come down to the equipment of
the times. Although dispite this, he is a specular creation. His production to life involved
hours of masterful craftsmanship and graft, which should be celebrated as these
skills are expanded on in the future.
“King Kong is an animated miniature imbued
with character by a craftsman. He is not a man in a suit, just as Godzilla is a
man in a suit and not a CGI creation.”
Kim Newman – January 2000
The set designs are incredibly
detailed, environments are bursting with a luscious green jungle, large enough
to hold towering creature. The costume designs add to the characters role, our
main stars are clad in white, giving us an intention who they are. Perspective
is questionable as times. There a period when Ann seems much too big in Kong’s
grasp. The mountainsides seem a little small for Kong’s large frame, the opposite
being the Empire state building that seems to swamp him completely.
As a feature, Kong gave
the impression that it would be mind blowing. This was not the case. The submissive
shrieking starlet and the arrogant protagonist are incredibly off putting, and
the over bearing stereotyping makes you want to cringe. On another point, Kong
was such an advancement in film SFX and animation, it makes these sub-par
character almost bearable, just enough so to watch these new wonders in action. It seemed the directors
was unable to stretch their imagination to create monsters more unique for this feature, so they just went with dinosaurs. Although, their information on dinosaur’s
is sketchy, they decided to have lumped every one of them as crazy carnivores. As
a first watch, it was a mix of emotions. Disappointment in the characters personas and supposed storyline, but elevation in the movies technological advancements. If I was asked to
watch it again, I would properly decline. Bibliography:
- Berardinelli, J. (2019). King Kong | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/king-kong_172 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].- Ebert, R. (2019). King Kong movie review & film summary (1933) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-king-kong-1933 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].
- Empire. (2019). EMPIRE ESSAY: King Kong. [online] Available at: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/empire-essay-king-kong-review/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].
Image Bibliograghy:
- Fr.wikipedia.org. (n.d). King Kong 1933 French poster.jpg. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:King_Kong_1933_French_poster.jpg [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].
- Inverse. (n.d). How 'King Kong' Movies Changed VFX History, Over and Over Again. [online] Available at: https://www.inverse.com/article/28410-king-kong-visual-effects-hist [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].
- Zeppy.io. (n.d). King kong 1933 poster - Zeppy.io. [online] Available at: http://www.zeppy.io/discover/gb/king-kong-1933-poster [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].
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