From: k206027@smog.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE (Bakayaroo Banzai)
Subject: Re: ZARDOZ
Organization: Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum GmbH, Hamburg
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 07:47:33 GMT

In article <6258@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at> mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner) writes:
>From article <1992Dec22.083108.7004@news.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE>, by k206027@smog.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE (Bakayaroo Banzai):
>> Zardoz may be "art" but it certainly is not a well-told story.  Boorman
>> doesn't tell us who Zed is until the middle of the film. [...]
>> Yeah, he eventually explains everything but
>> by the time he did I didn't care anymore. A more linear storyline 
>> would have done wonders for this film.
>
>And I bet you only read mystery novels if the villain is given on the
>back cover, or else you might have to worry about his identity for the
>whole length of the book.
>
Hardly, my beef with Zardoz is that Boorman apparently thinks he's
providing us with some great revelation by revealing Zed's identity
in the middle. Instead, it just produces a yawn.
 
>Personally, I think the split storyline is essential to get the viewer
>to enter Vortex "from the outside".  Starting the film by showing an
>immortal who devises a plan to destroy the central computer that
>controls his life by means of a genetically engineered being is about
>the blandest way possible.  The cinematography that you comment on
>works so well because it is presented in the correct context.  Boorman
>keeps you wondering what this is supposed to be all about.  As a
>philosophic vehicle, the film is fairly crude.  As storytelling with a
>moral, with lots of ideas touched upon on the sidelines, it's great.
>
I would argue that it would have been a lot more effective had Boorman
not tried to cover every philosophical issue of the 20th Century within
the same film. Yes, Boorman keeps you wondering....right up to the 
point when you fall asleep from sheer boredom.
>
>> Why do the Eternals feel it necessary to control the Exterminators and
>> Brutals when the Vortex is self-sufficient?
>
>I do get the impression you indeed didn't really watch the film.  The
>Vortex ceased to be self-sufficient, since the catatonics (whose
>numbers are increasing all the time) are not working.  The
>Exterminators were not only controlled by the Eternals, they were
>created by them, first to reduce the Brutals which the Eternals
>considered a threat and an annoyance, later to get them to work.
>
I must confess that it's been about 4 years since the last time I 
saw this film. I've since re-watched it and you are correct in
pointing this out.

>I think there was one comment, which I accidentally deleted, to the
>effect of how could people fall to the level of the Brutals.  Take a
>look at Somalia, for instance, or Albania, which is a bit closer
>geographically.  Wrecking a complex society is not that difficult.
>Actually, this is one of the most believable parts of the film.
>
I don't believe that I posted anything to this effect?...
I also find this part of the film to be quite believable, probably
the only believable part.
>
>> If the Tabernacle is contained in a little crystal how does Zed manage to
>> get inside of it, by shrinking down real teensy?
>
>And where does the second Zed come from, the one he shoots?  Wow.  A
>twin brother, and we're never told about him.  Now, there must be
>something wrong with this film.
> 
Even you seem to admit that it doesn't make any sense, that was the
original point I was trying to make.

>> His films all seem to have the sound quality of a
>> dubbed Japanese monster movie. Check out Arthur (Speed Racer) King of
>> the Britons in Excalibur if you don't believe me.
>
>Why should I?  I don't really care, and I don't see what this has to
>do with plot line or logic of Zardoz.
>
Lighten up Markus. I was making some general comments about Boorman's
body of film work, not specific comments about Zardoz.

>I confess I have no problems with any details in Zardoz.  I'm not sure
>I agree with the message Boorman tries to hit the viewer over the head
>with, but that's something else.
>
Glad you like it so much. I like the film also, albeit in quite a different
way.

*******************************************************************************
*  "Supernatural, perhaps...Baloney, perhaps not" - Bela Lugosi               *
*******************************************************************************
Matt Marchese	    The opinions expressed here are not those of my employer, *
Cray Research  	    my wife, my church, or myself...But they are the opinions *
DKRZ                of Elvis as revealved to me through the medium of my pet  *
Hamburg, Germany    hamster, Lee Harvey Oswald...                             *
*******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies