Fear is an admirable human passion

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2018)

This new production of this IT novel by Stephen King is only the adaptation of the first older part of the story when the main characters are children, hence twenty-seven years before the present time. And as such, it is a refreshing approach to the novel. Let's hope the second chapter of it will come sometime soon.
So we have here no flashbacks about the past but a direct story about the past, of the past. The monster is very clearly and mainly associated with the clown, though it can change shape and appear under different likenesses. It is in no way revealed what kind of real monster it is or hardly. The clown form is obviously effective with the bunch of kids he has to fight against, though he also for one little moment take the form of dead Georgy to confuse the brother of this Georgy who has never accepted his death.
The film is also clear about the existence of a band of bullies in the community who attack and harass children, girls or boys, at school, of course since school is a bully stadium, and outside in the city at large, often with no one saying nothing at all and just passing their way as if they were passing water in their private outhouse. These bullies though seem to have a particular attraction for blacks. There are not many blacks in this community but there is one in the band of kids, one who is pure and simple saved from being lynched by the bullies thanks to the girl who is not yet in the band, and the band she is going to be opted into straight away.
Note the gay bashing that opens the novel is not mentioned and the entering door of the clown is seen as some kind of sewage well in the underground section of an old abandoned and of course haunted house. The haunted house is a common theme with Stephen King.
The research of one of the boys about the cyclical episodes of disappearing kids and other catastrophes in factories is clearly documented and we know then this monster appears every twenty-seven years. The present cycle is broken up and defeated by the band of kids we are speaking of and that includes a girl, a Jewish boy, a black boy and an overweight if not obese boy, plus three more boys who are in no way exceptional. Seven altogether and this number is fundamental in meaning and references:
1- the Holy Week;
2- the creation of the world;
3- the seven planets of the Babylonian astrologers;
4- the seven days of the week;
5- the seventh month of September;
6- the seventh day of the Jewish week which is, in fact, the starting day of the week before the six others (first to sixth), namely Sabbath;
7- the seven churches to which the Book of Revelation is dedicated;
8- the seven colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet;
9- the opposite sides of a dice always equal the number seven when added;
10- the seven dwarfs of Snow White: Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy;
11- the seven Lucky Gods of Japan: Hotei, Jurojin, Fukurokuju, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, Daikokuten, Ebisu;
12- the seven Cherokee clans;
13- the seven people privately beheaded on Tower Green within the walls of the Tower of London: William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, June 13, 1483 - Anne Boleyn,2nd wife of King Henry VIII, May 19, 1536 - Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, May 27, 1541 - Catherine Howard, 5th wife of King Henry VIII, February 13, 1542 - Jane Boleyn, sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn, February13, 1542 - Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Day Queen, February 12, 1554 - Robert Devereux,2nd Earl of Essex, November 10, 1601 (this last execution was turned into an opera by Benjamin Britten);
14- the Seven Sacraments in the Catholic Church set by the Council of Trent (1545-63): Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the sick, Holy Orders, Matrimony;
15- the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride that are behing Dante's Inferno and the film Sev7n;
16- and so many others.
There is a universal dimension of the number seven in the world and in all civilizations. Note the number twenty-seven is also important since it is close to what we call a generation. It contains seven and it is three times nine, hence 9+9+9 (or 3x3x3), the beast in the Book of Revelation in a way or another.
Stephen King in this first chapter of his story is trying to frighten us with traditional children's fears because children are haunted at times by what they love best, clowns for instance, and clowns are the best trap for children to make them do what they know they are not supposed to do. Who does not like a clown? And yet who is not frightened by what we love best, clowns among other things. The best friends of man can often become their most frightening monsters. Stephen King has exploited this ambiguity so often with cats, dogs, cars, grandfathers and so many others.
This first chapter is, of course, admirable because of the seven kids, in fact, eight with Georgy. They are perfectly managed and directed in circumstances and scenes that are supposed to frighten the audience, that are extreme. We assume these scenes must have been great fun for those kids. At least they could do exactly what they know they are not supposed to do in everyday life. The cinema is a tool of freedom.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU