Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Now I am afraid this is an unpleasant task after all. I feel like a pigeon approaching a national monument with defecation on my mind, but I have to be honest. I detest the Wicker Man. It is perhaps unfair to judge after all these years, because the shock value of such a film in 1973 would have made it memorable. God knows when it was really released, after it failed to be distributed by Roger Corman. The history of the film and its release is as murky as the film itself.

But I came to bury the Wicker Man, not to praise it. It had been a movie I had been meaning to see for several years, and when it showed up on the shelf of my local video store, I snapped it up. Rather I should have snapped it in two.

WHAT I KNOW OF PRODUCTION... AND ALL THAT

Based on the extra on the DVD called the “Enigma of the Wicker man” there were problems with production and writing, casting, and last of all distribution, which has made this film a lot more important than it should have been. A black cloud, including a heart attack for the director, Robin Hardy, mid production, seemed to overhang every aspect of the movie. I think this is nonsense. Sounds good though. The intent, as hatched by Christopher Lee, already working in more standard horror genres and producer Peter Snell, was to make a horror movie based on the horror of human sacrifice based on the “Old Religion” . Anthony Shaffer was to write the screen play.
The extras were recruited locally, and they are certainly the best part of this movie, as is the gorgeous landscape photography.

Once the movie was done, with dubbing for Swedish actress Eckland, as well as a body double for her naked scenes, the distribution in the US was to be through Roger Corman, something that would have assured the financial success. However, British Lions Film Studios changed hands , and this movie was part of the ensuing jumble. When the movie was finally released (no date is given) it was mercilessly cut, with some of the more suggestive and interesting scenes removed, as well as an exposition section that would have made the whole first section make better sense. It was not released in the US until 1979.

Then, all the out takes and the original negatives were dumped, when some construction on Shepperton studios required damping some of the storage vaults. So there may be an expanded version around some place, but it is not on this DVD. I will never know what I missed, because I guarantee, that short of a gun pointed at my head, I will not be suffering through this film again.


THE DIRECTOR

Human sacrifice would appear to be a subject dear to writer /director Hardy’s heart, because he has reprised this theme again, a time or two. Most specifically, in his screenplay Forbidden Sun, although the sacrifice is no longer of Celtic origin. . Hardy then did not accrue film credits again until 1986, when he directed The Fantasist, and went from there to a TV series , E Street in 1989. He is currently directing another feature. I can hardly wait.

Now , let me take a step back to do some reality checks. Robin Hardy has hardly been silent all these years, and has continued to be big in the entertainment business. The IMDB is not the last word on biography, having contributed nothing on this dude. But, Hardy had been writing and publishing fiction, and writing and directing stage productions. He did a production musical on the Life of Winston Churchill , Winnie, which gained praises of many, although the premise is nearly unfathomable to me. He started in film filming documentaries and doing commercials. He met Anthony Shaffer in those years. Shaffer wrote the commercials, Hardy directed them.

THE STORY

The original story came from the research and imagination of Robin Hardy. Shaffer wrote the screen play. End of the story on the story. Anthony Shaffer, brother of Peter who wrote one of my all time favorite screen plays, AMADEUS, has written plays and fiction, but has done more with staged productions than with movies. He did write one of Hitchcock’s last films, Frenzy, which is so bizarre (and interesting) that it almost stands alone as a story without Hitchcock.

I suspect some critical pieces of this story were edited out. This was either because the new studio wanted to trash the film (and the producer they fired) , or because certain parts were considered too “artsy” for some audiences and too “cerebral” for others, leaving in its stead, a story that hangs together somewhat, but is the bare bones of what it could have been . If the elaborately set up visual scenes could have been balanced with a little depth, (especially in matching symbolic images, icons and dialogs with the rest of the scene, which would have clarified their use) I believe an interesting movie could have resulted.

However, aside from the director’s unofficial research into comparative religions, the movie was written to be entertaining, nothing more. It was not meant to be a put-down to Christianity, although it has been taken that way, and it does not have a hidden meaning. Hardy himself, in the “Enigma” featurette, says it is only meant to be, if anything, “a cautionary tale.” If you make something more out of this film than that, watch it next time without the recreational drugs. Not only will you go to sleep almost immediately, but you will be surprised at the overall ,mediocrity of this truncated production.

Even so, some witty dialog exchanges do occur, all of them uttered by the unquestionable star of the show, Christopher Lee.

THE PERFORMANCES

I don’t know. I failed to be impressed. They were not bad. But Christopher Lee playing a sophisticated aristocrat just doesn’t seem that much of a stretch. The hapless policeman, played by Edward Woodward, had been playing a policeman for years. The trick was to play a good Christian Cop-which he did pull off. Of course, this horror flick is really a musical. Arghhh!!! Fortunately, the majors don’t sing all that much. I admit that Christopher Lee cut quite a caper leading the procession to the sacrificial hallowed ground.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Some shots were beautiful, and I enjoyed the naked dancing by the Swedish actress. That was actually well photographed, despite the jerky jump cuts. The travelog pictures were stunning. The feel of the town was shot well, but unifying the important images never happened, as it was intended. More attention to this detail would have made the movie more meaningful artistically. It is a story, a mystery, told in a linear format, but the visual clues do not connect in a meaningful way.

MUSIC

Much has been made of the music. While I personally love the sound of Celtic folk songs, this movie truly gets annoying, again without a unifying composition that would have made the folk songs when they appeared, less tedious. Despite the fact that the singers set up with the look of a stage production (around the Maypole, for example, even waiting for their cue, like a chorus line) and the music and dancing goes on, it is always too much and too hard to hear the lyrics.

MY MAJOR OBJECTIONS—

My objections may seem trivial, but they are enough to keep me from recommending this flick. First, that this film could be taken for anything but pretentious, annoys me. Pagan religions are certainly fascinating. However, some stupid audiences probably take the disclaimer, put out in typical British wit, (that they thank the people of Northern Scotland for allowing filming of their religious practices) seriously. If indeed policemen are being sacrificed to fertility gods, there are certainly a few that should have been sent from America. But all this just makes it interesting, right? After all it was a horrific idea, at the end, and based on historical and cultural research onto bygone pagan practices.


What I object to most strenuously is the utter boredom that this film inspires. It should have been interesting. It takes forever to get through extremely dull linear exposition, without any intriguing hints. It has the look and feel of a first film, as it most certainly was for Robin Hardy, which lacks balance, loses the humor , and overwhelms the audience with religious posturing, both Pagan and Christian.

I detested the overblown shouting at the end of this movie, and must admit that I was anxious to have the end of it. It isn’t that I ever developed much sympathy for the pathetic would -be hero. I only wanted him to shut up as quickly as possible.

The folk songs may have been interesting, if they had been better edited or better choreographed. Without being able to discern the lyrics, of what value are they?

THE PLOT

A small seaplane approaches an isolated island, on the northern coast of Scotland. One man disembarks, into the village of Summerisle (reluctantly ferried form his boat to shore by the locals) . He is a detective, Detective Howie, to be exact, who has come to Summerisle to locate a 10 year old girl who was reported missing. We never find out who sent the letter that brings him here.

The villagers claim to know nothing of the girl. Even the mother claims to know nothing. The younger daughter, Myrtle though, says the missing girl Rowan, is a “hare”. This is the only symbolic creature that will appear in the film, although we will never see a live one.

The young detective is stern, strict, authoritarian, demanding information to the point of being somewhat rude and abrasive. He is a good Christian man. He goes to the local Inn and finds the townspeople singing bawdy songs, and dancing suggestively.

“Broad beans in their natural state aren’t turquoise are they?”

An important hint is given early on at dinner when young Howie is dismayed that the dinner is all canned fruits and vegetables, on an island famed for its produce.

After he eats, he goes out for some air, and finds couples in the yard, fornicating in public, and a naked girl crying over a tombstone. This is never explained.

That night, Howie prays and sweats, as the landlord ‘s daughter Willow does a provocative dance in the nude at his very door. He does not succumb. The next day, he investigates the disappearance further, with renewed vigor. And her keeps finding these townspeople a little off. When he goes to the school, he finds the schoolmistress explaining the meaning of the phallic symbol, and explodes in a burst of moral outrage.

“Do sit down Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent”.

Eventually he gets to the opulent home of Lord Summerisle, who explains that the island and all its inhabitants are practicing the Pagan religion. He claims it was something his grandfather did to appease the peasantry that seemed to work, and they still practiced the Old religion on the island.. There were no Christian churches, left. Howie is of course, appalled.

Looking out the window, Howie’s eyes go wide and disbelieving as he glimpses children cavorting about a bonfire, stark naked.

(Howie): “ But they are..... naked!”

Summerisle: “Well naturally. It’s much too dangerous to jump through fire with their clothes on”.


Finally Howie is able to find out that they mean to say Rowan has changed life forms, and is no longer living as a human. He assumes she is dead. He digs up a grave, but finds something else instead.

He plans to leave the island, and return with help. He goes out to his plane, and finds it has been tampered with. So he instead determines to finish the investigation himself, and renews his efforts.

The village has had a disastrous year with the failure of the crops. By deduction, he thinks that they are holding the girl, planning for human sacrifice. He becomes part of the May Day Celebration, incognito in costume, or so he thinks.

The best is yet to come.

CAST

Edward Woodward- as Sergeant Howie. Wanting Michael York, they chose this guy because he was well known tio audiences as a smart savvy detective, (Callan)and he could have immediate acceptance by audiences as a policeman. This helped to established the plot as a murder mystery, before it became clear that it was something else. Although I think this actor was better than this film in many ways, he failed to establish a sympathetic connection. Now be honest. Weren’t you secretly glad to see him end up as he did? Although his performance in Breaker Morant (1980) finally earned him some acclaim, Woodward has in his career been much more of a stage actor.

Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle-The part was written for this actor, who was frankly tired of being Dracula in B Horror movies. He claims to have been paid nothing, and did much of the publicity and marketing for this film. It was a good part for him, and his speaking voice is his greatest gift. He is also quite tall, much taller than the average actor.(6'4") He is of the “nobility”, the son of a Countess, and having ties to the Borgias. His association with Hammer Horror films locked him in a stereotypical ‘evil prince role’, and he only barely escapes it in this role. He is “evil”, but a bit more sympathetic a character than the hero. He was witty, humorous and had some amazingly elegant and graceful movements in this movie, and it is no wonder it is his favorite role to date. I am glad I saw it once to see him do his stuff. Once was enough though. Most recently, you have probably seen him in the Lord Of the Rings, or if you have been unable to avoid it Star Wars Episode 2.

Diane Cilento as Miss Rose-the school teacher. I didn’t like her either. What was to like? Of all of them , she seemed the most evil, because not only did she possess a an excellent education, she chose to ignore it . It is perhaps the most arrogant thing of all to suppose theat two people (the school teacher and the Count) could lead an entire village like sheep to beliefs which would some years, require them to offer their children as sacrifices to the gods. She wasn’t sexy or pretty enough to be an earth mother type, and she wasn’t a good enough actress to do more than say her lines, without adding any depth to her character.

Britt Ekland-as Willow the landlord’s daughter. A more interesting character, representative of the fertile power of youth -she exudes sexual attraction and is quite provocative in behavior as such. She was caste because she was a big star at the time. The Swedish actress looked the part, but her speaking voice was heavily accented, and not in a Scottish way. So it was dubbed. The really provocative dance movements were done by a a body double.

Lindsay Kemp as Alder MacGregor-he drops frequent hints and is the one person from the start of this movie, that speaks in innuendos, and nudges and annoys the up tight policeman. This character is interesting, and necessary. Without the taunting he offers, the policeman would probably not been provoked into further investigations. A slimy little dude.

Ingrid Pitt as the librarian-a tiny role, only mentioned because the actress speaks in the “Enigma” feature.

There were others. Those were the important ones.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION


The idea of the Old Religions requiring Human Sacrifice subsisting in the modern world, even as long ago as 1972, is implausible. Now, with global communications, the world has become even smaller. What I have always found the least believable of all the premises we have to accept to get into this flick, is that the entire village participated . Assuming that puts a rather bad light on human nature.

I really don’t see the point of suffering through this tedious production. In order for such a movie to be successful for me, I have to be able to suspend disbelief. I could not.








Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age