Serbian essayist Zoran Živković, known as one of the most enthusiastic promoter of science fiction in former Yugoslavia, claimed that the period from 1967 to 1977 represented the golden age of science fiction cinea. Many cinephiles would agree with this. In those times there weren’t breath taking special effects nor “cool” protagonists in leather jackets, but the genre was at least interesting to the respectable and art-oriented filmmakers who took it seriously and tried explore the future of humanity in their works. All their efforts did not always bear fruit, but failures were generally more interesting than most of what is served to us as science fiction today. Zardoz, 1974 film written, directed and produced by John Boorman, is one of such examples. It failed after the premiere only to enjoy minor cult status today.
The plot of the film takes place in 2293 when the world is divided into two groups. On one side, genetic engineering has created immortal “Eternals” who enjoy the benefits of culture and superior technology behind the walls of their seemingly utopian refuges. Outside the world is inhabited by mortal “Brutals” – impoverished wretches whose population growth is regulated by the Exterminators who commit pillage and murder. They are controlled by Arthur Frayn (played by Nial Buggy), Eternal who uses flying statue to roam the world, presenting himself as the god Zardoz. This ends when Zed (played by Sean Connery), an Exterminator who dared to doubt the official truth, hides in a flying statue, kills Frayn and reaches the Eternal’s community. There he will become the subject of attention of the Eternals, especially the scientist May (played by Sarah Kestelman) who wants to study it, while Consuelo (played by Charlotte Rampling) fears that the presence of one such savage will destroy the community. Zed eventually realises that utopia has a dark side – those Eternals who make trouble are turned into senile fools by punishment, and a good portion of Eternals have become so bored by life that they turned towards apathy and catatonia. But the most visible consequence of immortality is the gradual loss of the sex drive among Eternals, and this is something that would be reawakened with the arrival of the masculine Zed.
Zardoz was made in Ireland after Boorman’s abandoned attempt to adapt Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to the screen. It had very interesting idea, and Boorman in his script took genuine effort to explore whole concept of immortality with all its consequences. Unfortunately, the script, no matter how interesting and intelligent it may be, couldn’t compensate for one banal fact. Zardoz had a budget of barely a million US$, which even in 1970s was ridiculously low for some ambitious project. This reflects in special effects that could be charitably described as underwheling - supercomputer that appears in the form of pieces of glass, virtual reality looks that looks like a mirror room in amusement park, and the futuristic high tech colony that is little too similar to 19th Century Irish country estate. This will make some viewers laugh, while some might be discouraged by Boorman’s “poetic” directing style. On the other hand, Zardoz is also a good example of the freedom that film makers had in 1970s. Today, for example, it’s hard to imagine a film whose hero is a murderer and rapist, while the actual massacre represents a happy ending. Some of today’s female viewers, on the other hand, would be entertained by the sight of 43-year-old Connery spending almost entire film dressed in something resembling red diapers, while male viewers probably won’t complain about scenes in which Sally Kestelman and Sally Anne Newton appear even without those superfluous fashion details. Because of all that Zardoz, regardless of all its flaws, is a film that, no matter what you think of it, you will have a hard time forgetting and which should be recommended to serious cinephiles.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog @drax.leo
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax y
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7