This summer I have been detailing some of the films I have been watching-- mainly Westerns like The Dollars Trilogy, Hang Em High, and Days of Wrath but also others like The Shape Of Things To Come. I haven't written about EVERY film I have watched this summer, but it's a good habit to get into.
Last week I rewatched John Wick, paying close attention to the details and plot that I may have missed previously. Last night I watched John Wick 2 which picks up after the first almost immediately. John, having defeated the Boss-- the father of the guy who killed his Dog and stole his car-- is seen entering the hideout of a Russian mafia boss, played by The Professional, Léon played by Jean Reno. He tells his guard that the reason John Wick is coming is because they have his car, which cannot be returned due to John killing his brother and nephew over a car and dog.
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80131552?trackId=254137036
He recieves a call from John Wick, who tells him "you have my car". The russian is visibly shaken, and calls him the Boogeyman. The next scene is an action sequence where John sneaks in, gets his car, and fights off the cabbies who attack him (a break from smuggling gold bars in their trunks). Meanwhile the russian shudders in fear from all the noise from the fighting, driving and shooting in the garage below. Eventually, John Wick appears at his door and offers him 'peace', pouring a shot of vodka for them to toast. The russian asks, can a man like you ever know peace? Why not, John replies. They toast and John leaves the office, takes his beaten up car, and goes on his way.
This film is about honor among assassins, but there is something deeper going on here, beyond just the story about 'The Continental' assassin hotel, the 'High Table' and a man grieving the loss of his wife and his dog. As John sits in the ashes of his house, after it is burned down by the man whom he did a favour for in exchange for his freedom, all that remained of john's 'peace' was the new dog he adopted at the end of the first film. The manager of the hotel tells him that he should have expected that response when he rejected the work offered.
So reluctantly John tracks down D'Angelo who gave him an impossible task, who granted him a marker for his freedom, and who blew up his house, and asks what he wanted done. "Kill my Sister" he says, so he can take the seat at the High Table. This task is easily completed, as John Wick starts working again. He finds the sister at a high class event at some castle, her fortress, but it is revealed that she and John have history and are friends. Knowing there is no escape, she undresses, gets into her fancy hot tub, and slits her wrists. John watches her bleed out and say her final words, then finishes the job with a bullet in her head. She was the ward of another assassin, who was sent out of the room, and when John passes him he asks, "are you working?"
John replies, yeah. And when this bodyguard-assassin discovers what happened while he was told to entertain guests, he is obligated to kill John. So too does D'Angelo seek vengeance for the death of his sister, a gesture which will be his undoing. A bounty for $7 million is placed on Wick's head. The accountants and agents for the organization all do their jobs and soon everyone is notified that John Wick is to be killed. Despite the best attempts of Sumo, Violinist, Janitors and other types of secret assassins, John beats them all and seeks refuge with the new york underground homeless looking assassins. They fix him up and take him to Morpheus, Lawrence Fishbourne, The Bowery King. John tells him that D'Angelo is going to try to take New York City from his organization, once he gets the seat his sister vacated with her death. John asks for a gun, and gets one with just 7 bullets. The remainder of the film is an epic shootout sequence where John Wick kills one enemy at a time, and then takes their gun, working on the next and the next. No matter how many assassins come at him, they are defeated.
Eventually he finds D'Angelo and they fight extensively, until they crash through the window of the Italian Continental hotel, where they are told to stop fighting and have a drink. The assassins code prohibits business from being conducted within the safe haven of the hotels, and violating that rule results in excommunication and being cut off from all services and protection.
John is done following the rules, and finishes the job by shooting D'Angelo. The Manager from the New York Continental informs him that because he did this John is excommunicated, but gives him one hour. All the random people in the park turn on cue and look at them, implying that everyone in this city is part of the order. As the excommuncation goes out, John Wick runs, and everyone takes notice. The high table increased the bounty to $14 million, and now John Wick has no protection at all. He takes off and the film ends.
Chapter 3 is already out, as well as Chapter 4 and I will resume watching the series tonight. Here is where I am going to start talking about something else that is related. During the film, various agents say "Be Seeing You". This seems to be something that is said often, and implies a farewell, as well as a hope to see them again. It's also an 'inside' phrase, for those who know.
What is there to know?
The Prisoner
1967 · 52 min - TV-PG - Drama · Mystery · Sci-Fi - After resigning, a secret agent finds himself trapped in a bizarre prison known only as The Village.
Is this the inspiration for John Wick? A secret agent drives his sports car to a tunnel and busts open an inconspicuously marked secret entrance to an intelligence office, where he bangs on the table and quits his job.
He returns to his hotel to pack his things, where a man in a tall hat follows and gasses him through the keyhole. In John Wick, he made a deal to 'get out', but here he is knocked unconcious. Mere seconds into this fast paced, tightly edited TV pilot, I can already see the similarities. From his black attire, to his single minded and determined attitude, Patrick McGoohan plays Number 6.
Everyone who lives in this island village he is brought to, is in on the intelligence game. Working jobs like taxi driver, marching band, waiter, gardener, everyone seems to be part of the system. As he grapples with his new surroundings, they often say "Be Seeing You", the echo I heard in John Wick from the characters.
Obviously this is the origin of the concept, and while not precisely the same as the violent bloodbath action show John Wick, it is clearly inspired by this world. I only watched the first episode of seventeen, but after I watch John Wick 3 tonight, I plan to watch more of this TV show from 1967. Created by Patrick McGoohan himself, as well as George Markstein, the themes and story elements from The Prisoner have been echoed in pop culture again and again.
Even The Truman Show seems to be a similar sort of world, where a fake reality was created to keep the protagonist under 24/7 surveillance. Number 6 is shown images of his whole life on a big screen, hidden cameras snapping photos during conversations and showing that the controllers know his every move.
Number 6 wants to escape, but his attempts are thwarted by taxis that don't go outside the town, by helicopter that can be remote controlled, and by giant floating orb that can render him unconscious. At one point he wakes up in a hospital and finds a fellow agent, who allegedly jumps out the window. Another woman, an undercover agent, says that 'he was my ward', which was echoed in John Wick 2. Did the sister at the high table represent this character, with the colourful cape? The buttons they wear, similar also to the Markers worn by High Table members in John Wick. The similarities are stacking up.
What is going on in this story, The Prisoner?
Is John Wick expanding on the story that was setup in 1967?
John Wick is The Prisoner; even his fast driving paralells agent 6, who rips around the city in his sporty convertible. The opening shots of the typewriter, the filing cabinets, the long hallways, all mirrored in the John Wick films.
"What we do here has to be done. It's the law of survival. It's us or them" says Number 2. "Imprison people? Steal their minds? Destroy them?" replies Number 6. # Two: "Depends on whose side you're on. We have to find out where your sympathies lie.", # Six: "You know where they lie!" Reading from his profile, # Two: Subject shows great enthusiasm for his work. He us utterly devoted and loyal. Is this a man who suddenly walks out?" # Six: I didn't walk out. I resigned!
Watch The Prisoner series with me, and re-watch the John Wick films too.
I am fascinated by this old show, as well as the deeper meaning of the John Wick films in this new light. If you see other parallels, have insights into the subtle and overt plot points, or know references to other films that echo these themes, please let me know in the comments! Be Seeing You!
@Darkflame