This film will have a lot of people conflicted over the content and it's primal nature. As filmmakers, you will be captivated by the construction of a film that is simplicity at its finest. As anthropologist we may be uneasy about its voyeuristic eye towards pubescent women.
Director Nicholas Roeg is a dirty old man who likes to watch innocence turned to debauchery. Much like his other films, he does make us question our internal moral compass: if he is making these films, and I enjoy them, what does that make me? But they are also pop art. The intercutting of two occurring events for effect is a modern trope now. Much like Russ Meyer, he knows the snappy quick shot juxtapose with sexual imagery taps into our animal core.
But this movie is also about survival and the advent of modern technology taking away our ability to adapt to nature. And ultimately our empty feeling of loss because we are no longer hunter/gatherers but bored cubicle dwellers who aren't functioning off fight or flight responses. This is the true lesson to be learned. Which makes it more poignant that it is two children who ultimately go through this trek. A lot also has been said about the nudity of Jenny Agutter. Who, without knowledge of laws in Europe, I can say...it's filmed mostly as like a home movie. The notorious nude scenes of her have moments where you wonder if the exploitation isn't too much. I still question it, 45+ years later, but the point of it was to shed the skin of uptight society which claims the lives of many who live in fast paced stressed world (as is tragically displayed at the beginning). Now for those who criticize the dense message, it's really not hard to see how much living a more primal life is what's being told. It's that feeling for when you've gone camping. Real camping where you build your own fires and cook your own food over the fire and look up at the sky when you realize as you come back to "civilization" how the open air was pure tonic. Perhaps that is what I get from this film.
Director Nicholas Roeg is a dirty old man who likes to watch innocence turned to debauchery. Much like his other films, he does make us question our internal moral compass: if he is making these films, and I enjoy them, what does that make me? But they are also pop art. The intercutting of two occurring events for effect is a modern trope now. Much like Russ Meyer, he knows the snappy quick shot juxtapose with sexual imagery taps into our animal core.
But this movie is also about survival and the advent of modern technology taking away our ability to adapt to nature. And ultimately our empty feeling of loss because we are no longer hunter/gatherers but bored cubicle dwellers who aren't functioning off fight or flight responses. This is the true lesson to be learned. Which makes it more poignant that it is two children who ultimately go through this trek. A lot also has been said about the nudity of Jenny Agutter. Who, without knowledge of laws in Europe, I can say...it's filmed mostly as like a home movie. The notorious nude scenes of her have moments where you wonder if the exploitation isn't too much. I still question it, 45+ years later, but the point of it was to shed the skin of uptight society which claims the lives of many who live in fast paced stressed world (as is tragically displayed at the beginning). Now for those who criticize the dense message, it's really not hard to see how much living a more primal life is what's being told. It's that feeling for when you've gone camping. Real camping where you build your own fires and cook your own food over the fire and look up at the sky when you realize as you come back to "civilization" how the open air was pure tonic. Perhaps that is what I get from this film.