The Wicker Man (1973)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Wicker Man |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 84 minutes 99 (Director's Cut) minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robin Hardy |
| script | Anthony Shaffer |
| production | Peter Snell |
| music | Paul Giovanni |
| camera | Harry Waxman |
| cut | Eric Boyd-Perkins |
| occupation | |
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| chronology | |
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The Wicker Man is a British feature film from 1973 that combines elements of crime , horror and musicals . The main roles were played by Edward Woodward , Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland . Directed by Robin Hardy .
action
The deeply religious police officer Neil Howie receives an anonymous letter that takes him to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. According to this letter, a twelve-year-old girl named Rowan Morrison disappeared without a trace two months earlier; the inhabitants of the island are silent about their whereabouts. Sergeant Howie noticed this as soon as he arrived. The harbor master and some bystanders never want to have heard of a girl with that name and apparently do not recognize her in the photograph that was enclosed with the letter. Howie's visit to Mrs. Morrison, her supposed mother, is even more confusing, because she too claims to have never seen this girl.
Much more disturbing for the strictly Christian sergeant is that the islanders apparently follow an ancient pagan fertility cult and in the evenings, without any shame, celebrate a passionate orgy in public on the lawn in front of the local inn . Later that night, Willow, the landlord's daughter, makes clear advances by singing and dancing naked in her room and banging her hands on the wall. Howie resists the urge to go to her with only the greatest effort of will.
The next day he visits the local school where he comes across the name Rowan Morrison in the school's ledger. The teacher, Miss Rose, explains that the girl died two months ago. Her grave is in the cemetery behind the completely dilapidated parish church, but without a tombstone. The eccentric gardener planted a tree on her grave and wrapped a piece of her umbilical cord around one of the branches.
Howie then goes to the residents' registration office and asks for Rowan Morrison's death certificate, but no one exists. Gradually he suspects that the girl has fallen victim to a crime that the entire community is trying to cover up. To finally get some clarity about the strange things that happen to him, he goes to the castle of the owner of the island, the eccentric Lord Summerisle. Among other things, this informs him about the customs of the residents, which in many cases seem strange. His grandfather bought the island in order to carry out agronomic experiments with more robust seeds and fruits grown especially for the sometimes harsh conditions on Summerisle. At the same time, he began a sociological experiment in which he led the islanders back to the "old belief", to the belief in the gods of nature , in order to obtain their blessings for rich harvests. What his grandfather began as a means to an end, his father continued out of enthusiasm and Lord Summerisle himself feels part of this belief.
Back in town, Howie researches the practices and rites of pagan cults in the library and comes across a ceremonial procession at the climax of which a human sacrifice is made. With a bad harvest on the island last year, Howie is now convinced that Rowan Morrison is still alive and has been chosen as a sacrifice for the May Festival the following day .
When he searched all houses for Rowan the next day, May 1st, by virtue of his office as a police officer, he came across a group of islanders, led by Lord Summerisle, who were preparing the ritual procession, which included costumes and animal masks of all kinds . Howie knocks the landlord McGreagor unconscious and mingles with the revelers in his fool's costume. Lord Summerisle leads the procession first to a stone circle and finally down to the beach, where a large barrel of ale is offered to the sun god . Then everyone turns to the entrance of a cave, from which Rowan Morrison, wrapped in a white dress, is led out. Howie manages to get through to her, loosens her bonds and escapes with her back into the cave, in which, as Rowan claims, there should be a second hidden exit.
But there the two are already expected by Lord Summerisle and the others. Howie has to realize that all the events of the last few days were just a charade , staged to lure him to this place on that very day. Because not Rowan Morrison, but he, Neil Howie, should act as human sacrifice . After they have overpowered him and anointed him in a further ritual and clad him in a white linen robe, the islanders lead Howie up a hill and lock him in a huge wicker figure, the wicker man , which also contains animals as further offerings. After a prayer in honor of the sun god and the goddess of the earth and agriculture, they set the structure on fire. Howie burns alive while the assembled islanders stand singing around the giant wicker man.
Reviews
- The horror, fantasy and science fiction magazine Cinefantastique described The Wicker Man as the "Citizen Kane of the horror film".
background
After the film was shot, producers and makers of the film were very divided about its quality; it has been massively cut; Roger Corman secured the rights for the United States . The work was shown in Great Britain with a considerable delay. There is a short and a 92-minute director's cut version that was intended for US cinemas. A much longer version, which the director actually intended for release in British cinemas, is considered lost.
Remake
In 2006 a remake of the same name was made under the direction of Neil LaBute . The film was produced by, among others, Nicolas Cage , who is a great admirer of the original and also took on the lead role. The new version was unanimously panned by the critics and was commercially unsuccessful.
DVD release
- The Wicker Man - Special Edition , January 23, 2009, Kinowelt Home Entertainment
Others
- Christopher Lee was ready to work without a fee. Lee called the role of Lord Summerisle one of his favorite roles throughout his life.
- The director Robin Hardy originally intended to cast Sergeant Howie with Michael York . However, when this was not available, David Hemmings was in discussion for the part before Edward Woodward was finally cast.
- Although the plot of the film takes place in May, the shooting took place in October and November, which is why artificial apple blossoms had to be made and attached to the trees.
- Due to the cold, the performers had to suck ice cubes between takes to avoid the condensed breath becoming visible in front of the mouth.
- Rumor has it that the rolls of film that contained the original negatives of the long version of The Wicker Man , fresh from the laboratory , were mistakenly incorporated into the then-built Motorway M3 along with other discarded negatives from the Shepperton Studios archive .
- Since Britt Ekland was already pregnant with her son Nikolaj while filming The Wicker Man , a body double was hired for the full body recordings of her nude scene.
- The film was shot in 1972 in Dumfries and Galloway , South West Scotland . Britt Ekland described the location as "the darkest place on earth", which is why the producers had to apologize to the local press and the local people.
- Since Britt Ekland did not have a credible Scottish accent as a Swede, she was dubbed by actress and singer Annie Ross .
- When Edward Woodward was locked in the wicker man for the final scene, there was a goat in a compartment above him as a further offering. The animal was so scared because it was locked in such a small space that it urinated on Woodward.
- In the final scene in the Willow Man, the imprisoned Edward Woodward had to read his text from huge cue boards. The decision to shoot the scene was made spontaneously because the weather conditions happened to be favorable and Woodward did not have time to learn his lines.
- Although Rowan Morrison was actually portrayed by Gerry Cowper , the photograph featured in the film shows her twin sister, Jackie Cowper.
- Most of Summerisle's residents are named after trees, flowers, and other plants.
- The legs of the wicker man, who had been burned in the course of the shooting, were still on the location for years and were a popular destination for enthusiastic fans of the film until they were sawed off and stolen by strangers at the end of 2006.
- A scene in which Christopher Lee gives a lecture on apples as Lord Summerisle is still considered lost today.
- On April 30, 2012, the film ran along with The Wicker Tree and the remake . Guests at the event at The Prince Charles Cinema in London's Leicester Square were Christopher Lee , Robin Hardy and Neil LaBute .
- Some elements of the film are very reminiscent of the 1966 British horror film Eye of the Devil .
- The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden took the film as inspiration for their song The Wicker Man , which can be found on their album Brave New World , released in 2000 .
Web links
- The Wicker Man in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Christopher Lee in an interview about the film and the missing sequences