The Wicker Man (1973)
directed by Robin Hardy
starring Edward Woodward, Christpher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Russell Waters, Aubrey Morris, Irene Sunters, Walter Carr, Ian Campbell, Lesie Blackater, Roy Boyd
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MPAA rating: Studio: British Lion Script: Anthony Shaffer Music: Paul Giovanni Running time: 88 minutes Tags: Drama; Horror; Mystery; occult; religion; rituals Tactical strength: [7/10]
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To reaffirm my opinion that original productions will always surpass remakes, I borrowed The Wicker Man on DVD from the local library. Not only does the original far surpass the remake, but I think one can easily see why the remake feels so empty.
Generally the two films follow the same plot, although names and genders have change in some cases. In the original film, Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives at an island off the coast of Scotland to investigate a report of a missing girl named Rowan. At first island inhabitants deny even knowing the girl, but when the sergeant finds her name in the school roll book, he learns that the girl has died and lies buried in the local graveyard. Sergeant Howie suspects foul play, and seeks the permission of Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) to exhume Rowan's body. From Lord Summerisle, the sergeant learns that all the inhabitants of the island practice pagan sun worship including naked fertility dances and an enormous May Day celebration. The idea of pagan worship strikes the devoutly Christian sergeant as a heinous practice, especially when he does some research at the local library and finds that May Day often involves burning sacrifices. Suspecting the worse, Sergeant Howie tries to fly back to the mainland, but his seaplane won't start. Without any extra manpower, he decides to make a house-to-house search for the missing girl in an attempt to prevent Rowan burning as a human sacrifice in the May Day festival.
The DVD has a thirty-five minute documentary about the making of The Wicker Man. In one of the interviews, one of the producers mentioned his interpretation of The Wicker Man as a cautionary tale, saying, "If we're not careful this could happen." I don't agree with this interpretation. Instead, I see the story comparing two different religious dogmas. In both cases, we only see the belief systems in practice, but we don't see any efficacy from that belief. We see Sergeant Howie delivering a sermon at church and praying in his hotel room. He claims to believe in unification with Christ, but we don't get to see if that claim comes true. Lord Summerisle claims to believe that the May Day sacrifices will bring about a bountiful harvest, and we don't get to see the results of that belief either. We do see the stereotypical religious intolerance Sergeant Howie expresses toward pagan worship. This comparison of religious practices does not appear in the remade version of The Wicker Man,, and in large part, this entire missing element left a huge hole in the remake. The horror element in the original works precisely because the viewer generally associates with the Christian viewpoint and in spite of devout religious beliefs, the worst can still happen.
Also in the DVD documentary, Christopher Lee expresses his opinion that The Wicker Man represents some of his best work, and I would have to agree. He does an excellent job at creating a character comfortable with pagan beliefs and rituals. The acting from the rest of the cast does seem a bit corny by today's standards, but if you thought about the people in your neighborhood dancing in a public ritual, most of them would probably look corny too. To me the less than perfect choreography added an element of small-town realism to the film. The musical elements of the film seem a bit odd even when compared to other films of the time. Writer Anthony Shaffer liked the musical element because in his research for the film, he found that pagan worship involved lots of music and song. I don't see how that differs from many Christian observances, but the songs do add a certain texture that along with the religious elements and good acting makes the original The Wicker Man a unique experience worth seeing.
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