Film

review: King Kong 1933

Fig 1 Cast and Crew: Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack Produced by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, David O. Selznick, Screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose Story by Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace Starring Fay Wray Bruce Cabot Robert Armstrong Music by Max Steiner Cinematography: Eddie Linden, J.O. Taylor, and Vernon Walker King Kong is a 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. The film tells of a gigantic island- dwelling ape-man creature called Kong who dies in an attempt to possess a beautiful young woman. King Kong is distinguished for its stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien and its musical score by Max Steiner. (Wikipedia).

In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry (Wikipedia). Today it seems culturally, politically and ecologically out-dated, but arguably remains significant aesthetically.

Fig 2 Had King Kong been made this way today it would be incredibly controversial. The 1920s and 30s was a period of great cultural change in America and there were (and still are) extreme racial and social tensions. King Kong could be seen as a metaphor for discrimination with its clear differentiation of white and black. However David Rosen in his analysis King Kong, Race Sex and Rebellion states that Cooper claims that he chose a blonde woman to play the lead role purely because of the contrast of her hair against the pelt (Rosen, 1975). Whilst there are some clear prejudices, such as the tribe chief offering to swop one white woman for 6 tribal women, there are also some moments in the film that clearly depict the tribal race as having humanity, for instance a woman running to grab her child from the stampede through the village. Kong himself could be seen as an example of emancipation, being stolen from his home and breaking free from his chains. Fortunately feminism hadnt taken hold of the USA at the time, because Anns complete inability to do anything without a man could have had women screaming with frustration. The film was made before censorship guidelines were introduced (later editions had scenes that could be seen as

objectionable such as Kong biting and eating people and removing Anns clothes) cut completely. (Wikipedia).

Fig 3 In the 1930s the attitude of the public to the extinction of species was still Darwinian. It is evident that public tastes have changed as the 2005 remake has found ways to deal with the racial and ecological issues that have emerged. Rosen suggests whats especially interesting about an interpretation of a film like KING KONG in terms of its historicity is how our more recent experience enables us to retrieve and appreciate its original meaning and compare it with our own understanding of it. (Rosen 1975) King Kong has an easy to follow linear plot thats recognisable in the films of today. It combines those staples of Hollywood blockbusters, the catastrophe, the destruction on a huge scale, and monsters, and places them both in the familiarity of New York buildings and in a lost world where imagination can roam freely. It is easy to see how King Kong has inspired the lost world and carnivorous dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and directors such as Peter Jackson. Fig 4

Almar Hafliadson, reviewing for the BBC, felt that What may surprise you about the film is the richness of Kong's character, which is due to the attention put into the special effects. Even more remarkable is the fact that most modern CGI-dominated monster flicks are unable to capture such characterisation (Hafliadson 2001). The scenes of Kong were all shot in stop motion. Kong himself was an 18-inch model of an 18-foot gorilla. There was also a bust of head and chest with facial features operated by 3 people inside.

Fig 5 A large amount of the set, including the native village and island wall, was borrowed from other movies. This could have given it a disjointed effect but the cinematography has been done so well it fits seamlessly. The scenery has been layered both top to bottom and front to back, making the viewer look through and peek into to the depths. The shots are comfortably balanced horizontally and vertically but still remain asymmetrical and slightly twisted. Hafliadson suggests In reviewing or watching a film from the early 1930s, it is usually necessary to allow for the age of the film and the social and technical restrictions of the time. King Kong" defies such limited expectations because it was so ahead of its time. Willis O'Brien created impressive effects that were not only technically brilliant, but also highly imaginative in terms of cinematic action (Hafliadson 2001). The Timeout reviewer AVsums up King Kong; if this glorious pile of horror-fantasy hokum has lost none of its power to move, excite and sadden, it is in no small measure due to the remarkable technical achievements of

Willis O'Brien's animation work, and the superbly matched score of Max Steiner (Timeout, undated). Hafliadson also praises the scoring, Max Steiner's music adds fantastic atmosphere and notes that it also helped lay down some of the basic rules of motion pictures scoring (Hafliadson, 2001], The score pushes the film along fluidly.

Fig 6 Everyone recognises the ending of King Kong. It is emotively described by James Beradinelli:The scene with Kong grasping the top of the Empire State Building with one hand while swiping futilely at the attacking bi-planes with the other makes a statement about man's indiscriminate destruction of nature on the path to technological mastery. Kong was king of Skull Island, but, on Manhattan Island, he is a rampaging nuisance to be dealt with. It's not so much beauty that killed the beast, as it is the inexorable march of progress. In the world of man, a mythical beast like Kong has no place. (Beradinelli, 2000)

Fig 7

ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig 1 - 1933 poster online at http://movie-zilla.webs.com/1930s.htm Online [accessed on 31/10/11] Fig 2, 5, 6 - http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/25340/King-Kong- %281933%29-%28Classic-4-DVD-Collection%29/ Online [accessed on 31/10/11] Fig 3 & 4 http://cinema-fanatic.com/2011/05/06/guest-post-pre-code- films/ Online [accessed on 31/10/11] Fig 7 final scene - http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/buildings/empire-state.html Online [accessed on 31/10/11]

REFERENCES
Berardinelli, J (2000) King Kong: A Film Review for Reel Views online at http://www.reelviews.net/movies/k/kong_33.html [Accessed on 31/10/11] Haflidason, A (2001) King Kong 1933 Review for the BBC online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/01/30/king_kong_1933_review.shtml [Accessed on 31/10/11] AV (Timeout} (undated) King Kong Review online at http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/78723/king_kong.html [Accessed on 31/10/11]

Rosen, D (1975) King Kong, Race, Sex and Rebellion from Jump Cut, A review of contemporary media, no. 6, 1975, pp. 7-10 online at http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC06folder/KingKong.htm l[accessed on 31/10/11]