Review of Ravenous (1999) by Afzal S — 16 Dec 2007

An Unlikely Comic Horror Western Which Serves Its Various Genres, and also its High Artistic Pretensions.

Ravenous is a film which refuses to be pigeon-holed. The only film I can think to compare it with, both in style and substance, is the genre-defying classic The Wicker Man.

Capt. Boyd (Guy Pearce) has just been honoured for his heroic part in a battle of the Mexican-American War (1846-48). But at the celebratory dinner, he cannot eat a rare beef steak. For this faux pas, his incredulous commanding officer sends him to a dilapidated, marginal outpost in California, Fort Spencer, run by a bunch of misfits unfit for service elsewhere. As he settles into the highly odd rhythms of this particular camp's life, a mysterious man (Robert Carlyle) arrives, telling a strange tale of cannibalism, which the band of misfits who make up Fort Spencer reluctantly decide to investigate.

The basic idea behind Ravenous is that eating animal flesh is akin to eating human flesh. The film shows that it is basically the same, once you know it came from something which had a life, and was killed for your nourishment, be it human or animal (not surprising to know, therefore, that director Antonia Bird is a vegetarian).

Ravenous, with the aid of an invented native American myth, the 'Wendigo', that a man who eats the flesh of another becomes superhuman and his appetite for cannibalism insatiable, takes this maxim to its extreme, creating a demi monde where eating 'pot roast a la Knox', is quite normal and rational, in the pragmatic sense. Capt. Boyd however, runs counter to the frontier tradition of hardy pragmatism, i.e. a blasé attitude to life and humanity (gunfights, massacre) in that he is a man with different, more modern sensibilities to your average mid-nineteenth century American man heading west. He abhors war to such an extent he suffers post traumatic stress disorder. In the times he lives in, he is easily confused (and confuses himself) as a coward, but is put to the test in extreme circumstances.

Along with this clash of mid-nineteenth century and modern sensibilities, is that of westward expansionism. Here the film cleverly adds to its brilliantly imaginative commentary on carnivorism, by making in the insatiable cannibalism inspired by the native American myth of the 'Wendigo', a highly critical allegory of American attitudes towards Manifest Destiny, the irrepressible, inexorable expansion westwards of the 'white man' across the continent.

All this could sound terrible arty, anachronistic and contrived, but the film is crafted so carefully and well, and with such verve, it is also highly enjoyable and thrilling. The dialogue is wonderful and subtly funny. The action is bloody and well-handled, with oddly idiosyncratic twists. The mixing of genres, western, horror and comedy, is seamless, and the film is aided with a wonderfully idiosyncratic soundtrack by the unlikely partnership of Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn. Lastly, but of course not least, the acting is roundly excellent, but the leads, Pearce and Carlyle are both brilliant. Pearce is in sync with the modern sensibilities of his character without making his character feel anachronistic, while Carlyle adds to his repertoire of extreme characters with a double performance that shows great daring and range.