Review of The Wicker Man (1973) by Harry W — 29 Jun 2014

Although the only reason that I or many people nowadays would be familiar with The Wicker Man due to the awful remake starring Nicolas Cage, as the original was considered a classic I decided to check it out, particularly because Christopher Lee considered it his proudest film.

The Wicker Man is interesting because of the fact that unlike the remake, it does not establish itself as a horror film. Instead, the atmosphere of the film is simply full of mystery as if it is an exploration of a culture that western society is not used to. It shows protagonist Sgt. Howie exploring the mysterious world of Summerisle, a society reminiscent largely of the stereotypical image of hippie communities that were popular in the 1960's and 1970's. So The Wicker Man is a look back at 1970's society and what director Robin Hardy feels that it could have become had the counterculture movement succeeded. That is just my interpretation, so The Wicker Man may or may not be an allegory for that, and considering the fact that Sgt. Howie is a police officer who becomes aggressive in a society that he does not feel welcome in, it could very well be true. It compares the counterculture movement to a religious society, and it becomes rather thought provoking. Frankly, there are a lot of themes that Robin Hardy incorporates into The Wicker Man and many things that you could interpret from the way you look at it, so it ends up being a worthy viewing.

Of all of the counterculture films that I have seen, The Wicker Man tops my list as being one of the best. It shows off a very innovative society alternative to the one we considered to be natural at the time, and it is one where everyone's faith is with each other and is so dedicated that they all believe the same thing without question. It shows a society where everyone thinks with essentially a single mind and just what kinds of repercussions that causes for people who don't understand the culture. Essentially, everything in The Wicker Man feels eerie and mysterious without being a straight up horror film. Although it is commonly defined as a horror movie, the actual genre of the film is uncertain because it is unpredictable and captures a lot of concepts in its story, leading some to refer to it as being a "folk horror" film. The general atmosphere of The Wicker Man is interesting because it is very mysterious, and so the experience is a trippy one.

Some people may be thrown off by the fact that The Wicker Man has rough camera and audio quality due to the age and low budget of the film, but it was not enough to damage the experience for me and neither was the slow pace. The fact is that depending on how you interpret The Wicker Man, it can end up as a very deep and complex film. It was for me, and I was surprised just how intelligent it ended up becoming. You have to remember the context of when the film was created to fully understand it, but either way it is still an enjoyable piece. It is largely thanks to Anthony Schaffer's screenplay which incorporates a lot of complex religious themes into the film as well as twisted and unsuspecting plot dynamics as well as firm dialogue, and under the direction of Robin Hardy, the film comes off as being very convincing.

Thanks to Robin Hardy, the atmosphere of the film is great. Due to using a lot of beautiful scenery and unconventional cinematography techniques, he makes the film a good visual experience and plays it all out against a nice soundtrack. So the film serves as a good front for his sense of storytelling, even though it is not always perfect.

And on top of that, The Wicker Man boasts a large and talented cast. All the actors in the film portraying members of Summerisle contribute to making the context of the story feel like a wacky religious commune by conveying free spirited nature which flows through the society, and they use a lot of physical performance art to express that as well as line delivery which has subtle hints of mystery hidden within it. But regardless of how good they are, the talents of Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee stand out.

Edward Woodward is just perfect as Sgt. Howie. It is very easy to sympathise for him the entire time as the context of a different society feels strange to viewers, and although he seems obnoxious in certain scenes due to the idea that he considers himself superior to the people of Summerisle. The clash between his religion and theirs is conveyed greatly by the contrast of performances between the two character archetypes with Edward Woodward being a very aggressive and devout Christian while the others are all pagans. And Edward Woodward's path to characterising the part is excellent. His line delivery is on par very well because he has a lot of strength in the characterisation of his part and he grips it with a dedicated tenacity. Edward Woodward fearlessly steps into his leading role in The Wicker Man and says all of his lines with a firm strength and a towering physicality which carries the story to the end well.

And Christopher Lee is spot on. Although he doesn't really get as much screen time as you might hope, his short amount of screen time makes a huge impact on the story. As he serves as the lord of Summerisle, he is the leader of all the people that are depicted as being "crazy", and yet he captures both that and a sense of wisdom in the way he delivers his lines. His performance is like a Shakespearian one, and it is actually quite an entertaining one which surprises me as I am not all that fond of Shakespeare. Christopher Lee's performance in The Wicker Man is great, unforgettable and one of the most memorable elements of the film.

So although The Wicker Man's cultural relevance lies a lot more with the fact that it was made in 1973 and it is a slow film, the visual style of the film is excellent, the acting is powerful and the concepts that it explores are very deep and complex which gives Robin Hardy a lot of credibility as a filmmaker.