MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological*
Though the Italians had already
established their own “muscleman film” tradition dating back to
the silent cinema years, these two spectacles put the genre of the
peplum on the world map as never before. Because so many imitators
stemmed from these two films, both starring chisel-chinned Steve
Reeves as the Greek demigod, it would be nice to say that one or both
were at least small masterpieces of their subgenre. Sadly, only
stronger production values really separate the two Reeves films from
dozens of bargain-basement Italian adventure-flicks. Just as
contemporary superhero films often mix and match elements from
disparate comic-book stories, the scripts of the Reeves films jumble
together tropes from various unrelated classical myths.
HERCULES has more script-problems than
HERCULES UNBOUND, but the first film has better action-scenes and
better sexual byplay. After the demigod enjoys a leisurely meet-cute
with Greek princess Iole (Sylva Koscina), he goes to work for her
father Pelias, little suspecting that Iole’s father murdered his
brother to attain the throne of “Julco” (Iolcus). Of course
Pelias belongs properly to the story of Jason and the Argonauts,
which did involve Hercules as one of the ship’s heroic crewmen.
Here, Hercules precedes Jason into the lair of his enemy, who then
sends Jason off to seek the Golden Fleece in the hope that the young
hero will lose his life. The involved backstory of Jason’s relation
to Pelias is passed over quickly, the better not to take the focus
off Hercules. The demigod then joins Jason and other heroes on their
quest. It’s forgivable that the film doesn’t follow the epic in
writing Hercules out of the main story. What’s not redeemable is
that the movie drags for a long time, having the Argo’s crew
delayed by an ardent Amazon tribe, and then quickly wraps up the
quest by fighting a dragon to acquire the fleece. (For the time, the
dragon looks pretty good, but he barely interacts with the human
actors.) Having produced this dumbed-down version of Jason’s quest,
the film somewhat redeems itself at the climax. Hercules and company
return to Julco and fight the forces of the evil Pelias, during which
scene Reeves performs his most noteworthy feat. Chained to a pair of
pillars, Hercules not only pulls down the pillars, he uses the chains
hanging from his wrists to lash any soldier fool enough to attack the
indomitable demigod. One of the standout anachronisms is that Jason’s
crew includes a teenaged version of Ulysses, who, according to the
ILIAD, was not born until several generations after Hercules’ life.
HERCULES UNBOUND takes place a little
after the first film, in that now Hercules and Iole are married.
Accompanied by Teen Ulysses, the trio set out for Hercules’
traditional home of Thebes, though the hero has been away so long
that he still thinks King Oedipus is on the throne. On their way, the
travelers are beset by a robber named Antaeus (celebrity wrestler Primo Carnera), and Hercules has a good prolonged struggle with a man who
can regain his strength every time he touches the earth.
The film never discusses the scandalous
events that caused Oedipus to lose his kingdom—perhaps not wanting
to offend officious parents—but at any rate, Oedipus (seen briefly,
as if he’s on the brink of either dying or being translated to
heaven) has been succeeded by his two sons, who are supposed to
alternate their rule of Thebes. Thus the film sets up the main action
as a retelling of the “Seven Against Thebes” narrative, with
Hercules injected as a possible mediator between the two opposed
brothers.
However, the hero accidentally drinks
from a river containing “forgetfulness water” (traditionally, a
characteristic of an underworld watercourse), and he’s then seduced
by a mysterious queen, Omphale. Thouigh traditionally this character is queen of the country of Lydia, the movie-version seems more like a character out of Celtic faery, or from the European stories of "the Venusberg." The latter trope probably
influences Omphale’s tendency to preserve her discarded
lovers in wax (by one account, the medieval goddess preferred ice). Teen Ulysses justifies his
existence by helping Herc restore his memory. Once Hercules
fights free of Omphale’s kingdom, the distraught ruler can’t cope
with rejection herself, and consigns herself to a vat of hot wax.
Hercules and his allies rush back to Thebes, but despite lots of
soldiers fighting, and a few Herculean stunts, the two sons of
Oedipus kill each other. The film doesn’t trouble itself with
laying out the complicated history of Thebes’ next ruler, and
contents itself by having a final romantic reunion of Hercules and
Iole.
No comments:
Post a Comment