Year: 1967
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
As I stated in my first-ever post here--part of my goal in this project will be to use this blog as a way to educate myself and catch up on classic, well-known movies that I've missed (and there are a lot of them). This is the first post in the BIONFTST category (an admittedly clunky abbreviation that stands for Believe It Or Not, First Time Seeing This). Great choice too--if you are reading this you probably know all about, all the characters and all the good bits. What does it say about me that I've never seen this before (until yesterday) but I've seen "Noi" or "Bolivia" several times each? I don't know.
I've been accused of being an elitist and avoiding things (movies, books, records etc.) that are generally popular with the "masses." And it's true to a point, I do enjoy the secret pleasure of experiencing a movie that no one in my circle has ever seen before. I suppose it stems from childhood, from want to have something of my very own to possess. I still love to have "things," love to buy "things." Frequently, just the act of buying the thing is enough--I have lots of stuff that I don't use but I would still be really hard-pressed to get rid of. My wife doesn't understand this kind of thinking and I'm sure a lot of other people wouldn't either. So, a movie like "Noi" or "Bolivia" or many, many others that I love is all the more special to me because--within my circle--I'm the only one that knows how great it is. Conversely though, it's great when I come across someone who HAS seen the same films I have and can share their thoughts with me. So I guess it's a contradiction--I want my secret pleasures but I want to be able to talk about them to. In a way, coming late to a movie like this one satisfies those needs. "Cool Hand Luke" is old hat to many fans but for me it's still fresh and in that sense it's "mine." But, it's also a part of the fabric of our popular culture, so that I can discuss it and share my thoughts easily with almost anyone. Best of both worlds, really.
Of course, the first thing most people associate with this movie is the famous line delivered by the Captain (Strother Martin in a delightfully slimy performance): "What we have here is a failure to communicate." But if that one line is all you take from the movie, then that would be a shame because there is so much going here. Luke's relationship with the "old man" upstairs is fascinating and something that a lot of people can relate to. Whether or not you believe in a higher power is your right of course, but for those of us that do, how many have ever felt like they weren't being heard? Or that the cards were stacked against them. I felt an overwhelming sympathy for Luke (Paul Newman). He grew up without a father, he was thrown into difficult circumstances during the war and still managed to do well, yet when he returned home there was nothing for him. Life was still a struggle even after he had served with honor. So to be a little mad at God would be understandable, yet Luke still tried right up until the very end to find some answers and some peace of mind.
Another interesting point--in the descriptions, Luke is always described as a "rebel" who is out to "buck the system" of the "sadistic" guards. Here's my take--Luke didn't begin to rebel until after he was put in the box because his captors were afraid he would try to flee after his mother's death. I think this (unfair) incident flipped a switch in Luke's brain. Prior to that point, he was fine, maybe a little smart-alecky but he worked hard and made now waves. After that though, the rebel was born. And as for the guards, I think up until that point they were not sadistic at all, but just doing their jobs. Remember, these guys were in prison after all, it's not supposed to be a country club and up until the Luke/box incident, I can't really fault the jailers for the way they treated the prisoners. After Luke's escape attempts, they came down on him really hard and deservedly so. Look at it from their point of view, they had to "break" him in order to keep him from trying to escape yet again and also to set an example for the other prisoners. Of course, Luke wasn't really "broken" after all (even though he said he was) and that turning point was just one of the other genius moments in this movie.
There's a lot I'm leaving out in this analysis so if you're experiences are as limited as mine and you've never seen this before, do yourself a favor and check it out. And if you have seen it, watch it again and again.
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