The problem when presenting a retrospective of films is that if it makes no sense, then it really isn’t a retrospective. It’s just a conglomeration of old movies that people may, or may not, be interested in seeing.
Sadly, the current Eco Sicko II Film Festival, now showing at the Northwest Film Center, is one such conglomeration.
The idea of the retrospective, according to curator Jacques Boyreau, is that the environment is not just what surrounds us, it exists both inside and outside of us. As such, he chose the films in this collection to reflect the environmental damage done to the mind.
He says these films are prophetic. Boyreau is convinced that revisionist reviewing is in order since neither Videodrome, Zabriskie Point nor Ace in the Hole were box office or critical successes in their initial releases. It is difficult to agree that they have improved with age. Not only are these four films not environmental, they are also, for the most part, not particularly enjoyable.
VideodromeCanada, 1983Director: David CronenburgDec. 6, 7 p.m.$81 star
Videodrome is one of those films the 1970s was famous for: those apocalypse-one-person-at-a-time films that tried to make us all conspiracy theorists. Much like Soylent Green and Logan’s Run.Let’s skip the fact that Videodrome has not held up well with age and is visually uninteresting. The film starts with a television executive (James Woods) constantly on the lookout for ever more sexual and violent shows to air on his station.
He is given a pirated tape of a show called Videodrome that has no plot or story. It is simply an airing of the torture, maiming and murder of strangers. Woods thinks this will excite his viewers and tries to get more. Later, he’s told that watching the show creates brain tumors. He has hallucinations, grows a slot in his torso for videos (where he hides his gun) and becomes a puppet for the nefarious evildoers. Enough said.
Ace In the HoleU.S., 1987Director: Billy WilderDec. 7, 7 p.m.2 stars
Ace in the Hole is included in the film fest as well because the film itself has “a stylish environment.” Boyureau believes the film is a cultural event because we watch Kirk Douglas create an environment he can report on.
The plot begins with a shady journalist who, like Woods’ character in Videodrome, is searching for the next big story that he cannot simply report but must make his own. When he hits on the story of a man trapped in a mine, he’s off and running, creating any part of the narrative that didn’t exist before.
This film is more interesting than Videodrome but is by no means impressive. Although black and white films can be much more visually interesting, it also depends on the plot holding up.
As we’ve seen this type of “creative” journalism in the recent past, it’s no longer that interesting to see it up on the screen.
Paris, TexasFrance/Germany, 1984Director: Wim WindersDec. 5, 7 p.m.3.5 stars$8
Paris, Texas was the only film in the festival that was originally well received. It follows the figure of Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) as he tries to find meaning and place after losing everything. Certainly more substantive than Videodrome and less in-your-face than Ace In The Hole, Paris, Texas is a decent cinematic experience in and of itself. However, in no way is it an environmental film.
Zabriskie Point was not available for screening.