Based on the novel by James Dickey, Deliverance is the story of four men who go on a canoe trip up north Georgia where they would encounter some dark events that would turn their trip into a hellish experience. Directed by John Boorman and screenplay by Boorman and Dickey, the film is an exploration into a group of men who venture into the unknown as well as deal with locals who come from a world of lawlessness. Starring Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox. Deliverance is a terrifying and chilling film from John Boorman.
The film revolves around four Atlanta businessmen who go on a canoe trip to a river in north Georgia as the river is about to become a lake. Upon their trip down river, the four men would encounter two mountain men as it would be a trip into hell as its aftermath would force the men to figure out what just happened and what to do. The film’s screenplay by James Dickey and un-credited work from John Boorman showcases a world where four men really don’t know much about the wilderness other than the more brash Lewis (Burt Reynolds) who is very experienced as he and friend Ed Gentry (Jon Voight) know about canoeing as they invited friends Bobby Trippe (Ned Beatty) and Drew Ballinger (Ronny Cox). By canoeing on this river that is about to become a lake where a town is about to be submerged due to the construction of a new dam. The four would go through some rapids and parts of nature which is easy compared to what is really out there when Ed and Bobby would have a chilling encounter with two mountain men.
All of these events would take place in the film’s first half where it’s second half is actually more compelling where the four deal with not just the encounter of the two mountain men but also the consequences. Lewis would be the man to drive everything as he is someone who is aware that they’re in a world where law and order wouldn’t make sense but there’s also a sense of morality over right and wrong that Drew is trying to bring into play. All of which would then lead into a more treacherous journey back home as well as a lot of confusion and terror where it’s third act wouldn’t just about death but also guilt over what happened.
Boorman’s direction is quite gripping though it doesn’t start off that way where the film seems to be quaint and jovial where Drew would encounter an albino boy named Lonnie (Billy Redden) playing banjo where the two would do a rendition of Dueling Banjos. Shot on location at the Chattooga River in north Georgia as well as the Tallulah Gorge southeast of the state plus a few locations in South Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains. The film has this very Southern feel where it is quite grimy and eerie where the characters who live in this area play by different rules. Especially as the two mountain men live in a world that is very different as they would do things to Ed and Bobby that are quite gruesome. It’s aftermath where Lewis gets very involved would make the film much more chilling where Boorman’s direction would be filled with these captivating close-ups and medium shots to display some dramatic tension.
Even as Boorman goes right into the action for the river-rafting scenes where he has his camera to showcase all of the dangerous aspect of the rapids and how things can go awry. There’s also some elements of surrealism which adds to the element of fear during a chilling climax that involves Ed as it plays to his own issues with shooting a bow-and-arrow at a deer which he realizes he couldn’t kill. Things would eventually slow down towards the end as it is all about the major characters contemplating about everything that had happened as well as ambiguities over what really did happen. Overall, Boorman crafts a very mesmerizing yet harrowing film about survival in the wilderness.
Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography that captures the stark beauty of the locations with a bit of grainy camera work and a few effects that adds to the surrealism as Zsigmond‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editor Tom Priestley does fantastic work with the editing with its approach to jump-cuts and other stylish cuts to play into the film‘s suspense and terror that looms throughout the film. Art director Fred Harpman and set decorator Morris Hoffman do terrific work with the minimal sets such as the ruined garages and shacks early in the film to the church that is being driven through the city.
Sound editor Jim Atkinson does superb work with the sound from the way some of the natural elements of the location sounds to the way it help builds up the sense of terror. The film’s music only consists of sparse, folk-based pieces only played on guitar and banjo as it’s just variations of Dueling Banjos that really adds to the chilling tone of the film.
The casting by Lynn Stalmaster is great as it features some notable small roles from writer James Dickey as a sheriff late in the film and Billy Redden as the albino boy who can play a mean banjo. Herbert “Cowboy” Coward and Bill McKinney are amazing in their roles as the devious mountain men with Coward as the guy with less teeth and McKinney as the more slimy man who has a particular liking for Bobby. Ronny Cox is excellent as Drew as this man who likes to play guitar as he would become the film’s moral conscience as he wants to do what he feels is right over the situation that had happened.
Ned Beatty is superb as Bobby as this fat guy who becomes a victim over his encounters with the mountain men as he tries to deal with what happened to him and how to move on from it. Burt Reynolds is fantastic as Lewis as this experienced outdoorsman who is quite arrogant yet knows how to get things done as he is also a very intense figure that knows how to lead. Finally, there’s Jon Voight in a brilliant performance as Ed as this man who has been outdoors but struggles with his own feelings about killing as he also endures the sense of humiliation and terror in his encounter with the mountain men.
Deliverance is a phenomenal film from John Boorman. Armed with a great cast, gripping visuals, and a terrifying premise. It is a film that isn’t just one of the finest films about the American South at its ugliest but it’s a suspense film that plays into the dark soul of humanity. In the end, Deliverance is an outstanding film from John Boorman.
John Boorman Films: (Catch Us If You Can) - (Point Blank (1967 film)) - (Hell in the Pacific) - (Leo the Last) - (Zardoz) - (Exorcist II: The Heretic) - (Excalibur) - (The Emerald Forest) - (Hope and Glory) - (Where the Heart Is (1990 film)) - (I Dreamt I Woke Up) - (Two Nudes Bathing) - (Beyond Rangoon) - (The General (1998 film)) - (The Tailor of Panama) - (In My Country) - (The Tiger’s Tail) - (Queen and Country)
© thevoid99 2014
Directed by Hal Ashby, Bound for Glory is the story about the folk singer Woody Guthrie and how he came to prominence during the Great Depression as a voice for the people suffering from the Great Depression. Loosely based on Guthrie’s autobiography and adapted into script by Robert Getchell, the film explores the evolution of Guthrie’s music just as he tries to help out a group of Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression as Guthrie is played by David Carradine. Also starring Melinda Dillon, Ronny Cox, Gail Strickland, and Randy Quaid. Bound for Glory is an extraordinary film from Hal Ashby.
It‘s 1936 in Pamba, Texas as Woody Guthrie seeks to find work and money for his family while dealing with the Dust Bowl. With no jobs available, Guthrie leaves his family to go to California where he would meet all sorts of characters during his journey as he eventually reaches California by train and car where he meets a group of Dust Bowl refugees. Upon meeting folk singer Ozark Bule (Ronny Cox), Guthrie would eventually find an outlet for what he sees through folk music and eventually become a hero of the people through the radio. Yet, when radio sponsors want Guthrie to not sing controversial material and be compromised. Guthrie would make a drastic decision that would make him a hero to the world of American culture.
While most bio-pics often showcase how a person became famous and such, what makes this film different is that it only places to a certain part of the life of Woody Guthrie. Largely in how he would become a folk hero to many during the Great Depression and spread his voice to the people while having to deal with the responsibility of taking care of his family and being there for them. At the same time, he has to deal with what people want him to sing and in places where he has to sing to those who have no idea or any care about what he’s singing about.
While a lot of the events of the screenplay are fictional in order to tell the story of a man trying to fight the system as he has to deal with all sorts of forces and authority. It also shows a man who is flawed since he is neglectful towards his family at times though he doesn’t mean to. It’s a story that allows Woody Guthrie to be humanized rather than make him into a bigger icon as he’s just a man that wants to help people out and not ask for much in return. While the people he meets in his journey would definitely shape his outlook into the world, some would be helpful while others would just steer him into a direction that would have him rebel.
Hal Ashby’s direction is definitely stylish as well as engaging for the way he re-creates late 1930s America during the Great Depression. Notably as he sets the film in California as parts of Texas and the American Southwest where it’s a world that is wide open where people are moving all over the country looking for work. Ashby’s direction is often ever-moving where he uses all sorts of hand-held cameras to capture the crowd moving around including the first-ever use of the Steadicam for some of those scenes. There is something freeing and loose in those scenes along with the scenes where Guthrie hops on the train where he’s left to his own devices and deals with whatever he has to face. By the time he’s in California, it’s a place where there’s opportunities but also hard-ship as he realizes what is going on and is able to do something about it.
When he sings songs on the radio and for shows in places where he is extremely out of place, the direction shows a sense of claustrophobia where it feels like a different film of sorts. Even as the confines of the environment of where Guthrie has to do this and that has him acting out. Notably late in the film where he brings his family from Texas to California only to abandon them again where it shows that he is definitely lost and unsure of what to do. The film’s ending is poignant for not just the decision Guthrie makes in this very beautiful environment that he doesn’t belong. It’s where Guthrie goes afterwards as with the songs he sings where each song is served as a device to tell a story. Overall, Ashby creates a very fascinating and uncompromising portrait one of American music’s great figures.
Cinematographer Haskell Wexler does exquisite work with the film‘s very beautiful cinematography to complement the landscape of the American Southwest while utilizing soft lenses to play up its beauty. Editors Robert C. Jones and Pembroke J. Herring does wonderful work with the editing to use montages for a few scenes of Woody‘s road trips as well as more straightforward cuts for the rest of the film. Production designer Michael Haller, along with set decorator James Berkley and art directors James Spencer and William Sully, does brilliant work with the set pieces from the look of the camps to the homes and places that Woody encounters.
Costume designer William Theiss does nice work with the costumes to play up the look of late 1930s period where the men wear ragged clothes and the women wear something that‘s classy but also ragged. Sound mixer Don Parker does terrific work with the sound to capture the raucous nature of the impromptu concerts and atmosphere of the camps. Music supervisor Leonard Rosenman creates a unique soundtrack filled with a lot of the folk music of the times as well as many of the songs by Woody Guthrie that is performed by David Carradine along with some additional orchestral pieces to play up orchestral versions of Guthrie’s songs.
The casting by Lynn Stalmaster is excellent as it features some memorable appearances from James Hong as a diner owner, Brion James as a pick-up truck driver at the border, M. Emmet Walsh as a driver whose wife was offended by a comment Woody makes, Bernie Kopell as Woody’s agent who tries to get him big gigs, Ji-Tu Cumbuka as a hobo that Woody meets on the train, John Lehne as the radio station manager who tries to get Woody to play it safe, Elizabeth Macey as the wife of a young migrant worker, and Randy Quaid as the young migrant worker who befriends Woody in California. Gail Strickland is terrific as Pauline who befriends Woody in California as she would become someone who would confuse Woody in his own journey.
Melinda Dillon is great in two different roles as the folk singer Memphis Sue whom Woody would duet for songs on the radio and as Woody’s first wife Mary who tries to deal with Woody’s new role and his abandonment. Ronny Cox is amazing as folk singer Ozark Bule who gets Woody to spread his music all over California through the radio only to deal with the troubles Woody has to deal with as he tries to help him to compromise. Finally, there’s David Carradine in a magnificent performance as Woody Guthrie where Carradine displays a great sense of charm and wit to the man while proving to be a very engaging singer that can bring a lot of the attitude that Guthrie is known for.
Bound for Glory is an outstanding film from Hal Ashby that features a superb performance from David Carradine as Woody Guthrie. The film is definitely one of the most compelling music bio-pics for deviating from convention and tell the story of how Guthrie became a voice for the people. It’s also a film that revels into the world of Guthrie’s music and how is still manages to connect many years since they were made. In the end, Bound for Glory is a remarkable film from Hal Ashby.
Hal Ashby Films: The Landlord - Harold and Maude - The Last Detail - Shampoo - Coming Home - Being There - Second-Hand Hearts - (Lookin’ to Get Out) - (Let’s Spend the Night Together) - (Solo Trans) - (The Slugger’s Wife) - 8 Million Ways to Die
© thevoid99 2012
