I had
zero interest in watching this 5th movie that hopefully I only dreamed really existed, plus my new (2nd hand) Indy blu-ray steelbooks needed breaking in so I fancied a trilogy re-watch this weekend...
...but with an eye on analysing some of criticism I often see aimed at 'Temple of Doom' in recent years (but not at the other two movies). It's not "culturally insensitive" content I personally find offensive (within the context of good-natured fun adventures) but I was curious to explore why some do (but do so in an inconsistent way), in a "devil's advocate" type way. If some do find aspects of the movies problematic, that's okay with me too. With that said...
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
As a confirmed lifelong lover of
'Temple of Doom' I've always been a bit confused as to why some really don't like it (aside from Willie's constant screaming, I get that) and I'm always trying to figure it out.
'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is obviously just about perfect, everybody agrees on that. One of the prevalent reasons given for trashing ToD is the perceived "culturally intensive" casting choices etc. So on this re-watch of Raiders I was comparing how it fairs next to ToD, and it comes off badly. IIRC, apart from Cpt. Katanga and his first mate (who are both British actors), every other non-white speaking role is a white English guy in yellow/brownface. e.g. the scimitar wielding swordsman who Indy famously shoots, half of the Sherpas that attack Marion's bar (including
Pat Roach), the guy who doubles-crosses Indy in the prologue, the Monkey biker guy and of course Sallah is played by Welshman
John Rhys-Davies. Englishman
Alfred Molina's parents were Spanish/Italian but he ain't Peruvian. I say this not because it bothers me, they all play their roles to perfection, just to apply the same ToD metric. Of course you wouldn't and shouldn't do it today but I cut Raiders some slack for being made 42-years ago, I just don't get why ToD doesn't get the same pass.
Now onto some random reasons why I love this movie!
Michael Kahn's editing is amazing, extending some moments to extremes with cuts to multiple angles, then at other points just chopping out a whole section of the action. He knew exactly when we wanted to savour every possible second of a moment and knew when we wanted to barrel on to the next bit. Raiders might be the best edited film ever released? Correct me if I'm wrong but is Raiders the only one of the trilogy where Indy wears those awesome looking leather gloves? Is the true reason why the snake-chamber/plane-fight/truck-chase is one of the best sustained action sequences ever filmed, simply down to Indy's choice of badass hand wear? The fearful hushed tones in which Sallah and Marcus speak about the Ark are a key factor in making it such a powerful MacGuffin in our imaginations.
Denholm Elliott and
John Rhys-Davies couldn't be better, they make the long exposition scenes more exciting than the action sequences in other lesser movies. Indy exchanging a salute with Cpt. Katanga's crew as the Raider's March plays is still my favourite moment!
Love those gloves!
Harrison just looks cooler with gloves,
which is probably why teenage me sculpted gloves on to my AMT/ERTL Han Solo vinyl model kit:
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
I've always loved
'Temple of Doom' and although I've slowly come round to liking
'Raiders of the Lost Ark' more, there are still many bits in ToD that bring me utter joy. It's the relationship between Indy and Shorty that makes me smile the most and the best moment of that is when they exchange hats
"Indy you're my best friend!". The push in on
Harrison Ford, wreathed in smoke, just after the lines
"Now let's get outta here... right, ALL of us" and just before he punches a slaver guard clear across a cave, is a fantastic hero moment. The village mother's joyous crowd-pleasing reaction to Indy rescuing their kids at the end seems so genuine and heart-warming that you wonder if the production went method and abducted their real kids?
John William's scoring of those moments is magical.
On the "culturally insensitive" front (which is my theme for these three reviews), I think ToD comes off slightly better than the other two. Firstly it's stacked with quality "non-white" acting talent like
Roy Chiao as Lao Che,
Amrish Puri as Mola Ram,
Roshan Seth as the Prime Minister,
Raj Singh as the Maharaja,
David Yip as Wu Han,
D. R. Nanayakkara as the village elder and non least
Ke Huy Quan himself. They're all playing the roles (somewhat) seriously and not as iffy stereotypes like in
'The Last Crusade' (more on that in my TLC review). Yes ToD unwisely has
Pat Roach playing another ethnicity (although not a key speaking role) but so does Raiders, so that doesn't count as a criticism of ToD only. The other criticism I often see/hear is of the "snake surprise" banquet scene. To me it's always been so patently absurd and comical that I struggle to believe people could ever believe it was supposed to be confused with reality. Maybe it plays differently in places where Indian cuisine is less popular and ubiquitous than it is in the UK? Having a curry at least once a week is mandatory. I can see my nearest Indian restaurant from my window as I type this and I live outside the town. Chances are a lot of British families were eating delicious Indian food at the same time as they first watched the ToD VHS showing the banquet scene and laughing at it for what it is. A series of silly visual jokes, which surely nobody could ever possibly think
"Do they believe that's what Indian food is actually like?!?". I have some similar feelings about another oft criticised Lucasfilm adventure
'Return of the Jedi'. I'm totally okay with people not liking it but I'm not okay with people saying they don't like it for inconsistent/illogical reasons e.g.
"I like it less than the other two films because it does something that the other two films also do".
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
This seems to go down in my estimation every time I re-watch it (last time was 3-years go) but I still love it. That's a given, it's one of the most thoroughly entertaining action-comedies ever made, but lets focus on the flaws first.
Denholm Elliott's performance of the formerly serious character Marcus Brody is at least 50% less buffoonish than I remembered. In fact until he meets up with Sallah and Henry and becomes the comic relief, he's every bit as good as he is in Raiders, delivering the MacGuffin exposition with the same awe inspiring gravitas. But clownish
'The Last Crusade' Sallah is even worse than I recalled. Since I've been re-watching the trilogy with one eye on the questionable "culturally insensitive" casting decisions (which are usually only criticised in
'Temple of Doom' for some reason), Welshman
John Rhys-Davies playing Sallah as a comedy Arab stereotype in a fez (which he keeps doffing in a subservient way), who is obsessed with camels and is afraid of the "steel beast" that his "primitive backward brain" seemingly can't comprehend is indeed questionable. In Raiders, Sallah's propensity for bursting into Gilbert and Sullivan subtly suggested he studied archaeology at Oxford or Cambridge, he was a serious, intelligent character, somebody who gave Indy insight, as well as physical aid. But here it's like JRD is playing Sallah the way he played him when pretending to mug for the Germans wanting water in Raiders. You've also got English comedian
Alexei Sayle playing a Sultan, again in a fez.
To balance this review out, a random couple of great things about TLC:
Alison Doody is completely wonderful as Elsa, so every time I watch this thing I can't help but love her character at first, even knowing she's really evil and working for the "slime of humanity". After all these years, how did I not notice before that
Harrison Ford's deadpan
"Ahh Venice" as he comes out of the sewer is one of the funniest line deliveries ever. The "riding off into the sunset" ending is perfect in every way, each note of the score and frame of the editing is exactly where it needs to be. Thank heavens they didn't try to top it with any more of these movies!
Is there any better way to spend a weekend at the movies than with the Indy trilogy
and then obsessively picking them apart
.
