The Wicker Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see The Wicker Man (disambiguation).
| The Wicker Man | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Robin Hardy |
| Produced by | Peter Snell |
| Written by | Anthony Shaffer |
| Starring | Edward Woodward Christopher Lee Diane Cilento Ingrid Pitt Britt Ekland |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films (UK Original) Optimum Releasing (UK 2006) Warner Bros. (USA) |
| Release date(s) | June 1975 (USA) |
| Running time | 88 min.(theatrical release) 99 min. (extended version) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wicker Man is a cult 1973 British film combining thriller, horror and musical, directed by Robin Hardy and written by Anthony Shaffer. The film stars Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Britt Ekland. Paul Giovanni composed the soundtrack, a recording cited as a major influence on neofolk and psych folk artists.
In 2004 the magazine Total Film named The Wicker Man the sixth greatest British film of all time. It also won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. A remake of the film was released in 2006; see The Wicker Man (2006 film).
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Sergeant Neil Howie (Woodward), of the fictitious West Highlands Constabulary, is sent an anonymous letter recommending that he investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, on the remote Hebridean island of Summerisle. He flies out to the island and during his investigations discovers that the entire population follows a neo-pagan cult under the island's owner Lord Summerisle (Lee), believing in re-incarnation, worshipping the sun and engaging in fertility rituals and sexual magic in order to appease immanent natural forces.
Howie, an extremely devout and conservative Christian, is increasingly shocked by the islanders' behaviour; yet, he is attracted and repulsed by the alluring and sexual Willow (Ekland), the landlord's daughter. He receives no assistance in his search from the islanders, who initially deny Morrison exists and then say that she recently died. Howie persists and uncovers evidence suggesting the girl was a victim, or perhaps is soon to be a victim, of human sacrifice. Delving deeper into the island's culture, he disguises himself as Punch, a principal character of the May Day festival, to uncover the details of the ceremony. The islanders are not fooled and at the end of the festival it is revealed that the girl is alive and unhurt; the letter was part of a ploy to bring Howie to the island for him to be the sacrifice, which they believe will restore the fertility of their orchards.
As Howie is seized by the islanders, Lord Summerisle drolly notes that the sacrifice will be especially effective since the engaged Howie, like Punch, is a virgin, is simultaneously wise and a fool, comes as a King (a representative of Her Majesty's government), and comes to the place of sacrifice of his own free will. Howie admonishes Lord Summerisle that if his sacrifice does not work, the next year, the islanders will have no choice but to sacrifice their king – Lord Summerisle. Summerisle appears certain that sacrificing Howie will work. Howie is forced into the belly of a large hollow wicker statue of a man, which is set on fire. In the final shot of the film, the islanders surround the burning wicker man and sing the Middle English folk-song "Sumer Is Icumen In" while the terrified Howie shouts out Psalm 23 and implores divine vengeance on the island and its inhabitants.
[edit] Problematic release
The film was produced at a time of crisis in the British film industry. The studio in charge of production, British Lion Films, was in financial trouble and was bought out by millionaire businessman John Bentley. In order to convince the unions that he was not about to asset-strip the company, Bentley needed to get a film into production quickly. This meant that The Wicker Man, a film set during early summer, was actually filmed in October; in order to look convincing, artificial leaves and blossoms had to be glued to trees in many scenes. Christopher Lee was extremely keen to get the film made; he and others worked on the production without pay. (Those film fans who revere Lee's classic performances as Dracula--many consider him even more effective than Bela Lugosi in his impersonation of the fictional Transylvanian vampire count--will be gratified to discover that in this film at least, Lee's evil character survives and triumphs. Ingrid Pitt, who plays the librarian, is also beloved for her classic film role as Countess Dracula.) By the time of the film's completion the studio had been bought out by Michael Deeley. At a private screening, he described the film as one of the worst 10 films he'd ever seen. Cuts were made and a copy of the film was sent to American film producer Roger Corman in Hollywood to make a judgement of how to market the film in the USA. In Britain, the film was cut again and eventually released as part of a double bill (with Don't Look Now). Despite Lee's claims that the cuts had butchered the film's continuity, the film met with critical acclaim and won first prize in the 1974 Festival of Fantastic Films in Paris. Sometime thereafter, the original negatives and the only print of the first cut of the film were 'lost'.
The two-disc edition of the DVD includes two versions. The film as it was originally released is an 84-minute cut. A partially restored version (which contains scenes recovered from a videotape of the version sent to Roger Corman) runs 99 minutes.
American audiences probably know Edward Woodward best for his role as The Equalizer, a CBS series that ran 1985-1989. In Britain he is probably more familiar as the TV detective Callan, a role he played from 1967 to 1972. He is also known for portraying the title character in the 1980 Australian film Breaker Morant.
[edit] Soundtrack
| The Wicker Man | ||
| Image:Wickermansoundtrack.jpg | ||
| Soundtrack by Paul Giovanni & Magnet | ||
| Released | 1998, 2002 | |
| Recorded | 1973 | |
| Genre | Folk | |
| Length | 42:43 (1998 release),39:41 (2002 release) | |
| Label | Trunk Records (1998 release), Silva Screen (2002 release) | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
Composed, arranged and recorded by Paul Giovanni and Magnet, the soundtrack contains folk songs performed by characters in the film (including some by members of the cast). For example, Lesley Mackie, who plays the character of Daisy in the film, sings the opening song, and various others in the CD Soundtrack. The songs were arranged in such a way as to hint at a pre-Christian pagan European culture and vary between traditional songs, original Giovanni compositions and even nursery rhyme in "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". This mix of songs contributes to the film's atmosphere, contrasting rabble-rousing songs that depict the island's community like "The Landlord's Daughter" and the child-sung "Maypole" with the sinister "Fire Leap" and the erotic "Willow's Song" before culminating in the islanders' chilling rendition of the profane Middle English "Sumer Is Icumen In".
The opening music and "Corn Rigs" are arrangements of the Robert Burns ballads "The Highland Widow's Lament" and "Rigs O' Barley'", respectively. The instrumental parts of the score are based on traditional English, Scottish, and Irish tunes such as "Miri it is", the strathspey "Robertson's Rant" jig, and "Drowsy Maggie" reel. "Chop Chop" is based on the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". "Procession" is an instrumental arrangement of the Child Ballad "Willie o Winsbury".
The soundtrack is a recording cited by many as a major influence on neofolk, psych folk and even the recent New Weird America movements.[citation needed] Some of the songs have been covered by contemporary artists, such as the Mediæval Bæbes, Doves and Sneaker Pimps.
The soundtrack was unavailable until a 1998 release on Trunk Records of a mono album dubbed from the shorter original cut of the film (hence missing the song "Gently Johnny"). This was due to disappearance of master tapes (long thought buried under the British M3 motorway) and it was not until 2002 that Silva Screen Records released a stereo version taken from the original master tapes that included the songs missing from the first release.
A live performance of the soundtrack at the 30th annual Brosella Folk Festival in Brussels, on 8 July 2006, underlined the cult status of the film and its music. The organizers were looking for something to mark three decades of the festival and as such, for the final act of the evening, they assembled "The Wicker Band". This ensemble included many eminent performers from the thriving Flemish folk-rock scene, as well as the singer Jacqui McShee, founding member and continual reviver of the 1960s folk-jazz band Pentangle, and fellow ex-Pentangle member Danny Thompson. The band performed music from the film, plus a few selected songs from the folk and singer-songwriter repertoire that seemed to fit the mood before, shortly after midnight, the director's cut of the film was shown on a giant screen.
1998 Track listing:
- "The Wicker Man (Main Title)"
- "Corn Riggs"
- "Landlords Daughter"
- "Festival Photos"
- "Loving Couples"
- "Willow's Song"
- "Maypole Song"
- "Beetle"
- "Ruined Church Sequence"
- "Corn Riggs" & "Fireleap"
- "Fireleap (Reprise)"
- "Graveyard Sequence" - "Tinker Of Rye"
- "Tinker Of Rye (Part 2)"
- "Festival"
- "Masks"
- "Hobby Horse & Tarring"
- "Search 1 - Baa, Baa, Black Sheep"
- "Search 2"
- "Hand Of Glory"
- "Procession"
- "Chop Chop"
- "Horn At Cave - Cave Chase"
- "The Anointing"
- "Hum"
- "Approach"
- "Summer Is A Coming In"
- "The Wicker Man (End Title)"
2002 Track listing:
- "Corn Rigs"
- "The Landlords Daughter"
- "Gently Johnny"
- "Maypole"
- "Fire Leap"
- "The Tinker Of Rye"
- "Willow's Song"
- "Procession"
- "Chop Chop"
- "Lullaby"
- "Festival" / "Mirie It Is" / "Sumer Is A-Cumen In"
- "Opening Music" / "Loving Couples" / "The Ruined Church"
- "The Masks" / "The Hobby Horse"
- "Searching For Rowan"
- "Appointment With The Wicker Man"
- "Sunset"
- An instrumental version of "Willow's Song" is also available from the record label's website [1].
[edit] Trivia and cultural references
- The words spoken by Lord Summerisle while watching two snails mating (not in the 87 minute cut) are a quotation from Walt Whitman.
- The dying prayer of Sergeant Howie is taken from the words of Sir Walter Raleigh on the scaffold.
- The DVD commentary track states that studio executives suggested a more "upbeat" ending to the film, in which a sudden rain puts the flames of the wicker man out and spares Howie's life.
- Summerisle is fictitious, but there is a real group of Scottish islands called the Summer Isles. It might additionally be based on the island of St. Kilda, roughly 64 km northwest of the Outer Hebrides. Now administered by Harris, the last thirty-six inhabitants were evacuated, at their own request, in 1930 (due to economic hardship and other factors). Last, but not least; it could also be a reference to the Summerlands, the equivalent of heaven in Theosophical and neo-pagan belief systems.
- Scottish band Summerisle is named after the island featured in the film.
- English band Pulp released a song named "Wickerman" on their 2001 album We Love Life. It featured a sample from the film.
- In 2000, heavy metal band Iron Maiden had a top ten hit in the UK with a song entitled "The Wicker Man". Previously their lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, recorded a different song with the same title for a solo album. This song made direct references to the themes of pagan worship in the movie, whereas the Iron Maiden version references the movie far more obliquely and does not reference the film's major themes in its lyrics.
- Early 90s indie band The Mock Turtles featured a song entitled "Wicker Man" on their 1990 debut album, Turtle Soup.
- English band Candidate made a 2002 album, Nuada, inspired by The Wicker Man.
- The Wicker Man is shown in the background on TV in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave.
- In Eli Roth's Hostel, a cover of "Willow's Song" (by the Sneaker Pimps) from The Wicker Man plays during a sex scene. The "Willow's Song" scenes in The Wicker Man and Hostel share a theme of seduction and entrapment in a foreign land.
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, a festival called "Wickerman Festival" (in homage to the film) is held in the Undead capital of Undercity in the month of October.
- Siouxsie & the Banshees song "Blow the House Down" contains direct references to The Wicker Man.
- Britt Ekland offended the local citizens of the town where the film was shot when she commented to newspapers that it was the most dismal place she had ever been to in her life. Many years later Ekland stated that she was unhappy while making the film, and she apologized for her remarks.
- A body double was used for Britt Ekland in the seduction scene, without her knowledge. The double arrived by car as Ekland was driven away from the set after the day's filming. The two actresses can quite clearly be seen to be different from the way they move to the scene's music.
- In the final scene, Woodward was urinated on by the goat in the compartment above him.
- The Wicker Man is featured in Andy Riley's The Book of Bunny Suicides.
- Seafood (band) covered Willow's Song on their third full-length album, As The Cry Flows.
- Isobel Campbell covered Willow's Song on Milkwhite Sheets.
- The video to "Goodbye" by The Coral features an homage to the final scenes of "The Wicker Man".
- The Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! episode, "Season of the Skull" is a parody of "The Wicker Man".
[edit] Remake
An American remake, starring Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and directed by Neil LaBute was released on 1 September, 2006. Robin Hardy expressed concern about the remake.[2] Subsequent to its release, Hardy simply described it as a different film rather than a remake.[3] Hardy is working on a reimagining of The Wicker Man, which has previously gone under the working titles May Day and Riding the Laddie and is now referred to as Cowboys for Christ. First announced in April 2000, filming on the project has been delayed but is currently scheduled for March 2007. Hardy has already published this story as a novel. It follows two young American evangelical Christians who travel to Scotland; like Woodward's character in The Wicker Man, the two Americans are virgins who encounter a pagan laird and his followers.
[edit] Reference
Brown, Allan (2000). Inside The Wicker Man: The Morbid Ingenuities. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-283-06355-6.
[edit] External links
- The Wicker Man at the Internet Movie Database
- Wicker Men Critical comparison of the original and the remake
- The Wicker Man: The return of the Pagan World - overview of the film's usage of pagan symbolism
- The various versions of The Wicker Man — A discussion on the history of making The Wicker Man with links to pages with a blow-by-blow account of the differences in each version; also includes a description of scenes that were not included in either short or long version, or were otherwise lost.
- The Wicker Man at Rotten Tomatoes
- Interview: Director Robin Hardy talks about the film to Fortean Times
- An extensive fansite devoted to the film
- The symbolism of The Wicker Man movies
[edit] Soundtrack information
- Silva Screen release information
- Trunk Records release information
- Music site about the significance of the film and its music
- Associate Musical Director Gary Carpenter's recollections of the film
[edit] Related films
- The Wicker Man Enigma directed by David Gregory, 2001.
- Burnt Offering: The Cult of the Wicker Man directed by Andrew Abbott and Russell Leven, 2001. Cast members gather to reminisce about their experience making The Wicker Man.
[edit] Other sites
- The Wickerman Festival - Scotland's Alternative Music Event — the July celebration of cult, off the wall music and Sandi Thom that climaxes in the burning of a giant willow and straw effigy.
- Pretanic World - The Wicker Man. Celtic, Pagan and Folkloric References in The Wicker Man Movies
[edit] Further reading
- Ali Catterall and Simon Wells, Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since The Sixties (Fourth Estate, 2001) ISBN: 0007145543de:The Wicker Man
fr:The Wicker Man ko:우주의 침입자 it:The Wicker Man (film 1973) no:The Wicker Man fi:Uhrijuhla sv:Dödlig skörd
