Pros:- Young, strapping Joel McNamara half-naked for so much of the film- Rather fantastic visual effects- Beautiful lighting and composition
Prose:
I like King Vidor’s films, even with the fact that the adventure genre - at least with how it exists within wester media - is colonialist drivel, fetishizing the “uncivilized world” as something ripe for the taking, a wilderness meant to be tamed. This time around that wilderness that is meant to be tamed is a woman! How novel, I said sarcastically. At the very least, in true Vidor fashion, the film is beautiful to look at. He has always made great use of contrast in his work, and restorations of his films have always kept that spirit intact. The fetishization and exotification here comes with an eroticism that may or may not have been intended, especially with McNamara’s body on display for so much of the film. Can I look past the racism? No. I don’t have to. I’m glaring right at the damn thing. It’s right in front of me. At the very least there’s also some other stuff put in front of me too, namely great visual effects and, again, half naked Joel McNamara.
Pros:- Young, strapping Joel McNamara half-naked for so much of the film- Rather fantastic visual effects- Beautiful lighting and composition
Prose:
I like King Vidor’s films, even with the fact that the adventure genre - at least with how it exists within wester media - is colonialist drivel, fetishizing the “uncivilized world” as something ripe for the taking, a wilderness meant to be tamed. This time around that wilderness that is meant to be tamed is a woman! How novel, I said sarcastically. At the very least, in true Vidor fashion, the film is beautiful to look at. He has always made great use of contrast in his work, and restorations of his films have always kept that spirit intact. The fetishization and exotification here comes with an eroticism that may or may not have been intended, especially with McNamara’s body on display for so much of the film. Can I look past the racism? No. I don’t have to. I’m glaring right at the damn thing. It’s right in front of me. At the very least there’s also some other stuff put in front of me too, namely great visual effects and, again, half naked Joel McNamara.
