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 The Greatest Movie Ever Made |
 Stuff of Myth and Legend . . .
There's a simple reason that King Kong is one of the greatest stories and films ever created , it is epic mythology at its best ; sharing company of such classics as The Iliad and The Odyssey , Beowulf and Le Morte d'Arthur . While some might find it odd that the story of a Giant Gorilla falling in love with a white woman included with such literary icons , regardless of the fantastic nature of the key player what might seem at first glance as a simple adventure story , contained within its framework is a study of the human condition that enables it to transcend its sensational nature . The lives of the men responsible , Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack , whose experiences in World War I , The Bolshevik Revolution , and filmaking adventures in the wilder places of the world at that time provided experience hard to match in todays context . Like Ian Fleming , their everyday lives were the stuff of adventure stories and inevitably the world view these men gained through their lives were bound to find expression in their creative endeavors . It was purely the whim of fate that these life experiences would somehow coalesce and find a perfect outlet in the story of King Kong . Love Is Grand , Especially When Tragic  Perhaps due to the intangibility of that emotion we humans have termed " love " , an emotion that holds such appeal , with which we place so much importance , so much need to have within our lives and its difficulty to actually achieve and nurture ; it might come as no surprise that we have such a morbid fascination with love that is doomed . Is it our own bitterness or lack of that emotion within us that makes us revel in the suffering of others in their pursuit of that feeling ? That is a question for philosophers and definitely one posed within the subtext of King Kong . Suredly it must be an absurd notion that a giant ape might find love within its beastial soul for a diminuative human woman . Unfortunately , there is no absurdity in feelings of love that are not reciprocated , such is the tragedy of Kong . This is the magic of mythology and allegory of which the silver screen has fed since its inception as entertainment and medium of communication of ideas . In Kong , the male ideal is personified in both the character of Jack Driscoll and in that of Kong himself . Both characters , while distinctly different in being , possess the attributes that symbolize what it means to be male : strength , intelligence , virility , vulnerability and capable providers . Depending on your personal ability to project your own self concept determines which character you can identify with ; strangely , most seem to identify most with that of King Kong himself . Could this be due to the fact that we tend to identify with whom we consider the most vital character ? Or is it because , like Kong , we are trapped by the limitations of who we are ? The female ideal is of course that of Ann Darrow , arguably what might be a " male " ideal being beautiful , vulnerable and nurturing , but obviously possessing the attributes most women would most likely aspire to : she's smart , capable and certainly not " helpless " . Considering the attributes women seek in a mate , both Driscoll and Kong possess these in abundance and it is only the respective environments that separate their status . On Skull Island , Kong is King and Jack Driscoll is at the bottom of the food chain , while in the civilized world , their roles are reversed . For the character of Ann Darrow , the choice of mates must be determined by her environment , the winner being the male most likely to insure her survival and prosperity . On Skull Island , Ann is compelled to submit to Kong's advances , not because of love , but because he is her key to staying alive . The concept of the emotional bonding between Ann and Kong is purely subjective , for in both the original story and the original film , Ann's feelings about Kong are quite plain : Kong is A Beast! This fact may be why King Kong has found its way into our subconscious , like Kong most of us have at one time or another , felt a love that was irreconcilable . It may also explain why , over the years , the story of KING KONG has evolved , into a story that takes the love of Kong for his bride into a mutually felt , though unrequited love . Is it our own hope for the power of unconditional love to elevate itself beyond the physical shells of mortal existance to that of the immortal soul , and that in this way , a giant ape and tiny human might indeed realize that each share the same needs .  It's hard to place the beginnings of this concept of shared love between Kong and Ann Darrow , it sure did not make itself apparent in the original 1933 film and the only mention in the original story appeared in the lair sequence when Ann , confronted by the water monster , realized that her only hope of survival lay in her submission to Kong as a protector . Throughout both novel and film , the only love story that was present was that of Jack Driscoll and Ann , the relationship between Kong and Ann can only be described as rape . The first realized expression of emotional bonding between Ann and Kong might be attributed to the Dino De Laurentiis bastardization , though the character of Ann was transformed into Dwan , and due more to the talents of Jessica Lange than any actual plotline . I would hazard a guess , that the emotional relationship between the two really grew from the audience . Consider the drama of the situation , Kong sacrifices himself to protect his bride , certainly an act that anyone in love would be willing to make . The sheer tragedy of that act , struck a chord in the viewer , for it was a selfless act , surely Ann must have had some feeling for Kong after he had done this , wouldn't she ? We humans tend to fight with great zeal against the concept of death without meaning , and in King Kong , his death is indeed a vain one . Torn from his world by greed and objectified , he does battle with the symbols of mankind's dominion for the purest of reasons , and in our eyes elevates himself beyond a simple monster into a hero . Heroes NEVER die in vain ! That's The Magic of The Movies!  The fact that a simple adventure film , created for the the sole reason, as Merian Cooper stated " To Thrill Myself " , could grow beyond its concept into cinema legend , is ample proof of the power of the silver screen to bring our dreams to life . At its core , no more than escapist fantasy pitting man against fantastic beasts from before recorded time , it's amazing that King Kong has come to symbolize so much for so many , and has served to inspire countless imitations and a few remakes . At its surface no more than what it is , for some reason its imagery , context and story all contribute to inspiring within the audience a search for deeper answers . King Kong has indeed become more than the sum of its parts , and despite the advances in technology and the inclusion of subtle plot devices to enrich the tale over the long decades since the release of the original , none of the later incarnations of the filmstory come close to matching the power and drama of the ONE , the ONLY . . . The Eighth Wonder of the World : KING KONG !  I was fairly pleased to discover that Peter Jackson was going to remake King Kong , not so much because I thought he'd be able to out-do the original , but because he'd be using the latest technologies to bring the story to life once again . I was relieved to learn that it was intention to stay true to the original as far as keeping it within the timeline of the 1930's and after his " Lord Of The Rings " I was hopeful that he would at least do the film justice unlike the horrible De Laurentiis version from the seventies . While the new Kong succeeds as a film , it by no means comes close to capturing the magic of the original . It does , however , with the use of computer generated imagery , come close to delivering that same awe and wonder the audience of 1933 must have felt when King Kong was first unleashed upon the movie screens of America .  One of the missing elements in Jackson's remake when compared to the original film , is fun . No more so apparent than in the characterization of filmaker Carl Denham . Compared to Robert Armstrong's light-hearted maverick , Jack Black's heartless portrayal of a greedy self-involved promoter is a real let down . While both versions of the characters are involved in achieving the same goal , there is an innocence contained in Armstrong's " Denham " that is absent in Black's . Jack Black certainly delivers a stellar performance , but through the film , the audience grows to hate the character and his all-consuming need to destroy everything in his way to achieve that goal . Whereas Armstrong's portrayal has many redeeming qualities , Black's has none and a great character is transformed into a true villain rather than a forgiveable misguided soul . What The Heck's Wrong With Tough Guys !?!  Another disappointment is the transformation of Jack Driscoll from stalwart manly man to wimpy sensitive girly man . Not to say I didn't think that Adrien Brody was a likeable character , his Jack Driscoll was fine for what he was . I just did not understand why there was a need to alter the character so drastically . The character of Driscoll from the original version was most closely depicted in this latest version by Evan Parke's First Mate Hayes . Of course , being set in the 1930's , we certainly couldn't have an interacial love story going on , that would have eclipsed the bestiality love story we were involved with . Not that I think the film would have suffered from such an idea , but it certainly would have offered subplots that were unncecessary in the telling of the story . As it remains , the change of the Driscoll character's persona is one that begs the question , WHY ?  They Did Get One Character Right !
King Kong could not possibly work without the right leading lady . That is really the only aspect of Dino's re-make that was sufferable , Jessica Lange was fantastic despite the vacuous nature of her role as Kong's bride . That concession aside , when considering King Kong , the character of Ann Darrow is pivotal , after all , this is a woman who possesses some intangible quality capable of turning a gigantic and savage beast into a docile creature . In the original , it was enough for Ann to be blonde , ( they are pretty scarce on Skull Island ) ; but as the story of Kong has evolved , so must the heroine . Fay Wray had it easy , all she had to do was scream well and look good , which she did quite admirably on both counts , despite the shooting conditions . The modern version of Ann had a much more difficult job , seeing that she needed to be able to fulfill the psychological expectations that have grown up around the story of King Kong . Naomi Watts did a bang on job , bringing both strength , humor and believability to an unbelievable story . Not quite the 1930's screen siren displayed so well by Fay , but a good modern concept . Paying Respect to Its Roots  There are a great many instances in Jackson's Kong that pay homage to the original . At times , when filmakers do such things , they tend to be silly within the context of the motion picture , but Jackson very creatively incorporates them so that they become a treat for the audience as well as a bit of comic relief .  This latest version of Kong does an admirable job at updating the original while remaining true to the intent . The action sequences within King Kong have indeed become cultural icons so it is a daunting task to bring them to life once again with the same visceral intensity so ably captured by Willis O'brien in the original film . The Brontosaurus sequence is one such that not only fulfills the vision of the original but turns it up a notch for the modern audience , as does the long excised scene within " the pit " after Kong dumps the sailors from the log bridge . The latter , however , does tend to get a bit over done and depressing . That most crucial of scenes , where Kong battles the T-Rex , is unfortunately so overblown , it fails to live up to the dramatic intensity of the original . It runs far too long and is outrageously over matched . Pitting Kong against 4 T-Rex-styled predators extends the disbelief factor past its breaking point , even for Kong ; and the sequence within the chasm where the combatants are tangled up in vines is reminiscent of the worst Spielbergian dramatic extensions . It starts well and ends well , with a lot of " stupid " in between .   No other scene in the history of film quite captures the iconography of Kong's fateful swan song atop the Empire State building . It is very apparent , that Peter Jackson considered this particular sequence to be the most important of the film , and indeed , in terms of matching the original this is what we've been waiting for . All our hopes and dreams for the characters of Ann and Kong come to term here , and inevitably the outcome is exactly what has become part of our pop culture consciousness . I can't think of any film where the arrival of the perceived villains is so deserving of a cacophany of hateful boos and hisses . Just as in the original , Kong stands in defiance of mankind's supremacy , fighting to protect the one he loves . Of course today's new-age version has Kong's love interest reciprocating that defense , despite her complete inadequacy to do so . At least Ann tries . Kong's death is not so melodramatic as in the original , nor as violent as in the De Laurentiis version , but it's a tear jerker nonetheless . Jackson successfully makes the audience regret being a member of the human race , and yearning that somehow , things might have had a different outcome . Then again , King Kong would not be the film that it is , otherwise . Dedicated to the memory of a genuine King Kong fan , Dennis Mize ; whom I hope would have enjoyed this section of Geeb-O-Rama . | Matinee at the Bijou | It Came From Holly( LONG )wood! | The Boob Tube | Galaxy International | Synn's Silva Screen | UltraViolet | King Kong | Hollywood Is Foo | | Return Home | Updates | The Archive | Gorby Site Map | Geeb-O-Rama's Model Workshop | Geeb's Toy Box | Geeb-O-Rama Goodies | Movie Madness | World Of The Bizarre | Cool Beans | |
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