Fear and DesireUnderstanding our origins helps us appreciate how far we've come. Fear and Desire is an anti-war movie and the directorial debut of cinematic auteur, Stanley Kubrick. The film follows the four members of a military unit who are trapped behind enemy lines and devise a plan to escape. Led by the egocentric Lieutenant Corby (Kenneth Harp), the soldiers initially plan to escape by means of a crude raft, before a pretty native girl (Virginia Leith) stumbles upon them and is subsequently taken prisoner. Meanwhile, Sergeant Mac (Frank Silvera) resents that an enemy general (also Harp) is within striking distance, and contemplates how to assassinate him prior to their exodus.
|
|
Stanley Kubrick is widely regarded as one of the preeminent filmmakers of all time, with monumental classics ranging from the science fiction masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey to the cynical social commentary, A Clockwork Orange. Before directing his first full-length motion picture, Fear and Desire, Kubrick was a photographer for "Look" magazine, and had directed a pair of short documentaries. This film was made on a shoestring budget, financed by friends and family, and with a cast and crew of less than two dozen people. Kubrick also had to improvise when it came to some film equipment; a baby stroller acted as the first primitive example of the Steadicam that would become a cinematic hallmark of Kubrick's later films. The story goes that although Fear and Desire was met with words of encouragement from critics, Kubrick himself all but disowned the film and even went to lengths to prevent it from being shown in later years. This makes Fear and Desire something of an oddity, since Kubrick's later films show the skilled hand of a master craftsman, supremely confident in his art. But it is important to remember that no one starts out as an expert, and this is what makes this Fear and Desire so valuable for film historians. While most of Kubrick's later films would credit him at least as a co-screenwriter, Fear and Desire was written by Howard Sackler, who would also go on to write the screenplay for Kubrick's next film, Killer's Kiss. Like Killer's Kiss, the dialogue and plot of Fear and Desire has a decidedly pulpy vibe to it. Characters frequently speak to one another with forced one-liners or make bizarre comparisons that seem to resist naturalism, like when Mac describes his sense of dread as being like "kissing his great-grandmother at her funeral". Despite this, there is a persistent sense of irony in how Fear and Desire approaches moments that would otherwise be unforgivably cliche. Consider the final act where Mac assaults the general's cabin with guns blazing. This suicidal act lacks any semblance of heroism or depth, and is little more than a desperate and futile display of an unchecked ego, spurred to action by a twisted interpretation of patriotism.
Posters advertising Fear and Desire artificially played up a salaciousness barely present in the film, recalling similar marketing for Edgar G. Ulmer's quintessential B-movie noir, Detour. What no doubt enticed the advertisers to promote the film this way comes from a scene that happens after the unnamed native girl is captured by the "four desperate men". Corby makes some unsavory allusions about taking advantage of their pretty captive--who may not understand their language, but certainly understands his leering gaze--then ties her to a tree with two of the soldiers' belts, binding her arms behind her, an act that draws comparisons with S&M bondage. The lieutenant then leaves the inexperienced Private Sidney (Paul Mazursky) behind to watch her, while the others go check on their raft, after having fled from a reconnaissance plane that potentially saw them building it. Sidney is still shaken from an earlier scene in which the soldiers ambushed a pair of guards, stabbed them to death, and then stole their food and machine guns, the latter of which Corby eyes with more than a healthy interest. Sidney accuses Corby of abandoning him with the girl so that they can leave without him, and he gradually begins to break down in front of his female prisoner. Despite Sidney's protestations that he won't hurt her and that he only wants to see her smile--performing a lackluster comedy routine for the scared woman--the trauma of warfare has planted a seed of evil inside him, and he ultimately forces himself on his captive. (There is even the subtle suggestion that Corby anticipated this, and manipulated events to ensure his scheme came to fruition.) Virtually all of the four soldiers exhibit characteristics of psychological distress, from Corby's cynicism and narcissism, to Mac's feelings of inadequacy and hostility toward authority. Even the general who Mac feels compelled to kill--at great risk to himself and the rest of his team--waxes philosophic about the futility of war and comments morosely about the inevitability of death. Fear and Desire opens with a vague narration (by David Allen) about an equally vague war within a "forest" that seems to have no purpose except for its own sake. It is no coincidence that the general (and his underling) are played by Colby and the fourth man of the outfit, Private Fletcher (Steve Coit), and that the uniforms of the soldiers and the "enemy" are nondescript enough that they are virtually interchangeable. This visual motif underscores the absurdity of war and the self-destructive act that it represents.
Recommended for: Fans of a film that showcases the blossoming talent of a young filmmaker who would develop into one of the medium's finest. Fear and Desire would not be the best place to start for audiences being introduced to the works of Stanley Kubrick, but informed audiences can glean fascinating details that foreshadow his work yet to come.
Posters advertising Fear and Desire artificially played up a salaciousness barely present in the film, recalling similar marketing for Edgar G. Ulmer's quintessential B-movie noir, Detour. What no doubt enticed the advertisers to promote the film this way comes from a scene that happens after the unnamed native girl is captured by the "four desperate men". Corby makes some unsavory allusions about taking advantage of their pretty captive--who may not understand their language, but certainly understands his leering gaze--then ties her to a tree with two of the soldiers' belts, binding her arms behind her, an act that draws comparisons with S&M bondage. The lieutenant then leaves the inexperienced Private Sidney (Paul Mazursky) behind to watch her, while the others go check on their raft, after having fled from a reconnaissance plane that potentially saw them building it. Sidney is still shaken from an earlier scene in which the soldiers ambushed a pair of guards, stabbed them to death, and then stole their food and machine guns, the latter of which Corby eyes with more than a healthy interest. Sidney accuses Corby of abandoning him with the girl so that they can leave without him, and he gradually begins to break down in front of his female prisoner. Despite Sidney's protestations that he won't hurt her and that he only wants to see her smile--performing a lackluster comedy routine for the scared woman--the trauma of warfare has planted a seed of evil inside him, and he ultimately forces himself on his captive. (There is even the subtle suggestion that Corby anticipated this, and manipulated events to ensure his scheme came to fruition.) Virtually all of the four soldiers exhibit characteristics of psychological distress, from Corby's cynicism and narcissism, to Mac's feelings of inadequacy and hostility toward authority. Even the general who Mac feels compelled to kill--at great risk to himself and the rest of his team--waxes philosophic about the futility of war and comments morosely about the inevitability of death. Fear and Desire opens with a vague narration (by David Allen) about an equally vague war within a "forest" that seems to have no purpose except for its own sake. It is no coincidence that the general (and his underling) are played by Colby and the fourth man of the outfit, Private Fletcher (Steve Coit), and that the uniforms of the soldiers and the "enemy" are nondescript enough that they are virtually interchangeable. This visual motif underscores the absurdity of war and the self-destructive act that it represents.
Recommended for: Fans of a film that showcases the blossoming talent of a young filmmaker who would develop into one of the medium's finest. Fear and Desire would not be the best place to start for audiences being introduced to the works of Stanley Kubrick, but informed audiences can glean fascinating details that foreshadow his work yet to come.