Claim to fame: The most enduring monster film is remade
“Back in 1933 when King Kong was released, it completely thrilled the audiences and to many of that generation, it was the greatest picture they had seen. The tale of a gigantic ape that falls in love with a beautiful woman became one of the most enduring monster films of all time.
For a picture made 72 years ago, starring an 18-inch model ape and decades before the advent of computer-generated special effects, it certainly is an achievement. Written and directed by adventurers-turned-filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, King Kong was shot using stop motion technique, where Kong and dinosaur miniatures were moved minutely, shot, moved again, re-shot, moved again.
A nine-year-old boy in New Zealand watched the movie on his black and white TV and became so fascinated by it that he tried to make his own version. At 12, he used his mothers donated old fur stole for Kong. The top of the Empire State building was made out of cardboard and the New York City skyline was painted on a bedsheet. When he grew up, he fulfilled his dream by doing a remake of the classic King Kong and it was released worldwide on December 15. The little boy is Peter Jackson, the celebrated directed of the multiple Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. Last year, Jackson’s The Return of the King, broke box office records and swept the board at the Oscars for the final film by winning 11 Oscars.
Understandably, for his latest project, Jackson was given complete creative control over the film. He describes his latest labour of love as a tragic love story between the ape and Ann Darrow, an actress, played by Naomi Watts. Along with co-screenwriters Fran Walsh (his wife and business partner) and Phillippa Boyens, he created a script that keeps the 1930s Depression era time frame and stays pretty closely to the original story. Jackson was paid a reported $20m for King Kong and the movie got one of the biggest film launches in US cinema history. Universal Pictures, the studio behind this $200m monster movie, are releasing it in more than 6,000 cinemas in 56 countries.
While most people who have seen the movie have loved it, some critics are claiming that the films length is too long at 3 hours and 7 minutes, it is almost twice as long as the original movie. Set in Depression-era New York City, the story remains essentially the same, with minor tinkerings. It follows a film crew’s expedition to the unexplored Skull Island, where they encounter giant gorilla Kong, dozens of dinosaurs and a possible money-making opportunity.
It takes more than an hour before the big ape makes an appearance. But when he finally does, things get rolling and never stop to take a breath. The action sequences are spectacular, and only Jackson and his home-grown army of New Zealand digital technicians can do such things. Though the special effects seem to be the main attraction of the blockbuster remake, it is very much about relationships. A lot of the themes in the film are about isolation and love, with all the characters isolated in some way.
The original King Kong starred Fay Wray as the actress Kong admires, while Jessica Lange played the part in a 1976 version. Naomi Watts stars in the latest movie and the impressive computer-generated gorilla is based upon the movements and facial expressions of actor Andy Serkis. He also played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The cast also includes Jack Black as film-maker Carl Denham and Adrien Brody as playwright Jack Driscoll.
Can a movie about an ape be exciting in this day and age? It sure can, if the rave reviews of Jackson’s King Kong are to be believed.
Name: King Kong
