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Today, 07 November 2009

› Malema’s life in danger

› Leicester sting Bok Bs

› Eskom chair faces the axe

› Nedbank, ANCYL make up

› Hofmeyr addresses Joost

Yesterday, 06 November 2009

› ANCYL, BMF back Maroga

› Vanilla Ice, ice baby?

› Eskom boss 'slaughtered'

› I have fallen hard - Joost

› Eskom boss 'pushed'

Ever studied someone watching a wildlife programme? Especially the kind where a leopard nails a deadringer for Bambi’s mother? Better yet — where a leopard nails an injured deadringer for Bambi’s mother with no hope of outrunning the predator. Or better still: an injured Bambi’s mom with no hope of outrunning the predator AND with baby Bambi looking helplessly on!

“Aw, isn’t nature cruel?” — there can be fewer statements more ironic.

Sure watching a snake wolf down a mouse can hardly be called light entertainment, but I find it amazing that we see the brutality of nature in a documentary, but not in ourselves. Let’s face it, at best we’re a bloody daft bunch — at worst, we’re the most misguided form of ignorant bastards.

Don’t panic — I’m not about to run off and join Greenpeace, but we can tell a lot about ourselves from animals. Author Richard Adams saw this and took it a step further in 'Watership Down', the classic tale about bunnies on the run.

In 1978 director Martin Rosen brought the story of Fiver, Bigwig and Hazel to the screen in his animated rendering of the novel — a road movie for the furry buggers.

This bloody, chilling, touching and memorable film captures all of the essential themes in Adams’ book but without the depth of metaphor.

In all honesty it’s a film that could just as easily have featured Mad Max. It has sex, violence, action, drama and villains.

The story revolves around renegade rabbits who leave their warren on the advice of a runt called Fiver. He sees things — yes, even dead people.

Together they seek out a new place away from the danger that Fiver senses. Along the way they encounter death, salvation and Art Garfunkel — that would scare the shit out of anyone!

Andrew's obsession with cult films began at midnight at the age of ten, and involved a bowl of popcorn, an old television set and John Carpenter's Halloween. Little has changed since then, besides age, the popcorn and the fact that he can now climb dark stairwells after a horror movie by himself. Andrew is a published writer of horror fiction, a screenwriter and a freelance journalist. His time is spent largely in pursuit of a truly original horror film. Failing that he has threatened to make his own.

During the creation myth at the beginning, Rosen gives us a view of the rabbits that’s not entirely divorced from the God-like ethos pulsing between the lines of Peter Shaffer’s play 'Equus' — ‘cept no horses get blinded in this one.

I said the film lacks the depth of the novel and it’s true — although this said, you’ll see the best and worst of humanity in the characters, from the delusional optimist to the jaded ‘over my dead body’ cynic. In this film ‘over my dead body’ is a saying taken way too literally.

Like 'Animal Farm', watching 'Watership Down' is like watching human society reflected off the greasy surface of a cesspool. It’s unsentimental, isn’t always pretty but strangely compelling.

Unfortunately it hasn’t really aged well. Like Jimmy T. Murakami’s ironic 'When the Wind Blows', 'Watership Down' was made in 1978, a time when people were peering through the bleary eyes of a decade of indulgence and realising that there were causes worth fighting for — if for no other reason than every other bastard was doing it. From nuclear disarmament to vivisection and coal miners, there was something to be seen to be pissed off about.

When the film was released, The Sex Pistols were in full agonised and furious voice and Britain was in the throes of a mini-revolution.

What 'Watership Down' had to say then was probably much stronger than today.

Still, while the world looked to the US in the fifties and sixties for guidance, during the 70s and 80s Britain was the country with the most salient points to make.

'Watership Down' reflects this and is all the more ironic for its pristine watercolour backgrounds and haunting musical score.

Still it has its problems — and while I feel like I’m kicking a small disabled child by saying this, the film doesn’t merge very well between scenes. At times it seems too episodic and dependent on whether you’ve read the book or not.

But at the end of the day, 'Watership Down' arrived at a time when Disney had fast run out of ideas and it remains a milestone in its genre.

Basically, 'Watership Down' is to Disney what Pink Floyd is to a band like the Backstreet Boys — let’s face it, a fart from David Gilmour is infinitely more musical than anything they could ever produce.

It’s the difference between the sublime and the ridiculous.

Yeah I’m a snob — next question…

‘Til next week...

‘Watership Down’ is available from THE VIDEO SHOP 13 North Park Centre, 7th Avenue, Parktown North - Tel: 011 788 8613. Email: tebaldi@mweb.co.za. THE VIDEO SHOP is Cult de Sac’s video outlet of choice.

Feel free to disagree with all of the above and contact me with ideas, suggestions and abuse. I’m open to all three, although I do prefer qualified abuse.