Planet of the Apes (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) -
Seven Samurai (dir. Akira Kurasawa, 1954)
"Following is the first part of an essay I'll be writing in short segments
concerning Planet of the Apes, avant-garde theatre etc. There are four nice
stills here that are obvious juxtapositions showing the influence of
Kurosawa. Your welcome to use this on Cabinessense. I will submit more
segments with images as I finish them."
Towards an Ape Theatre (Part 1)
The notion of an operatic version of Planet of the Apes for the live stage (once briefly realized on an episode of The Simpsons) is an increasingly less laughable notion. Sci-Fi and the operatic stage are hardly incompatible. The recent interest in directing live opera by the likes of David Cronenburg and Woody Allen suggests that Hollywood’s best are well aware of cinema’s many limitations. (Cronenburg’s opera version of The Fly probably would have been a smash hit had the music been better) In the case of Planet of the Apes all the essential components are present. Something all installments of the Planet of the Apes films share (including the new Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is intensity of human drama matched with total artifice. And though all the films have utilized the state of the art special effects of their day, they are all greatly indebted to both the live theatre tradition and foreign cinema.
The first Planet of the Apes directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans (released by 20th Century Fox in 1968) was based on a screen play by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling which was adapted from the novel Les Planete des Singes by Pierre Boulle, first published in France in 1963. The film borrows heavily from cinematic history and most prominently from the samurai films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa–revealed in a lot of the costuming, action and drama. The fashion design of Rudi Gernrich, the architecture of Le Corbusier and a whole lot of modern art also inspired the sets and costuming. The resulting environment sits outside of time and remains unique. The shock of experiencing that strange place, combined with Kurosowan cinematics and original score by Jerry Goldsmith is a power combination unique to this first of the series.
The same year that Planet of the Apes was released also saw the publication of the book Towards a Poor Theatre by Polish Laboratory Theatre founder Jerzy Growtowski. Something of a manifesto, the book outlines the radical techniques of a theatre with roots in Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. Growtowski’s is theatre stripped bare–not just of set and costumes, but of ego. (He’s the guru that Andre Gregory is rambling on about to Wallace Shawn in the film My Dinner with Andre.) That I will attempt to draw parallels between The Poor Theatre and a film that won an Academy Award for special effects might be ironic, but the reasoning is clear–put a man in an ape suit and he will say a lot about his human nature.
- Sidral Mundet
Throne of Blood (dir. Akira Kurasawa, 1957)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (dir. Ted Post, 1970)
Other works by Mundet
Planet of the Apes (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) -
Seven Samurai (dir. Akira Kurasawa, 1954)
"Following is the first part of an essay I'll be writing in short segments
concerning Planet of the Apes, avant-garde theatre etc. There are four nice
stills here that are obvious juxtapositions showing the influence of
Kurosawa. Your welcome to use this on Cabinessense. I will submit more
segments with images as I finish them."
Towards an Ape Theatre (Part 1)
The notion of an operatic version of Planet of the Apes for the live stage (once briefly realized on an episode of The Simpsons) is an increasingly less laughable notion. Sci-Fi and the operatic stage are hardly incompatible. The recent interest in directing live opera by the likes of David Cronenburg and Woody Allen suggests that Hollywood’s best are well aware of cinema’s many limitations. (Cronenburg’s opera version of The Fly probably would have been a smash hit had the music been better) In the case of Planet of the Apes all the essential components are present. Something all installments of the Planet of the Apes films share (including the new Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is intensity of human drama matched with total artifice. And though all the films have utilized the state of the art special effects of their day, they are all greatly indebted to both the live theatre tradition and foreign cinema.
The first Planet of the Apes directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans (released by 20th Century Fox in 1968) was based on a screen play by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling which was adapted from the novel Les Planete des Singes by Pierre Boulle, first published in France in 1963. The film borrows heavily from cinematic history and most prominently from the samurai films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa–revealed in a lot of the costuming, action and drama. The fashion design of Rudi Gernrich, the architecture of Le Corbusier and a whole lot of modern art also inspired the sets and costuming. The resulting environment sits outside of time and remains unique. The shock of experiencing that strange place, combined with Kurosowan cinematics and original score by Jerry Goldsmith is a power combination unique to this first of the series.
The same year that Planet of the Apes was released also saw the publication of the book Towards a Poor Theatre by Polish Laboratory Theatre founder Jerzy Growtowski. Something of a manifesto, the book outlines the radical techniques of a theatre with roots in Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. Growtowski’s is theatre stripped bare–not just of set and costumes, but of ego. (He’s the guru that Andre Gregory is rambling on about to Wallace Shawn in the film My Dinner with Andre.) That I will attempt to draw parallels between The Poor Theatre and a film that won an Academy Award for special effects might be ironic, but the reasoning is clear–put a man in an ape suit and he will say a lot about his human nature.
- Sidral Mundet
Throne of Blood (dir. Akira Kurasawa, 1957)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (dir. Ted Post, 1970)
Other works by Mundet
