1. Fight! Mighty Jack. (1968) Tsuburaya Productions
During a pivotal scene in the new film Rise of the Planet of the Apes a woman walking her dog asks a critical question concerning the film’s lead character- “ Is that a chimpanzee? “
I asked myself the same thing. So remarkable are the special effects that one could easily see this as the story of a very “special” ape. Thankfully, Rise of the Planet of the Apes revels in the fact that an ape suit is an ape suit, no matter how convincing.
Screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver successfully broke away from both the Kurowsawan aspect of the earlier films as well as the Pierre Boule novel. They substituted a model based on monster movies of the 1920’s. This was also true of 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, from which much of the new film was adapted. But there is also a resemblance in outline to A Blind Bargain (1922), a lost film that starred Lon Chaney. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells and its first film adaptation, The Island of Lost Souls (1933) is also an important precedent. Rise does maintain a connection to the original Planet of the Apes film through countless inversions of the 1968 script. A lot of this comes in the form of borrowed dialogue that bogs the new film down a bit. But we also have the characters of Will (James Franco) and Caroline (Frieda Pinto), a scientist couple clearly based on Cornelius and Zira. The character of Caesar (Andy Serkis) is an inversion of Charlton Heston’s Taylor.
Much of the enthusiasm for this new film has been directed toward the actor Andy Serkis. The unique skill of this actor is in his ability to physically act a part that will later be “costumed” in months of postproduction. He has done this previously as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-3) and as the gorilla King Kong (2005). His turn as the chimp Caesar, a lead role that is mute, reminds us of the genius of Lon Chaney and his physical and highly emotive performance technique. To witness a return to this type of acting in the form of a “classic” monster movie is proving to be satisfying to a multitude of filmgoers.
2. Lon Chaney, A Blind Bargain (1922) Goldwyn
Opera Monstro (Part 5a)
“Recitar....Vesti la Giubba!” “ To Perform......Put On The Costume!” Famous lines from the opera Pagliacci, the story of the jealous actor Canio whose role as the clown Pagliaccio ends in tragedy. Many of the characters Hollywood put on screen, especially in the early days of the monster movie (around 1920) appear to be derived from opera. At that time, and continuing into the 1950’s, opera and its world famous tenors and sopranos were at the heart of American popular culture. The Italian born tenor Enrico Caruso was certainly one of opera’s best known and richest personalities. The role of Canio from Pagliacci was one of his signatures, and his 1907 recording of the aria Vesti la Giubba is one of the most recognizable recordings of all time. The “ape suit” tradition with roots in vaudeville, cabaret and Hollywood’s original King Kong, appears connected to the tragic clown Pagliaccio. Even as man/beast character concepts grew highly sophisticated in Hollywood, the spirit of the murderous and regretful Pagliaccio is there. The production of The Fly in 2008 for the opera stage helped established the increasingly clear connection between opera and the “classic” monster movie. That production also pointed to a problem of cultural reception that opera has been suffering under for some time. How opera came to be viewed as the domain of moneyed elites is a tragic story in itself. But cultural disenfranchisement has always been one of the evils of pop culture. Mention the names Mario Lanza or Grace Moore to a group of people over 75 and my point mat become very clear. Seen through that glass, the monster in the opera house takes on all sorts of symbolic meaning.
3. Enrico Caruso in Pagliacci
In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar’s good deed gone wrong results in tragic theatre that is highly operatic in style. Made all the more so by the performances of Andy Serkis and John Lithgow. Lithgow’s performance as Charles Rodman also merit’s special attention. His highly theatrical style is perfectly tuned to the drama. Imbibed with the same drugs that altered Caesar’s destiny, the bond between the two highlights their alienation from the world around. Lithgow’s is a performance that appears driven by the understanding that the drama is totally human. It is important to recognize that Andy Serkis was not “in ape suit” during the filming. This may account for the less engaging performances of some of the other players–James Franco and Freida Pinto in particular. (Charlton Heston was at a tremendous advantage in this regard as he knew what he was dealing with both conceptually and in real time). Rise of the Planet of the Apes certainly enhances one’s view of the 1968 film, which at moments looks like film documentation of “live” art, both closer to the stage and to the bone.
4. Andy Serkis, Frieda Pinto, James Franco, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 20th Century Fox
Epilogue
So is Ape Theatre simply performance in an ape suit? On one level yes, but I’ve been willing to look further in order to substantiate the theory that man is incapable of enacting simian life in dramatic form. We only mimic the ape’s behavior in a “human see, human do” method. Worse yet is the grafting of our own emotions and values onto them. Apes are exploited by man for scientific research, for entertainment purposes and in some cultures for food. But what of artistic exploitation–of involving their likenesses, their visible traits and tendencies in our own rituals, ones for which they have no need or may even find offensive?
The Independent Shakespeare Company performed Hamlet one August night, under the stars and to 1400 onlookers at Griffith Park’s Old Zoo grounds. Behind the audience were architectural curiosities from a bygone era– the abandoned grottos and iron bars that once housed wild beasts. While coyotes around us howled, as if ensnared by the drama onstage, I knew that come daybreak, another performance would begin very close by. I saw it once. It’s only a short walk from the old grottos to the new, and to a stage of a different type. You might call this place theatre’s own Forbidden Zone. Not that it’s all horrible, it ‘s just that in theatrical terms, from an artistic standpoint …well Dr. Zaius said it best. ……..”you may not like what you find”.
Feeding time brings many onlookers. The chimpanzees are orderly and calm during this hour, unlike the big cats who, in the presence of raw meat quickly remind us what they are made of. The chimp diet is comprised of the largest onions, carrots and cabbages (probably organic) that I’ve ever seen. One by one they pick from the cornucopia, always at ease. They then look for a good seat. Once they’ve settled their swollen and chaffed rear ends some might begin to “play” with the food. One clutches an enormous carrot, sets his fist atop his head (producing something like an orange unicorn horn) and remains in this pose for some time while staring at the glass divide. Is it his own reflection he’s watching…. or is it us? We’re eating too, but the food on our side is different–cotton candy, nachos, ice cream. Cruel Theatre once again, and I feel Taylor’s famous last words well up inside me,
( …..”damn you all to hell!”) Layers are peeled from an onion, wrappers from a candy bar…….more eating…….more watching. I remain calm, but I’m bothered by the diet…. watching them get stronger, smarter, us weaker, stupider. When one chimp picks up a fresh burlap sack by it’s corners, swings it over his shoulder and lets it rest perfectly symmetrical and cape-like on his back, he may as well have said the words aloud… “To Perform…. Put On The Costume!”
Sidral Mundet 2011
Dedicated to Harold Garfinkel
Many thanks to Cabinessence and Transfixion
other works and parts 1-4 by Mundet, here...