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The haircut says the far future, but
the headphones date this at the time
of Grandmaster Flash. |
"THX 1138, a chilling exploration of the future, is also a compelling examination of the present. Robert Duvall stars as the title character, a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government. THX makes a harrowing attempt to escape from a world where thoughts are controlled, freedom is an impossibility, and love is the ultimate crime." This synopsis on the back of the DVD give a very brief but to the point outline of what this film is about, however let’s take a closer look shall we?
DVDs are the director’s best friend, with extended editions, documentaries, and commentaries a director can reveal how insightful, visionary, ironic and totally clever they really are. THX 1138: The George Lucas Director’s Cut (as it so proudly proclaims on the front cover) is a perfect example, the two DVDs are filled with extras defending Lucas’ much-maligned piece of work. Finally, the director gets to set the record straight on THX’s shabby initial treatment by Warner Brothers and how misunderstood the film was upon its release. On top of this, many of the directors of the seventies get together to wax lyrical in a documentary on Coppola’s failed production company, American Zoetrope (of which, THX 1138 was its first film). It feels like a whitewash of the same story covered in Peter Biskind’s book, Easy Riders and Raging Bulls, and therefore not nearly as salacious or fun.
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Tor Johnson at last found a place to
call home. |
THX 1138 is a visually and aurally exciting, though ultimately distancing, experiment in fractured storytelling. The emphasis on elliptical editing, and minimal dialogue, means we never get involved in the story: we watch Robert Duvall’s THX as if he’s a frog in a jar. With Walter Murch’s sound design providing an endless layer of meaningless technocratic chatter you’d have to be a veritable moron not to recognise that THX is a parable about the rise of sterile consumerism and faceless bureaucracy in modern life. Which is why it’s more than a bit annoying when Lucas uses every breath of his DVD commentary to explain the parable, and how audiences at the time "didn’t get it". Lucas was only 25 when he made THX 1138 and he still sounds like a bitter arts student justifying his pretensions. His tortured whine explains that audiences didn’t recognise the humour, the "many ironic juxtapositions, especially featuring the droids".
Back to the film for a moment, the director’s cut includes some polished scenes and a few minor additions that Lucas put back in, now that he has total control of his films. As with the special editions of Star Wars the effects have been given a 21st century rejuvenation, if you will. Although the new effects stick out like a sore thumb, and, unlike his changes in Star Wars, these scenes actually add to the empty and hollowed feeling the director was aiming for, in a way expanding the world in which THX lives.
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Few people know this, but the motor
bike didn't exist before George Lucas
invented it for this scene. |
Fans of Lucas will most certainly like to see the director’s beginnings. There are certainly a lot of concepts he used in THX 1138 that were expanded on in Star Wars, a prime example is the sound design. The film holds up fairly well today and is an interesting peek into the "once upon a time" creative life of one of today’s biggest independent film makers.
At one point, in the making of documentary, Lucas explains that THX 1138, American Graffiti, and Star Wars are all the same story - a man trapped who must will himself to escape. Lucas obviously wishes to be taken seriously as an auteur, a director with a consistent body of work. But there’s a big difference in tone in the three films: THX 1138 is cold and critical, American Graffiti is nostalgic, and, ironically, the Star Wars franchise comes full circle to become part of the machinery Lucas criticises. For all his perception, this irony seems lost on Lucas.
