Catch Us If You Can (1965)
Catch Us If You Can is a very curious cinematic vehicle for the popular sixties band, The Dave Clark Five. At first glance, especially during the opening credits, it comes across as a zany comedy in a similar idiom to The Beatles’ A Hards Days Night. However, within 15 minutes the plot takes an unexpected turn and the film becomes a rather well observed analysis of sixties youth marketing and the perennial subject of “the price of fame”. The songs are not played by the band on screen but are instead just part of the overall musical soundtrack. It’s a very different approach but that seems to be the defining quality of the film. It is not as expected, which is both its primary virtue and its main failing. The fact that this film was released under the title of Having a Wild Weekend just makes things more confusing. It is certainly not for everyone but that can be said about many of the films directed by John Boorman. Catch Us If You Can marks his cinematic debut.
Classic Movie Themes: Excalibur (1981)
Excalibur (1981) is a visually arresting retelling of the Arthurian legend. Filmed at a time when studios where happy to finance large budget fantasy films, John Boormans movie is not your typical sword and sorcery fodder. It’s an adult adaptation of Mallory's Morte' D'arthur, filled with scenes of sex and violence, driven by some eclectic and eccentric performances from the ensemble British cast. The film boasts a handsome production design with a very stylised aesthetic. The Irish locations are lush and verdant. This is not intended to be a historically accurate portrayal of the source text but more of a visual homage. Excalibur evokes both the mythic power of Tolkien and the operatic splendour of Wagner. Boorman had tried to adapt The Lord of the Rings a decade earlier.
The Lord of the Rings - The John Boorman Adaptation
n 1969 JRR Tolkien finally sold the film and merchandising rights of The Lord of the Rings to United Artists for approximately £104,000. A year later the studio asked director John Boorman if he could make the books into a viable film. Boorman, an established director with a track record of being experimental, set about developing a screenplay with his long term collaborator, Rospo Pallenberg. What emerged was a one hundred and fifty minute script and possibly the most radical adaptation of Tolkien's work. Some of the ideas and concepts it contained were extremely innovative but others where simply too radical a divergence from the source text. I’ve collated a few of these for your consideration. If you are familiar with Boorman's 1973 film Zardoz, then you will note both similarities and re-occurring themes.