FLUXEUROPA: THE WICKER MAN

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THE WICKER MAN (1973)

Dir: Robin Hardy

Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp etc.

Rowan, a young girl, is missing from her home on Summerisle, an isolated island off the Scottish coast famed for its tasty apples. Sgt Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is anonymously 'tipped-off' about this dastardly deed and, as an agent of the mainland police, goes to investigate with all the vim and vigor his stiff protestant work ethic will supply.

As he comes ashore this verdant isle everyone he speaks to, including the girl's mother, denies the girl's existence. To add to his frustration the strange behavior and customs of Summerisle begin to put our poor hero in sad straits - it seems these people are pagans! All the pagan ritual and singing...it's enough to drive a good christian mad!

Welcome to the 1973 movie The Wicker Man. Although the plot is wonderful and great fun, talking about it is like trying to describe a popsicle while only mentioning the stick. The film primarily uses its mystery-plot as a device to present the filmaker's utopian vision. The real meat of the movie is the island's inhabitants and their heathen ways. Even though the paganism is a somewhat innocent gloss-over, it's totally endearing in this movie. How could one resist a movie where buxom lasses engage in fertility rites and the local school children are taught the importance of the phallus?

Sgt Neil Howie is our hero and plays the straight man. Although he does figure in the mystery that surrounds him, it is through his indignant moralistic eyes that much of the goings-on are revealed to us. He spends so much time decrying the populace's heathen activities that you get the feeling that his quest to find the missing girl becomes confused.

One of the central characters is Willow (Britt Ekland), the local fertility-goddess, who turns the local boys into young men and temps our ersatz hero in a not-to-be-missed scene where she sings naked (a song that has been recently covered by at least two bands that I know of). I am truly glad that I didn't see this film as a young adolescent as I am sure that every young male who saw this film had the ghost of Willow haunting the sacred halls of masturbation fantasy for years.

Another central character is Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). Lord Summerisle is the byronesque leader of this island and its inhabitants. And when he is not organizing ceremonies, he is constantly having to send our paladin-hero away on some fool's errand. I must admit that after having seen Christopher Lee in so many horror films, I was pleased beyond belief to see him play such a debonair creature as the island's lord.

Although the film was never intended to be a 'period' flick, the 23 years since its release has hit this film hard. The ever present music, which is inserted into the narrative like a musical, ranges from fucking brilliant to ho-hum. There is no denying that all of the music is from '73. Yet for some reason even the movie's faults have a way of pulling you in - endearing you to it even more.

The Wicker Man is a must-see film. With its rich story, characters and ever-present christian versus pagan tension, it's a wild ride. If running naked through misty fecund forests is not on your 'to-do' list, wait until after the film - it will be.

DANIEL EMERSON CROWDER - 7 May 1997

The Wicker Man
Robin Hardy, Anthony Shaffer

A novelization of the Anthony Shaffer script, this is a tale of a Highlands policeman on the trail of a missing girl being lured to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. As May Day approaches shamanistic and erotic events erupt around him. Was the girl a human sacrifice?

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