gab-14712
Let me open this review with a little history lesson. (I know, sooooo boring right?) My hometown of Lebanon used to be a bigger town. But in the 1970's, part of my town was leveled in order to create a reservoir. So people living in the area where the reservoir was being built had to leave their homes. So a part of our civilization vanquished for a manmade body of water. There is a similar theme in this film, Deliverance. The film takes place in the mountains of Georgia and a river which is very dear to our main characters is about to disappear because of a dam building which would flood the area. Like in my area, people have to leave their homes to escape the flooding. It is a very sad situation all around, but that theme makes this movie all the more better.I enjoyed Deliverance very much. It has been regarded of one of the best films of 1972 and I think I can agree with that. This is just a simple adventure of four men traveling the rapids in pursuit of some adventure, but of course problems will arise. The movie works very well as a adventure film and it was interesting to see how each character develops with some of the action that goes on. This film delivers on its promise of characterization. Each of the four men bring their personality to the trip. One dude is a macho man named Lewis (Burt Reynolds). He is the tough guy of the group and this expedition was his idea. The other main character is Ed (Jon Voight) who also exhibits some toughness skills (just watch that cliff climbing scene). Then we have Bobby (Ned Beatty) who is an overweight man that is afraid of many things it seems. Finally, we have Drew (Ronny Cox) who took part in my favorite scene in the movie- "The Dueling Banjos" Scene where he squared off against a mentally-challenged boy in a contest between a banjo and a guitar before the group began their journey.The scene that everyone talks about and that gave awareness to the movie is the scene where mountain men raped poor Bobby. It was a very well-made scene with such powerful lines of dialogue such as "I'll make you squeal like a pig." Regardless, it is a very brutal scene and it's incredibly hard to watch. The sequence was a pretty long one, but it showed an example of how men can survive in a harsh, primitive environment. Kudos to Jon Voight's character, Ed exacting revenge against the two men who raped Bobby. The film may seem like a quiet adventure film, but it becomes instantly loud the moment this scene appears. Director John Boorman does a wonderful job in creating tension and thrills setting up the scene before it actually happens.The acting is very good and I could expect no less for a film that features wonderful character development. Burt Reynolds plays a man with a machismo personality (no surprise there), but he does it very well. Jon Voight impressed me in this film. He was so great in 1969's Midnight Cowboy and was the best thing about 1970's mediocre Catch-22, so he really comes into his own here. The way he scaled the cliffs in order to kill those men showed what a brave man he was. This film was not insured and to save costs, each of the actors did their own stunts. If you saw that cliff, you would be very surprised. Ned Beatty gives a wonderful performance and a pained one. That scene where he got raped (and you see all of it on screen) is a powerful, intense scene and he gave such raw emotion. Ronny Cox arguably had the smaller role, but his scene where he is playing the banjo sticks out to me. His character seemed to be the most moral guy of the group.The film makes good use of its cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond. He was the man who filmed the gorgeous 1971 movie, McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Now he delivers great camera-work in this movie. It was a tough shoot because of the location of the movie set against rapids, but Vilmos really made it work and the picture is gorgeous set amongst the American wilderness.John Boorman delivered an exquisite adventure film in the form of Deliverance. It is a movie about survival and how men from the city can survive in the wild using their primitive instincts. The movie gained some controversy because of the squealing pig scene, but it remains a very powerful scene that is hard to watch. The other scene to keep an eye on is the banjo scene. That is essentially all of the music the film has, but it is quite worth it. The film has a gorgeous, naturalistic look and it is very well-acted. If you are looking for an adventure story, look no further than Deliverance.My Grade: A-
ironhorse_iv
It was shaping up to be the perfect weekend for a group of friends from Atlanta. Not only, they get to see the unbelievable natural beauty of the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, they also will get to canoe in it. However, things took a horrible wrong turn in the riverside, as the peaceful natural visit, turn into a deadly game of life or death, when the group find themselves, face to face, with a few unwelcoming locals, mountain men. This is the story of 'Deliverance', a movie that will leave you, with goosebumps. Without spoiling the movie, too much, you would think, a movie like this would stop people, from ever go river-canoeing in the American back-country, ever again. However, surprisingly, this wasn't the case, as the movie had a mostly positive effects on communities in Rabun County, where most of this film was shot. Local sites like Clayton, GA saw an increased in tourism by tens of thousands, just to go river-canoeing. Some tourists even built vacation and second homes around the area's lakes and riverbeds, just take in the beautiful sights. I can see, why, the movie does have gorgeous shots of the location from cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond. It even, make me, want to move there, at one time. I doubt the country people, there would complain. For the most part, the majority of locals around there is happy for the film, bringing businesses to their small towns, yet there is others, that still find resentment at how they were portrayed in this movie. I don't blame them. I would, too, be, a bit angry, if my neighborhood was portray as stupid, inbred, rapist, hillbillies. However, I would also be bit cheerful to see money, being pour into my communities, than nothing at all. It's a double edge sword. A Catch 22. Another thing that, probably made the locals, really happy, is the environmental protection message of the film. The opening text, really spells it out, on why author James Dickey was upset, with the lack of conservation in America in the 1970s. Still, it doesn't explain, why, during production of the film, James Dickey showed up inebriated and got into a bitter argument with producer-director John Boorman, for rewritten Dickey's script, when barely anything major was change. In my opinion, the film seem, very accuracy to the source material, but somehow, Dickey didn't see it, that way. It's suck to hear that both men got in a brief fistfight, which cause the director to have a broken nose, and four of his teeth shattered. Thank goodness, the two reconciled before the end of production and became good friends. It even cool to see that Boorman gave Dickey a cameo role as the sheriff. That was pretty nice for him to do, seeing how they hate each other, months earlier. Anyways, the film was a critical success with viewers, even being nominated for awards, despite having a notorious rape scene. Yes, I know, that this is a tough film to praise to anyone, due to the subject matter; and I wrestled with my own feelings for it long after seeing it, but I believe 'Deliverance' is still a movie, worth seeing after all these years, even parts of the film is a bit dated with its depiction of 1970s southerners. After all, it's still is a gripping, absorbing action-adventure film, full of fine actors, whom, for the most part, did one hell of a job, making the nightmarish sequences of the film, seem really intense. As much as I love Burt Reynolds, badass, presence as outdoorsman, Lewis Medlock with him, doing his own stunts. Mad props goes to Jon Voight for similarly doing his own stunts, but also portraying the everyman, Ed Gentry, in this encounter. The struggles of him, having to kill, is, a wonderful depiction, that most people would have, if face, with survival. Also, I have to give credit to Ned Beatty even if his character, was somewhat of a jerk. The viciously targeting and humiliated that the actor has to go, through for his film debut, was courageous. He also almost drown in other scenes. Most actors at the time, would had turn down the role, as a defenseless coward. Likewise, I have to say, Ronny Cox as Drew Ballinger was also good, even if he's not that memorable, outside of the famous "Dueling Banjos" moment. Just the sheer fact that both the hillbilly kid, (Billy Redden) & himself made it seem like they can play the banjo, when in truth, they couldn't play a tune, was impressive on its own. Honestly, I don't care, if there is a copyright dispute on how, originally, create the song. All, I know, is that it's one of the best tunes in American Cinema. Even today, when I hear banjoes. I have to think, about padding faster. That's how much of an impressed, that tune, has on people. It has often be looked upon as a philosophical or mythical allegory of man's psychological and grueling physical journey against the unknown, both within the conflicts of man vs man, and man versus nature. Overall: I love that this movie tests the character's personal values & exhibiting the conflict between country & city. I also like how the movie ends with the flooding of the valley. It alludes to the bible, when it comes to the purification and cleansing within of the sins of the world. Only to find out that not all sins can be washed away. It's a very powerful message. I also the movie leave open questions, like whether or not, they did the right thing. Did they kill the right person or not? Did one of them, really got killed? In the end, it's left to the audience to decide. Overall: while, this movie can be slow at times due to pacing. It's one film, worth paddling to. Its need to be seen. It's that damn good.
