tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post2972559188848705016..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: CULT TV-MOVIE REVIEW: Duel (1971)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-39514329239599571762016-09-21T01:58:18.292-04:002016-09-21T01:58:18.292-04:00Great review!
This may be a slightly different ta...Great review!<br /><br />This may be a slightly different take but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.<br /><br />I am struck by the battles going on for David, the first being his presently insuperable quest for an integrated and embodied life with his wife, family, and vocation. One he isn’t yet equipped with the self-awareness or capacities to even begin. His mid-level white-collar employment - requiring his perpetual and ubiquitous sycophancy to corporate power “You gonna be home by 6:30? - If Forbes lets me go in time” - has drained his self respect, causing his wife’s loss of respect for him.<br /><br />In losing her respect he has long since also become obsequious to his wife, but like the early radio caller who admits to never having been ‘head of the family’ for all of his 25 married years, David hasn’t been relegated his contemptible status since the recent advent (for 1971) of women’s lib. While the caller emasculated himself by staying home to do housework in slippers and a skirt, David emasculated himself by becoming a corporate yes-man. The results are for both men one and the same. Women’s lib can be implied only as a recent further confounding factor to the already confused two men.<br /><br />Women’s lib isn’t directly mentioned in the film, and in fact his wife’s scruple wasn’t over his failure to respect her as an independent equal not needing a man ‘like a fish need a bicycle’. Rather it was his failure to see her as an unequal weaker vessel in need of his old-fashioned patriarchal manly protection “But you could have at least said something to the man. I mean, after all, he practically tried to rape me in front of the whole party.”<br /><br />David is caught between conflicting messages that ask on the one hand non-offensive obsequiousness (his employer and women’s lib), and on the other dominant assertiveness and to risk his safety in order to protect (his wife). You can see this in his telephone call. While he has no idea how to be assertive– his best effort being a pleading ‘Oh, come on, honey’ – he manages to adopt an assertive body posture by putting his foot upon the bench - soon thwarted by the woman with her washing.<br /><br />He has no idea how to play a part in the modern world in which he can both understand and enjoy his participation and also be well received by significant others. This to me is the heart of the movie. The conundrum of the modern white collar male employee.<br /><br />Now enters the pull of his subconscious, seeking a corrective fantasy journey to liberate his personal power and authority. An archetype he finds himself drawn kicking and screaming toward. The biblical story of David and Goliath. Here he enacts (or imagines) an act of real participation in which he can be valiant and eventually victorious. A necessary life-stage he has forever postponed.<br /><br />Alongside his ferocious appetite for this encounter he predictably and repeatedly retreats back into his habits of milquetoast noncommittal mediocrity “As soon as I stopped concentrating, I'd go back to 60 or 70 like I always do. It's a habit. I can't help it.” or strait out avoidance (calling the police, asking for help etc). His retreats however become increasingly short lived toward the end of the film as he begins to resist their seductiveness.<br /><br />His appetite for cathartic metamorphosis won’t be sidestepped. Hence the impossible recurrent reappearances and invitations of the truck that will not allow itself to be brushed aside by the deflections of polite organized society (i.e. the police), and like all necessary rites of passage it will not relent until it has been conquered. A victory he finally completes in fine form by striking the head of the giant with his Valiant similarly as David struck Goliath in the head with his stone.<br /><br />This film is for me the enactment of psychic differentiation, mobilization, self-awareness, action, assimilation, and finally integration of a modern man. It is at its heart for me a deeply inspiring journey. A modern retelling of the biblical fable.<br />Warren Preisshttp://queller.bandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-62368046173702554332012-11-06T00:34:13.916-05:002012-11-06T00:34:13.916-05:00excellent review...i would like to add that in the...excellent review...i would like to add that in the very end, when mann is sitting there exhausted throwing rocks over the cliff, that his dejection may be because he has lost his foil, the challenge that brought back his masculinity. sort of like "alexander wept for he had no worlds left to conquer." certainly the crash scene, with its setting, was like a shootout duel in the old west which mann won, although i think he gave away the fact he was going to jump out too soon by standing outside the car while charging the truck.<br />but anyway, after beating the foe that restored his manhood, he sat there realizing that it was probably back to the old henpecked way of living.<br />the trucker, with his rusty but menacing, large truck representing the old order as opposed to mann's little emasculated valiant, actually may have sacrificed himself to help mann restore himself to the old ways where the man was the boss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-35838749280823918902010-12-13T18:11:44.830-05:002010-12-13T18:11:44.830-05:00SteveW:
"It's like an essay on dynamic ...SteveW: <br /><br />"It's like an essay on dynamic visual storytelling." -- I could not have said that better. I totally agree with you and with that statement.<br /><br />The truck in Duel is indeed a great mythic movie monster, as you trenchantly note, because of the very way Spielberg frames it. <br /><br />The film is an incredible tour-de-force for Spielberg and I concur with you: no one (with the possible exception of JC) knew how to compose shots better back in the day.<br /><br />Great comment!<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-168868710137787752010-12-13T16:08:07.783-05:002010-12-13T16:08:07.783-05:00Great analysis. You're absolutely right of cou...Great analysis. You're absolutely right of course about the '70s-era "crisis of masculinity" subtext here (extended, of course, in "Jaws" in the comic tension between Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss). Of course a lot of filmmakers dealt with that subject in that period, but Spielberg did it with a skillful, light, populist touch in his genre entertainments.<br /><br />But you really hit the nail on the head when you write that "the visuals dictate the shape of [the] narrative." The dynamic visual compositions and spacial relationships in this movie are the real subject here, and still dazzling to this day. NO ONE knew how to compose shots better than '70s-era Spielberg. That truck in "Duel" is one of the great mythic movie monsters purely on the strength of how he positions it within the movie frame. Astounding that he put this picture together in 12-16 days of shooting. It's like an essay on dynamic visual storytellingSteveWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-30293621678159243072010-12-13T12:46:40.312-05:002010-12-13T12:46:40.312-05:00Grayson: That's an intriguing speculation; the...Grayson: That's an intriguing speculation; the idea of a Vietnam War metaphor in Duel somewhere.<br /><br />It certainly seems plausible given the timing; now I need to watch the movie again! <br /><br />When I wrote this review, I did not see dubs overt sign of a Vietnam angle (like I did the examples regarding the crisis in masculinity), but that doesn't mean the metaphor is absent.<br /><br />One of the great things about Duel, in fact, is the way the film opens itself up to multiple readings. I recently read another interpretation of the film that found it "homo-erotic, what with all the truck-on-Valiant rear-ending!! :)<br /><br />But this is a very interesting notion...and it certainly merits further study and debate...<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-82357951489083042662010-12-12T21:05:07.334-05:002010-12-12T21:05:07.334-05:00When Mann says he is "right back in the jungl...When Mann says he is "right back in the jungle now" he is on one level speaking about where our species came from, as warriors and hunters in the jungle. It has been a long time since I watched this but is there any indication in the film that Mann may also be talking about an experience in Vietnam here?Graysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-51434507525833201712010-12-12T16:41:46.486-05:002010-12-12T16:41:46.486-05:00Fang Shih-yu:
Good point.
Duel is about doing ...Fang Shih-yu:<br /><br />Good point. <br /><br />Duel is about doing a lot with very little (even time...). 1941 is about doing very little with a whole lot.<br /><br />But you're right, it's amazing to think that this made-for TV-movie totally trounces a lot of major motion pictures over the last several decades. It's an extraordinary work of art.<br /><br />Thanks for the comment, my friend.<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-37749366822197020162010-12-12T16:36:03.754-05:002010-12-12T16:36:03.754-05:00How many times do TV movies (pre-'80s and/or H...How many times do TV movies (pre-'80s and/or HBO) measure up to to <i>actual</i> motion pictures? Not many. Thank goodness <b>Duel</b> is around to remind us how a good filmmaker can do <i>much</i> with <i>less</i>; if only the clods who made the recent Jolie/Depp <i>"flop"</i> had this insight!<br /><br />Actually, <i>I'd</i> hate to see what the Spielberg who made <i><b>1941</b></i> would do with <b>Duel</b>!R.A.M.'67https://www.blogger.com/profile/12817535165296807817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-6444591743804741932010-12-12T14:15:10.298-05:002010-12-12T14:15:10.298-05:00Davidfullam:
Thank you for the comment.
And yes...Davidfullam:<br /><br />Thank you for the comment. <br /><br />And yes, I can't totally disagree with you. <br /><br />I have long admired Steven Spielberg's film work in the 1970s; but only occasionally have I felt as strongly about his modern efforts (though I do rather like both Minority Report and War of the Worlds, plus Jurassic Park). <br /><br />Hopefully I'll get around to reviewing all of those on the blog!<br /><br />Best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-25183482001086493622010-12-12T14:10:52.107-05:002010-12-12T14:10:52.107-05:00Glad this film was made way back when. I would hat...Glad this film was made way back when. I would hate to see what the modern Spielberg would do with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-11460231803427917902010-12-12T14:00:49.562-05:002010-12-12T14:00:49.562-05:00Le0pard13:
Thank you for that wonderful comment, ...Le0pard13:<br /><br />Thank you for that wonderful comment, my friend. <br /><br />You brilliantly added another piece to the puzzle of Duel. <br /><br />I had no knowledge whatsoever of the 71 Valiant, or that it "had been stripped of all that made it distinct." That "the style lines were reduced to a then oh so bland model. It was equally unpowered... to become a more domesticated fuel-efficient vehicle. For many, it was valiant in name only. It's a perfect fit for Weaver's character here."<br /><br />That's fantastic; great history to know and process as it related to this movie and Weaver's character. It really adds to the genius non-verbal approach to storytelling Spielberg employed. Even the car on display had been revised per the norms of the age, domesticated as you say. And I totally think car culture accounts for an important part of the film's algebraic equation.<br /><br />Thank you, my friend,<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-23751727916514759872010-12-12T13:46:26.724-05:002010-12-12T13:46:26.724-05:00Fantastic analysis, John! Spielberg (using a great...Fantastic analysis, John! Spielberg (using a great script by the master, Richard Matheson) was a his most efficient (and at the antithesis of his latter work). The reference and comparison to Carpenter's HALLOWEEN film is a worthy one, as well. As you state, the relative sparse environment this <i>duel</i> is conducted makes for one stage to tell this story.<br /><br />I'd also point out the selection of Mann's vehicle was spot-on as it represents the uncertain masculine theme so prominent in the movie. By '71, the Plymouth Valiant had been stripped of all that made it distinct. The style lines were reduced to a then oh so bland model. It was equally unpowered (remember, I'm old enough to recall sitting in gas lines during that decade) to become a more <i>domesticated</i> fuel-efficient vehicle. For many, it was <i>valiant</i> in name only. It's a perfect fit for Weaver's character here.<br /><br />You're written a outstanding evaluation of this film, John. It is very much a "<i>mean, lean horror film</i>" that doesn't feel dated, even though it represents that long gone era with authenticity. Thanks for this.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.com