THX-1138

October 4, 2004 at 11:12 am · Filed under Cinema de Snarky

OK, lets be clear. Robert Duval IS the best damn actor of out time, but Lucas is spotty at best.

THX-1138 is revered by geeks. The titular character mane is reserved on every reputable IRC server; taken on the dregs. Why, I have no idea. The movie is wildly uneven. Even excusing the low visual quality, the symbolism and metaphor is heavy handed and repetitive even so. THX as a character is so disinterested so as to be a near anti-hero. Taken as a reaction to the culture of the 70s this really just seems like the wild and needless thrashing of someone who is being forced to grow up.

THX comes from a follicularly deprived subterranean world of the future. You can tell it is the future, not because the technology has improved, but rather because it is installed in mind-boglingly poor locations. This misplaced technology is used to monitor people. I suppose. Really it just seems to be so we can watch people blow up and Donald Pleasance can get his jollys.

The story is pretty much the same in each act. Guy has it bad. Guy does what nobody else will – leave. Watch him leave by scrumping, watch him leave by wandering through the london fog from Get Smart, watch him leave in a fast car. Through out the whole thing he is reactive, not proactive. you see nothing special in THX which forces the question of why watching someone who is entirely the result of other people’s influence is supposed to inspire us to maintain the independence of the 60s.

Oh yeah, and at the end he is “reborn” by going through a tunnel. what’s the literary equivalent for gagging while rolling eyes?

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