I'm watching the Keep right now for the first time and find it funny that the supposedly unknown writing on the wall looks very very much like "strangers go home (inozemtsy idite domoi)" in Russian, not what the professor tells them.
have a nice life!
intresting. I've read the book and the picture there of the inscription on the wall
is completely different from what they used in the movie. asgard I'm intrested what you thought of the movie?
Its one of my top 5 favorite films of all time, it'd be cool to hear your thoughts on it.
"Animals are beasts, but Men are Monsters..."
Okay, here are my sincere thoughts. You asked for it )
The Keep is a rather uninviting movie with a very exciting idea. From the opening shot where the trucks roll to the windy exteriors it mirrors Sorcerer (Friedkin), with washed out whites and smoky interiors it mirrors Hunger (not to mention thin Scott Glenn playing a David Bowie here), while set design concepts seems more like something right up Jodorowsky's alley. And supernatural versus the nazis? I bet that Raiders of the Lost Arc was mentioned extensively when the movie was pitched. So halfway through I already felt like "this...it's not dog...it's imitation".
Michael Mann uses an approach in constructing scenes that I understand, but it doesn't excite me because most scenes that work are more about the coolness of the scene, and less about the characters in it. For example, most talking scenes between characters that don't feature supernatural elements and especially the last scene with Prochnow are boring in comparison to the fright scenes.
For the entire length of the movie I couldn't rid myself of how aritifcial the set design looked - all that smoke should've been explained or hinted at, because otherwise I think smoke machines, and that Duran Duran are to emerge from behind the corner any minute, because this is actually their new video.
Speaking of music, it's the only Tangerine Dream score that didn't do much for the movie at all. I love this band and their scores, I think if I had to make a choice, I'd chose them to score every movie out there. But it kind of doesn't work for me in the Keep.
Still, this Mann movie I like best. I own Manhunter and saw Heat. The idea is great, I'm sure I'll like it more the second time I watch it. And also I think I'm gonna read the book, and that just might turn this movie in a great companion piece to the book for me.
have a nice life!
Interesting. It is one of my favorite films because of its edgy, smoky atmosphere and ambient aura,
thanks largely to Tangerine Dream's score, which I think next to Near Dark is their best. However, they missed the
boat on making this a classic time capsule film as far as occult fantasy goes by butchering the 3+ hours version into an
100 minute final cut, which admittedly feels rushed and sketchy. I myself have only ever seen it on youtube, and it kills me that
one of my favorite films is not available to purchase literally anywhere, but who know maybe they'll come to their senses and
release it in its entirety one of these days...
"Animals are beasts, but Men are Monsters..."
Maybe, just maybe it partially didn't work for me because it's some kind of a workprint with voices at different volume levels (some of them obviously overdubbed) and a muddy picture. But I doubt it's important since most of my favourite 80s movies I saw on 10th generation vhs which looked and sounded far worse. The movie didn't feel rushed to me at all. It felt like a long 80s music video. A good one )
As for the 3hr cut - I'm pretty sure they couldn't just throw out all the best parts! ) And funny enough, it's directors' favourite excuse for a film's underperformance - "well the long version was better". Cimino complained (Heaven's Gate), Friedkin complained (Cruising), even George Romero (Martin) complained about that, I'm sure there're more.
have a nice life!
Molasar in the movie is much scarier than in the book where he appears more like a vampire with cloak and all -- which is also what the book leads you to believe for 90 percent of it. The movie is all atmosphere I thought too till I read the novel; and Mann does capture the evil and foreboding of the Keep -- he just changes some vital points at the end for some reason.
shareBasically the writing on the wall is translated totally different than in the book. Why they would change it is a real mystery -- but then he changed the ending from the book too.
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