MovieChat Forums > Local Hero (1983) Discussion > Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina

posted 13 years ago by stevewyzard
4 replies | jump to latest

There I was, minding my own business on the John Carter (2012) board, when someone brought up the subject of "deus ex machina".....

.....and I immediately thought of Local Hero.

As the townspeople gather and converge on Ben's humble beach house, Mac says, "I think they just want to talk to him....." Before a confrontation can begin, Happer's helicopter appears, lands on the beach, and his arrival quickly diffuses the situation. When we first see the helicopter in this amazingly-shot scene, all we can see is a light in the sky, and the viewer might even be forgiven for expecting an alien invasion. From this point on, everything in the movie changes, and the focus adjusts from "Will the refinery project go forward?" to "Now what will happen?"

Can anyone who has seen this climactic moment think of a better deus ex machina scene in the history of film-making?

[–] TroubledTroubadour 13 years ago

On Monty Python's "the life of Brian", Brian is chased off a tower by romans and is saved by a spaceship which goes in space and crashes back on earth not so far away.

"Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's."-Hipolito

[–] Jamesir_Bensonmum 12 years ago

Yeah, but the only way Harper's changing his mind about the refinery is a deus ex machina is if you feel that the "will the build a refinery or not" is the main theme in this film.

I've always seen the refinery as a MacGuffin. The refinery plot point is only there to move the main plot point along. That main plot point (in my opinion) is Mac's gradual -- almost imperceptibly so -- transformation in this film.

That main plot (Mac's journey and transformation) was not really affected by Harper's out-of-the-blue decision not to build the refinery.

[–] stevewyzard 12 years ago

The "deus ex machina" of Local Hero is not Happer's changing his mind about the refinery, but his arrival by helicopter on the beach. The townspeople are converging on Ben's beach hut to force him to sell, as he is the only property owner who has not sold out. When Happer arrives, everything changes and Mac suddenly becomes irrelevant. Ben, not Mac, is the Local Hero who holds on to what is important to him, doesn't want the big money, and persuades Happer to build an observatory/marine laboratory instead of a refinery.

That being said, I agree that the refinery is a MacGuffin. And yes, Mac is transformed from an anonymous corporate-ladder climber to an actual, changed human being. But Local Hero is just as much Ben's story as Mac's story and Happer's arrival is the moment when the plot changes from "Will Ben be forced to sell?" to "Can something different happen here?" If Happer had NOT arrived just when he did, I can't imagine that Mac would have changed at all: the refinery would have gone through and Mac would go on to his next business deal as the same person with some unusual memories of Scotland.

The watcher and the tower.....waiting hour by hour

[–] slaintemhath 12 years ago

Certainly wouldn't call it Deus Ex Machina, Happers arrival was being built up to the whole movie as was his desire to escape corporate bondage, everything was pushing him towards the beach just as everyone else was trying to escape it.

That's what the movie's about - the grass is always greener, everyone wants what everyone else has - except Ben