If it was it was excellent writing and well above the rest of the film.
It appeared to be acknowledging that the film was merely ripping off The Wicker Man and had nothing new to offer. However I'm not 100% certain that was by deliberate intention or whether it just played out like that.
Anyone know for sure?
I don't know if I would call this a rip off of the Wicker Man since, with the exception of European pagan cults luring people in for a sacrificial murder, the plots are still quite different. It would be like saying The Omen is a rip off of Rosemary's Baby because both movies involve the son of Satan, but they're still different stories.
share...with the exception of European pagan cults luring people in for a sacrificial murder...
With the exception of “The Wicker Man” had to do with a victim vs victim(s) as in this movie. Much easier to explain away 1 missing person even if he was a cop vs serveral. Plus I’m not sure how much they had to do it in that film.
shareTrue.
It was a bit silly that in this one - all these missing foreigners at one time would have been pretty hard to cover up.
There are plenty of movies dealing with European pagan cults sacrificing people.
shareI think if I made a film featuring menacing teenagers on pogo sticks bouncing into old grannies and it became a cult hit, "inspiring" a whole raft of films featuring teenagers bouncing into old grannies on pogo sticks, it doesn't negate them from being rip-offs because now the teenage pogo grannies genre now exists.
But that's a side discussion really with regards to the OP. What do you think of that specific scene - Do you think it was being cleverly self referencial?
The concept of the pagan cult killing people in sacrifice goes back longer than film itself so it’s not nearly as unique as what you just described.
As for films featuring evil cults, Wicker Man wasn’t the first by a long shot. Blood on Satan’s Claw predates it and so does The Devil Rides Out.
Yes, yes - any discussion on the Wicker Man and the "genre" brings these films up. As I said though,
I find it a worthless discussion point. A bit like saying the original Battlestar Galactica series wasn't a Star Wars rip-off because space sci-fi opera had been about for years...
What about the actual scene mentioned in the OP - did you think it was a deliberate clever referencial piece of writing?
I would definitely argue BSG and Star Wars are more similar than Midsommar and Wicker Man. For instance, there was no murder mystery/virgin sacrifice switcheroo in Midsommar. Midsommar, to me, seemed more aligned with American horror (a bunch of horny young people act like jerks, then get chopped up) more than British horror. The difference is the setting which and tone, yes, is more European. And again, Wicker Man borrowed heavily from Hammer horror and even a little bit of Lovecraft, minus any supernatural elements.
As for the scene in question, I don't think they were being meta.
It's folk horror. They are all going to be pretty similar.
Here's what he said influenced him
https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/ari-aster-movies-inspired-midsommar/images-w1400/
“I love movies. For me, the most exciting thing about being a filmmaker is being in dialogue with the films and filmmakers I love, and using the common language of the cinema to work through my own stuff and make something personal out of it.”
it does rip it off.
shareMidsommar unabashedly barrows from Wicker Man, but I don’t think it takes away from the film in any way or that there is anything wrong with that. It’s no different from other art forms being inspired by what comes before and building upon to create something similar yet new and fresh in its own way. Midsommar took something beloved by many, The Wicked Man, and built a new world around it, familiar yet undeniably different at the same time. Obviously I’m a big fan of Midsommar and this is just my opinion.
sharewell that's ok, you have every right to like it. Personally, I prefer Wicker Man, original.
shareIt’s a shame the remake was so poorly done. I wish it had been given the same effort as other well done reiterations, TGWTDT, The Departed, Insomnia…
Would’ve been nice to have two versions to watch with both being of the same caliber as the original.
That's a really good point. I am sure you've seen the fanmade "trailer" that depicts Cage's version as a comedy?
share