My most recent DVD purchase was the director’s cut of The Wicker Man. It’s an almost-but-not-quite complete print that restores most of the footage hacked from the theatrical cut, which you also get on a second disk. This film has a reputation as being amongst the best British entries in the horror genre, along with Witchfinder General (one of Vincent Price’s finest moments). The packaging unsurprisingly emphasises the presence of Christopher Lee, in light of his recent Indian Summer.
And it is a great performance by Lee, who should seem comical and ridiculous in his fright wig and kilt, but doesn’t. Casual menace defines his screen time. Okay, so seeing him at the end in a long wig and a dress is quite funny! Otherwise, he’s just plain creepy, in a weirdly seductive way.
The film concerns a small Scottish island, Summerisle, inhabited by pagans. Lee plays the resident Lord. The hero, as such, played by Edward Woodward, is a rather prissy, puritanical character, and a devout Christian. He has none of Lee’s charm or eloquence, which makes for a fascinating dynamic contrast in the scenes they share.
SPOILER: The ‘bad guys’ win at the end; Woodward’s 45-year-old virgin burns as a sacrifice inside a huge wicker man. The practice of human sacrifice, of course, puts the pagans in an indefensible position, making the moral dimension of the film crystal clear.
On another level, speaking as someone who doesn’t follow any religion, there are interesting issues along the way. For instance, when Woodward realises everyone on the island is a pagan, before the concept of sacrifice has become apparent, he says to someone: ‘You’re all raving mad!’ His conclusion is based on one thing: these people are not Christians. Their openness on sexual matters also causes him a lot of trouble. I can’t help feeling that these flaws in his character are emhpasised quite deliberately, as if to make his own beliefs as questionable as those on the other side… he is basically a good man, and the pagans are involved in murder, yet his intolerance of anything beyond his own frame of reference is unquestionably a weakness.
The DVD also offers a commentary track from 2001, featuring Lee, Woodward and director Robin Hardy. Lee is the most vocal of the three, but it’s interesting throughout. It’s another really nice presentation from Studio Canal, whose releases of Don’t Look Now and The Third Man, amongst others, are also worthy of attention—although it’s about time they gave a UK release to Orson Welles’ The Trial, which they have packaged very nicely for the French market.
Incidentally, 2004 sees the filming of Robin Hardy’s May Day, which is not a Wicker Man sequel, but a film with a similar theme. Christopher Lee will again take the lead, in a role that sounds quite familiar (albeit somewhat older). The result should be very interesting!