Coluna Claquete – September 12, 2016 – Movie of the Week: “The Legend of Tarzan”
Newton Ramalho
colunaclaquete@gmail.com – www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com– @colunaclaquete
Movie of the Week: “The Legend of Tarzan”
Yesterday, while looking for a movie to fill the lazy Sunday afternoon, I came across this adventure, which passed briefly by cinemas, “The Legend of Tarzan”. I am intimate of this character, because I used to read a lot of his books when I was a young boy. So, I was curious to see what else could come up with the hero of the jungle.
Tarzan must be one of the most popular fictional characters in the world since the first book, “Tarzan, the Son of the Jungle” was published in 1912. He was so successful that soon came to the big screen, still silent, in 1918, reaching the comics in 1928. We must remember that both industries were still very young.
This success was repeated over time, and in addition to the 24 books written by Edgar Burroughs Ryce, there are 236 titles cited by IMDB.com site, between movies and episodes of TV series. Not bad for a character created by a writer who never set foot in Africa!
According to the original version, the parents of Tarzan, John Clayton and Alice, were noble English, that during a boat trip were forced to land on the coast of Africa after a mutiny on board. Alice was pregnant and died during childbirth. The boy survived, but then one orangutans gang broke into the hut in which they lived and killed John Clayton father. Kala, a female from the flock whose baby had died, rescued the human boy and took him with her, raising him as her son. The boy was called Tarzan, that meant “white skin” in the language of the monkeys.
Years later, when Tarzan was an adult, he met a group of white men, among whom was his cousin and the one who would be the love of his life, Jane Porter. Several comes and goes happened until the couple stayed together and took their rightful place in the English aristocracy.
Burroughs’ imagination, allied with the lack of knowledge about the African continent in the early twentieth century, brought Tarzan to face not only lions and wild natives, as well as Nazi Germans, Roman soldiers, medieval knights, exotic beings like men-ant, prehistoric animals, and even a journey to the Earth’s center!
Making a more critical reading, we can see that the character created by Burroughs was the image of the society of his time. The hero was white, of noble birth, and killed wild animals and natives with the same naturalness of one who kills cockroaches.In some parts of the books you can see an undeniable racism, which was a common feature of the time and the environment in which the author lived.
As were made hundreds of movies with Tarzan, it is natural that new situations are created, but in most of the current production there is a shuffling of the characters that would freak out the author himself!
In the current film, Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) is an adult, married and lives in England, where he uses his real name and title, John Clayton III, Lord Greystok.While the original story happened in the early twentieth century, here was a retreat, situating it in 1889.
Another poetic license was taken, making Tarzan’s childood happens in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Belgian explorer Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) is sent by the king of Belgium Leopold II to find the legendary city of Opar, to catch diamonds to finance the mercenaries the king needs to master the colony.The invaders are decimated by the natives, but the king of Opar, Mbonga (Dijimon Hounsou) tells Rom that he will give him many diamonds in exchange of Tarzan.
Rom uses every trick to lure Tarzan to Africa, and our hero accepts the invitation, coming with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) and an American explorer George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson).
Throughout the film there are several twists before reaching a typical Hollywood ending, which has nothing to do with real History. But the good side is that Tarzan is now very different from the books: he respects nature, is a friend and protector of the natives, and do not kill any animal. I suspect even that he is a vegetarian…
An interesting thing in the film is pointing to a little-known historical fact, the role of King Leopold II in the Congo. Using trade agreements artifices, and later an army of mercenaries, he kept the region as a personal possession, subjecting the inhabitants to slavery with extremely brutal methods, including even amputation of body limbs.It got so bad that in 1908, the Belgian parliament withdrew the region of the king’s possession and turned it into a country colony until its independence in 1960.
The cast is good, and does not compromise the story, but is annoying seeing a high level actor like Christoph Waltz making a ridiculous and stereotypical villain. The CGI was used a lot, especially in the preparation of gorillas who raised Tarzan, and this must have consumed a lot of of the $ 180 million of the film’s budget.
Although it has many differences from the original version, “The Legend of Tarzan” is an adventure film in today’s style with many action scenes and constant twists.You just need to turn off your brain and enjoy it.
Original title: “The Legend of Tarzan”