Film Review - King Kong

Fig 1 - Poster for King Kong (1930)

Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Shoedsack's King Kong (1933) shows what was culturally appropriate at the time of it's released, this being the racism and sexism portrayed in the film, something that viewing today is uncomfortable and rather awkward to view since modern society today has grown into accepting equality. Also, adaptations of the original King Kong have steered away from the racial and sexist stereotypes. Looking over this, what made this film a huge icon in film history was because of it's special effects, the clay-mation techniques and the merge between film and illusion, it's what set this whole timeline of adaptations of the original.

Fig. 2

When it comes to special effects, King Kong is best know for that, through the start of the movie we don't really see any of it, it isn't until the filming crew reaches the island that we notice these matte paintings which is the starting point of the movies special effects, if you think about it the plot leading up to the island arrival is the growing point for movies magic "The movie plunders every trick in the book to create its illusions, using live action, back projection, stop-motion animation, miniatures, models, matte paintings and sleight-of-hand. And it is not stingy with the effects; after a half-hour of lumbering dialogue and hammy acting, the movie introduces Kong and rarely cuts away from sequences requiring one kind of trickery or another." (R Ebert 2002) It's at the point where we are introduced to Kong, we are thrown into this prehistoric jungle full of huge beasts (whom in actual size are quite small but are portrayed to be huge) and during it's release this was very convincing to viewers it brought the real fear a horror movie should give out. The fear of the unknown, an unexplored world, all created, meshed together and portrayed effectively with these special effects techniques. A true influence on the use of special effects today. Nowadays, specials effects are almost implemented into every shot of films (depending on the genre) King Kong on the other hand took a more natural route at the beginning and used special effects when it needed to.

Fig 3

Looking further into kong's animation, you'll see throughout the movie how much it surrounds itself with clay-mation as there are a lot of scenes with what Kong is interacting with be it his various fights with monsters, the humans and Ann. "but from the moment Kong appears on the screen the movie essentially never stops for breath. -- Kong in battle with two dinosaurs, a giant snake, a flying reptile and a Tyrannosaurus rex. Later, in New York, he will climb to the top of the Empire State Building and bat down a biplane with his bare hand." (R Ebert 2002) This gives us many sides of the character, it's possible he could have an emotional connection towards Ann as he acts more gentle towards her and acts more frantic when beasts try to take Ann or when the humans try to save her. 

This could lead back to how the movie objectifies women as Ann spends a lot of her time screaming for dear life as Kong takes her captive. "The titular ape finds himself fascinated with a beautiful, blonde woman. In many instances, he is so smitten with her looks that he has no other choice than to take her for himself in order to further admire her in seclusion. He never gets to know her." (Maxine 2017) It's questionable when Ann is rescued and taken back to New York that she isn't traumatised by the beast when it is chained and put on display, she's seen and witnessed inhumane things and has basically been molested by kong, it's something that should at least affect her and possibly it has but hasn't been strongly portrayed. 

Overall, King Kong has evolved over the years in it's re-adaptations, the original had this magic to it when it was first released bringing the viewers into this illusion of a world full of dangerous beasts and a beautiful unknown world, it influenced many future creators in the coming years and it still does.

Biblography:

R Ebert 2002 - http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-king-kong-1933

Maxine 2017 - http://www.discordantyears.com/blog-1/2017/3/15/king-kong-is-a-sexist

Illustration:

Fig 1 [Poster] - http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/king-kong-steiner-1933.html

Fig 2 [Screenshot] - http://room226.weebly.com/king-kong-movie-star.html

Fig 3 [Screenshot] - http://kingkong.wikia.com/wiki/Kong_1933