KRAKATOA EAST OF JAVA

US, 1969, 131 minutes, Colour.
Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, John Leyton, Rossano Brazzi, Sal Mineo, J.D. Cannon, Marc Lawrence.
Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski.

Karakatoa East of Java was one of the last films made in three-screen Cinerama process.

Everybody has commented on the geographical inaccuracy of the title because Krakatoa is in the Sunda Straits between Sumatra and Singapore, which means that it is west of Java. Even the rather 60s-style song during the action, composed by Mack David, repeats the geographical error.

This is a very old-fashioned style of film-making. Bernard L. Kowalski worked in television, made a number of feature films including Stiletto in the late 60s and then returned to television. The special effects, most impressive with the eruption of Krakatoa and the enormous tidal wave, were directed by Eugene Lourie and were Oscar -nominated.

The setting is Indonesia in 1883 on the eve of the eruption of Krakatoa. Maximilian Schell portrays a very benign sea captain, going on a treasure hunt at the instigation of rather mentally unbalanced, Diane Baker. Brian Keith is a diver who has collapsed lungs and is relying on laudanum (which gives him hallucinations and an attack on one of the Japanese divers). Barbara Werle is his showgirl girlfriend (who suddenly bursts into song in the cabin and does a mini-striptease!). John Leyton is the diver who has invented a diving bell. Rossano Brazzi is an Italian balloon flyer and Sal Mineo is his rebellious son. J.D. Cannon is a sailor who worked with the captain but has been guilty of killing a man after gambling and leads a revolt of the prisoners who are taken on board. Needless to say this provides all kinds of subplots as well as the potential for more disasters and eruptions than Krakatoa itself.

The dialogue is rather simplistic in its way, making the film a touch corny. However, interspersed amongst the subplots and the corn are the special effects and the culmination in the tsunami. In a way this film was the precursor of the 70s disaster trend because Airport appeared the year after and The Poseidon Adventure three years later.

1.Old-fashioned film-making? Adventure? Character complications? Natural disasters? The blend of these?

2.The cinematography, designed for Cinerama and three screens? The spectacle? The special effects, the eruption of the volcano, the interior of the volcano and the balloon, the balloon going through the chasms, the wave, the tsunami? The musical score and atmosphere? The rather jolly 1960s style – and the insertion of the two songs? Appropriate or not?

3.Audience knowledge of Krakatoa, the eruption in 1883, the enormous loss of life, the tsunami? The geographical error of the title?

4.Captain Hansen, genial, his ship, going in search of the pearls, his relationship with Laura, her instability? Connerly coming aboard, relying on him for the diving, his breakdown, his attack on the Japanese girl, his being put in the cage? His going down? Charlie and her presence on board, her pleading for Connerly? The captain’s reliance on his crew, Douglas Rigby and the diving bell, his going down, his being caught, the rescue? The Italians, the father and son, the balloon, finding the sunken ship, their return? Dauzig and his previously being part of the crew, the captain being persuaded to take the prisoners on board, keeping them on board, the money? Giving half to Connerly? The other members of the crew? Dauzig and his asking to be (**a freer? Not sure) freer on ship, his leading the revolt, imprisoning the passengers? Their being freed? Laura and her search for her son? The dangers of Krakatoa, sailing through, the rescue of the children, the Italian and his going ashore for safety, his son remaining on board? The tidal wave?

5.Laura, her divorce, her husband and his ship, her son and the separation? Seeing the son in the class with the nuns at the beginning and their singing the songs during the eruption? His seeming to be dead, the burnt church? His being on the boat, rescued?

6.Connerly, gruff and old, his lungs, the laudanum, Dauzig and his warning him? The hallucinations? The Japanese? His part in the rescue? Charlie, the good-time girl, the singer, her song?

7.The scientific background, the diving bell, Rigby and his design, bringing it on shore, the man falling to his death, lowering it into the water, his finding the ship, the dangers and his rescue?

8.The Italians, the clash between father and son? On the balloon, the exhilaration of the flight, seeing the boat, the flare? Going through the mountains, into Krakatoa, the basket going on fire, their jettisoning it, in the water? The father and his decision to go ashore?

9.The Japanese divers – and the touch of 60s glamour?

10.The cardboard characters, the predictable situations – and yet the impact of the disaster material?