POINT BLANK
US, 1967, 89 minutes, Colour.
Lee Marvin, Angie Dickenson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O'Connor, John Vernon, Lloyd Bochner, Sharon Acker. Directed by John Boorman.
Point Blank is a stylish thriller that few suspected to be stylish and which those who saw merely as a thriller thought average and bloodthirsty. John Boorman is an interesting director (Hell 1n the Pacific, Leo the Last) and pays a lot of attention to depicting the environment and its effect on the principal characters. Twentieth Century urban environment, noise, colour, shape have rarely been used so impressively.
The thriller embodies many of the images of the tough, laconic hero and the images of American violence and brutality. But what is most striking is the exploding of the myth of the free, independent individual. Walker, the hero of this film, guns his way through the action only to discover that he has been used and manipulated from beginning to end. The film has many messages about freedom, fear, relationships and communication. Point Blank has lately been re-discovered and makes appearances as something of a classic.
1. Was this just another thriller? Why was it different?
2. Some critics said that, although the film was violent, it was too "arty", Do you agree? On what basis do you think they made their judgment?
3. How was the contemporary urban setting of San Francisco and Los Angeles used to give mood and atmosphere in the film - e,g, Alcatraz, the hotels and offices, the garages and overpasses, the stormwater constructions…?
4. How effective was the use of flashbacks - e.g. in the opening when Walker is shot and remembers Reece's pleas, Walker's wife reminiscing?
5. Why is the film framed within the prison of Alcatraz? Walker escapes at the beginning of the film (does he really?) and is free at the end. Comment on the use of stills of gulls and Walker on wire.
6. Walker goes through a purgatorial journey as he tries to track down his $93,000. What does he learn by the end of the film? Why is the island prison of Alcatraz symbolic?
7. What does the film say about the fidelity of human nature? Is anyone lovable or trustworthy?
8. Why is fear of bosses a strong theme, of the film - e.g. Big John, Steadman, Reece?
13. What kind of man is Walker - how does he live up to the tough individualistic American image (and the silver-haired Lee Marvin image)?
14. Comment on the cinematic use of colour and noise - e.g. Walker's wife’s house and the lotions on the floor, the sound of footsteps pursuing Walker's wife, "The Movie House", the strobe lights and the screaming, the nod, cons, switched on in Brewster's villa.
15. Row symbolic of our age is Point Blank? What does the film say about human freedom and being a victim of some system - especially at the end when Walker realises that in the whole process he has been used?
16. What does the film show of the ability to communicate in the 20th century - the grunts, unfinished conversations, fear, the noise that prevents hearing, Walker's wife's monotone?
17. What does the film show about the limitations of human relationships - e.g. Walker and Chris and not knowing Walker's first name?
18. Comment on the presentation of death, murder and violence in the film - as part of the 20th century way of life.
