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"
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