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Raiders of the Lost Ark - a Flash-Bang Restrospective
Many, if not all, of you who frequent our site will have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark at some point in your lifetime; some might have gone deeper and watched documentaries on the making of this film or the whole Indiana Jones saga. So, this article is really just a fan's analytical appreciation of it. I mention scenes that I like and skim over the plot.
The first movie I watched on VHS sell-through videocassette was Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was destined to love this movie: it was directed by Steven Spielberg, written by George Lucas and starred Harrison Ford and scored by John Williams. It had the feel of the Republic serials that had regular airings on BBC-2, at tea time, and was one of the most violent "A" films so far. (As they were known, then, they’re PG-13 now).
Thank God for circumstance! Similar to the fated casting of Wolverine in X-Men, where Hugh Jackman replaced Dougray Scott, Harrison Ford got the job after Tom Selleck became unavailable. I have nothing against Selleck but it's difficult to see what he could have brought to the role (although the movie High Road to China gives an indication). Ford's acting is far more subtle, and deep, I feel.
For a film of its type Raiders has a muted beginning, with no fanfare introducing the logo, just a moody piece by John Williams. It's one of my favourite opening sequences of a movie. It's up there with Star Wars, Blade Runner, Once Upon A Time in The West and The Road Warrior. The slow build up leads to a reveal of Harrison Ford as he uses his whip to disarm an assassin. As Indy's followers get spooked by omens and statues, only one guide (played by Alfred Molina in his first role) is left to endure the horrors upon entry into the temple; corpses, spikes, poison darts and tarantulas. We learn of course, that it is more to do with entreprenueral spirit than bravery. There's a great bit of tension when Indy is about to swap the golden idol. Molina's character is studying Indy's every moment and the atmosphere is palpable. You just don't know what to expect. Of course, it culminates in the most famous scene when Indy is being chased by a giant stone sphere, only to land at the feet of a vicious looking tribe and the opposition; Dr Rene Belloq. Paul Freeman could have camped the role as Indy's nemesis, but instead plays the character as that of a businessman, who is only in it to make money or achieve everlasting life. 
I like the way that Belloq uses an intellectual way of defeating Dr Jones. Had Jones been able to speak Hovitos he may well have been able to negotiate rather than run with his tail between his legs. It immediately shows how Dr Jones manages to get into situations way above his head. There is a suggestion in this scene that Belloq gets other people to do his dirty work, before picking up the spoils, whereas Jones is a hands-on kind of guy and enjoys the thrill of first hand discovery. It's possibly something that Belloq has lost along the way.
As Jones finally gets into Jock's sea plane, we discover what scares him; snakes! Typically, in these kinds of stories, this is a signpost placed to give the audience an idea of what is to come. The score really kicks in during this scene, introducing the much loved Raiders theme that is as instantly recognisable as Harrison Ford's shadow.
Most women would still swoon in the presence of Mr Ford, so it's no surprise that the girls in the university are quite taken by Dr Jones. What surprised me upon first watching the movie is Indy's reaction. We've seen him dressed in the leather jacket, fedora, bull whip and revolver at his side, only to see him wearing glasses and a tweed suit nervously ignoring the flirtatious mischief from his female students. It shows the two sides of Jones. One wonders in which side he feels the most comfortable.
We have already seen, through Indy's description of the golden idol that he can be "giddy as a schoolboy" but it becomes more apparent during his explanation of The Ark of The Covenant to military intelligence: "Yes, the actual 10 Commandments the original stone tablets that Moses came down out of Mount Horeb and smashed if you believe in that sort of thing. Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday School? Look, the Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them into the Ark. When they settled in Cainan they put the Ark in a place called The Temple of Solomon where it stayed for many years. 'Till all of a sudden, whoosh, it was gone."
As Indy prepares for travel to Nepal, Marcus warns Jones of the seriousness of what he is about to undertake. Again, this is in contrast to the character of Marcus Brody in The Last Crusade.
"...for nearly three thousand years man has been searching for the lost ark. It's not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It's like nothing you've ever gone after before."
I like Denholm Elliot's delivery of the last sentence above. He carefully underlines the statement with brevity. The John Williams cue, playing in the background, underpins this also.
The plane journey is one of the signature moments that Spielberg borrowed from old serials; the red line tracing along a globe or map to show the viewers that the movie makers know their geography outside of the United States. This is where we first see the slimey, dangerous SS man, Major Arnold Toht played extremely well by Ronald Lacey. It isn't long before we learn of his cold blooded ruthlessness.
We are next introduced to Marion Ravenwood, playing a drinking game, in her bar, in Nepal. I never thought of Karen Allen as particularly glamorous but she plays the part extremely well. The script lets the actors down a little, with the unnecessary exposition of their relationship in a few lines, before Jones gets around to questioning Marion about the head piece. He exits only to have Toht enter with his Nepalese lackeys. One of them is played by Pat Roach. He was famous for being in the UK comedy drama Auf Wiedersehn Pet, and would feature in two roles in Raiders; more memorably, the huge German soldier fighting Indy at the flying wing later in the movie.
Toht threatens Marion with a white hot poker, obviously getting his jollies through sadistic torture. Luckily, a trusty whip flings the poker away in time, as Dr Jones reappears to dispatch the Nepalese thugs. First time around I was surprised at just how much violence there was in this film, for its rating. At one point, a lackey gets set on fire then shot in the head, blood streaming from the entry wound.
In a dark comedy moment, Toht grabs the head piece that has been heating away, so that it sears one half of the writing into the flesh of his palm. Screaming in pain, he runs out to the snow to relieve the 1st degree burn.
As the bar burns to the ground, Marion insists Indy take her to Cairo. They are now business partners. There they meet Sallah, a friend. This was another expert piece of casting in John Rhys-Davies. Rhys-Davies tends to play sympathetic characters that are either strong or strong in personality. Here, Rhys-Davies plays Sallah as a warm family man that has a liking for Gilbert and Sullivan.
During the time spent at Sallah's home, we are introduced to a simian character that cause no small amount of mischief. The highlight of which has to be the "Sieg Hiel". He belongs to the monkey vendor, a spy for the Nazis. This vendor guy reminds me of the creature sniffing out plots during the Mos Eisley sequence in Star Wars, who ultimately leads stormtroopers to the Falcon in its hanger bay.
During a fight in the streets of Cairo, we get the famous ad-lib from Harrison Ford. Suffering with a stomach bug, Ford had no interest in an elaborate fight scene against an expert swordsman, so he took out his gun and shot the bloke. The joke of which gets a good laugh from the audience. The other scene I like in this sequence is when Indy, chasing a bad guy carrying Marion in a basket finds the main street full of citizens carrying baskets. The look on Ford's face says it all before the reveal.
The shot of the truck keeling over looked a bit amateurish for a feature of this calibre but is a minor quibble. It's good to see that Indy does what most guys do when they've lost the girl - he goes and gets drunk. In the bar, he gets "captured" by German forces and has to meet with Belloq. Another comedy moment happens when Indy is "rescued" by Sallah's children, who arrive in the nick of time before Indy gets a hail of bullets. They're used as a type of human shield to get Indy away to meet Sallah once again.
We come to another shot that I like; Indy and Sallah get the head-piece interpreted by a local businessman. A bowl of dates is being prepared, and we see the money vendor lace the dates with poison. As Sallah and Indy realise that the Germans are digging in the wrong place, Indy flings a date only to be caught mid-air by Sallah.
"Bad Dates" Sallah says looking at the monkey, stiff as a board, on the floor. The Map Room has one of the best pieces of John Williams score, as Indy locates the Well of the Souls from the sun hitting the Staff of Ra. (nobody mention Stargate please).
Digging at the Well of the Souls begins as a thunderhead moves overhead that reminded me of Poltergeist; same sort of effects I guess.
"Indy, why does the floor move?"
As signposted earlier, Indy does not like snakes and the Well of the Souls is full of them. Clearly, for anyone, this is not the place to go sight see. Indy and Sallah retrieve the Ark only to hand it over to Belloq and the Germans.
"What a fitting end to your life's pursuits. You're about to become a permanent addition to this archaeological find. Who knows? In a thousand years, even you may be worth something."
I like the delivery Ford gives to the response;
*laughs* "son of a b*tch*!" It shows the very human sense of humour to all situations however dire.
Also like Poltergeist is the scene where Marion is momentarily trapped by a host of corpses. It is comparable to the scene in Poltergeist when Mrs Freeling gets caught in the flooded outside pool with a number of corpses from the original graveyard under the houses. Looking at the scene in Raiders, Spielberg makes it look like the dead are attacking Marion. When Indy arrives, there is an implication that Marion has been imagining a more threatening situation.
During the flying wing fight and subsequent Indiana gets roughed up pretty badly. You really believe that this guy is taking he punches. He has no super-powers, he's just a guy.
Indy successfully steals away the Ark only to have it stolen again, whilst on a ship bound for London. Threatening to blow it up with a rocket propelled grenade, later, Belloq persuades him otherwise:
"All your life has been spent in pursuit of archaeological relics. Inside the Ark are treasures beyond your wildest aspirations. You want to see it opened as well as I. Indiana, we are simply passing through history. This, this *is* history."
Belloq had said before, in the bar after Marion's "death";
"You and I are very much alike. Archeology is our religion, yet we have both fallen from the pure faith. Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light."
He's not far off track. Belloq is interesting because he isn't totally evil, he's a driven man who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to use questionable methods to get it. The scenes in which he is, in a sense, courting Marion he shows more of his lighter side. He is fascinated by Marion, and doesn't want to see Indy or the Nazis get hold of her. He certainly isn't happy at her being trapped in the Well of the Souls.
The final scenes are set. Belloq recites an ancient Hebrew rite, unleashing the power of the Ark that destroys him and his Nazi masters. More similarity to Poltergeist here, as the ghosts look a little like the apparitions seen in the Freeling house. In this case I think it's the technology behind the effects. Now, the spirits would most likely be rendered by computer.
Indy somehow knows that Marion and he should shield their eyes from the events going on around them. It's not open to much analysis but it could have been down to Indy's previous encounters with the paranormal.
The iconic end shows the Ark being placed amongst hundreds of crates. It almost looks as if the crate containing the Ark is not the most important item in this huge warehouse. The X-Files series took this imagery further by implying that alien artifacts are being kept by the US government in this type of warehouse. The Ark would certainly qualify as an "alien" device. Indy is disappointed that the Ark is hidden away and not on display in a high-security museum. This is what Jones is about, and is highlighted in Last Crusade as the young Indiana gets into trouble attempting to free the Cross of Coronado.
Whilst I enjoyed Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, Raiders is a far superior movie to both of them. Last Crusade was too jokey and portrayed the characters differently. I don't know what to say about Temple of Doom. Kate Capshaw's character Willie annoyed me, but i thought Short Round was a good sidekick. The action was sound and pushed the violence a little further than Raiders, in some respects. But, both sequels lack the soul that Raiders has. The energy is there, but there's something missing. Wether Crystal Skull reclaims any of that soul is doubtful, and to be honest I'm not going into the movie expecting it to recapture any of Raiders magic. If it is as good as Last Crusade, I wil be happy that Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford have made a fourth outing.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my more revered movies along with The Road Warrior, Blade Runner, Near Dark, The Thing...I could go on, but won't.
Coming very soon, the review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Expect thrills, spills and...who knows?"
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