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| Figure 1: Movie Poster [Still Image] |
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) is an American action- adventure film co-directed by Ronald Neame and
Irwin Allen. It is a film based on a novel by Paul Gallico bearing the same
name.
The plot revolves around a luxurious ocean liner, SS Poseidon, on its
last route of travel, which is from New York City to Athens before making its
way to retirement. As the ship was behind schedule, company representative Linarcos ordered the
ship’s captain, Captain Harrison, to go on a full speed ahead despite the
captain’s persistent objection as he knew that is not a wise decision to make.
Just after everyone on board who are gathered in the huge ballroom to
welcome the new year, the ship is hit by a tsunamis that was caused by an
underwater earthquake. She is overturned and the lives of most of the ship’s
crew, including Captain Harrison and Linarcos, who were on the bridge were
lost.
Passengers and remaining crew that survived the overturn are trapped
inside and a preacher, Revenant Scott, who believes that God will help those
who help themselves, attempts to convince everyone to follow him in search of
safety. However, he only managed to convince a small group of survivors. The
survivors include Susan Shelby and her younger brother, Robin whose interest
lies in how the ship works and paid multiple visits to the engine room during
his time on board, retired hardware store owner Manny Rosen and his wife Belle,
an introvert, conscious about his health bachelor,James Martin, the singer’s
ship Nonnie Parry, Detective Liuetenant Mike Rogo and his ex prostitute wife,
Linda.
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| Figure 2: The Survivors [Still Image] |
Survivors such as Detective Rogo and Revenant Scott possesses the
dominant role and whereas Nonnie, the singer, represents the weaker link. Mrs
Rosen and Linda Rogo are characters who possesses the dominant role in their
relationship as in it can be seen in their screenplay. An example that Mrs
Rosen has been taking the dominant role would be at one point when Mr Rosen
told her “For the past 20 years, I’ve
been listening to you. Now, it’s time for you to listen to me.” An example
of Linda taking on the dominant role in her relationship with Detective Rogo
would be when she said “You son of a
bitch. Go help him” and he calmly replies to her “Okay,
Okay”. The characteristics that each survivor possess are relatable to the
audience because in every community, there are always people of that sort. A
film critic Robert Siegel supports this statement because in his review, he
highlights "If audiences achieve empathy with our
protagonists, the perils they experience will be more deeply felt, will be more
real." (Siegel, 2012)
As this film was made prior to the introduction of Computer Generated
Imagery (CGI), everything in this film was built physically and the sets were
extensively elaborated. With no advance technology present at the time this
film was made, removing safety cables from stunt actors as they plunge to their
death in the ballroom scene was impossible but in terms of art directors, the
stunt directors wanted to achieve the utmost realism so they improvised. In his
review, Richard Luck explains how this was done. He states “Allen’s stunt directors demanded as much realism as possible. So when
you see the ballroom roll over, what you’re looking at is a combination of an
elaborate set, intricate model work coupled with death-defying stunt
performances. The air of authenticity is further accentuated by Allen’s
insistence on shooting in sequence and allowing the principals to perform all
but the most dangerous feats themselves. “ (Luck, 2014)
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| Figure 3: Production Sketches [Still Image] |
In conclusion, this is an example of a film that has a
solid narrative and does not need CGI to make it believable. The overall look
of this film was convincing and not only that made it one of the most
successful disaster film of that era but even to date. In an interview carried
out by Los Angeles Time, Lynley, who played the role of the ship’s singer,
Nonnie, said "The
movie has a life of its own. It just gets to people and the fact that it has
lived as long as it's lived is extraordinary." (Susan
King, 2012)
List of Illustrations:
Figure 1 The Poseidon Adventure (1972) [Poster] at http://www.impawards.com/1972/posters/poseidon_adventure_ver2_xlg.jpg (Accessed on 2 April 2014)
Figure 2 The Survivors (1972) [Still Image] at http://31.media.tumblr.com/fa66cff3f96ce4b5ba4188bfe1102063/tumblr_msrihnumK91se34hmo1_1280.jpg (Accessed on 2 April 2014)
Figure 3 Production Sketches (1972) [Still Image] at http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=8479 (Accessed on 2 April 2014)
List of Bibliography:
King, Susan (2012) A Return To
'The Poseidon Adventure' At: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/24/entertainment/la-et-mn-poseidon-adventure-classic-hollywood-20121224
(Accessed on 2 April 2014)
Luck, Richard (2014) The Making Of
The Poseidon Adventure At:
http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/the-making-of-the-poseidon-adventure/#_
(Accessed on 2 April 2014)
Siegel, Robert (2012) Hell Upside
Down: The Making of The Poseidon Adventure http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=8479
(Accessed on 2 April 2014)
