You've Got Some Red On You

Let's face it, a lot of people have a Plan Z. Whether it's going to a secluded area or a major department store, most people have an idea in the back of their minds of an escape route in case of a zombie apocalypse. In a world of action stars and heroic films, Shaun of the Dead (2004), the original rom-com-zom, gives us a glimpse of what the average person would do.

Shaun, played by Simon Pegg, spends the first part of the film being rather pathetic and having no real direction in life. Things are changing all around him, and he doesn't seem to be able to keep up. His lack of motivation, ambition and responsibility is deterioration his relationship with girlfriend Liz and his increasingly harder to defend best friend Ed is becoming a burden on his shoulders. Essentially, Shaun is a loser, and an unlikely hero. Post-breakup, Shaun tries to find focus and direction so as not to end up at the pub every night, drinking himself to death, wondering what the hell happened. In the midst of getting his life together is a full scale zombie outbreak and an opportunity to prove himself. This scenario makes of him an antihero. Pegg gives a fantastic and very real performance that is both hilarious and touching.

Ed, Shaun's best friend, is played by the wonderful Nick Frost. Ed is particularly apathetic and lazy. He's not really going anywhere in life and doesn't particulalry care. Frost's acting has a sort of naive quality to it that makes him a very real and natural actor. It's very easy to be charmed by him. The real life friendship between Pegg and Frost gives them a wonderful chemistry on screen and perfect comic timing.
 

Liz, played by Kate Ashfield, is the voice of reason in the film. She is the sensible, straight character that grounds the people around her. She wants more from life and is generally more motivated than most. With the exception of Shaun, the women often take much more initiative that the men. The relationship between Shaun and Liz is pretty much dead, but interestingly, it's the undead situation that resurrects their couple in the end. Peter Serafinowicz plays Pete, a role that was written with him in mind. Serafinowicz is wonderfully brilliant at playing the perfect asshole. Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis play well off each other as the couple David and Dianne. Both their performances have a lot of subtleness to them that reveal more than is said. Dianne has such heartbroken and hurt expressions when David exhibits little behaviors that indicates his love for Liz. David is insufferable, but is right most of the time. He never really gets to redeem himself since he gets eaten before he can appologize. Shaun's stepdad, played by Bill Nighy, is built up as a monster, but he really ends up being a sweet man. Sadly, right after Shaun realizes this, he becomes an actual monster. Shaun's mum is really sweet and a little naive. Penelope Wilton's performance tugs at the heart strings. She adds a lot of subtle behavior even when the focus is not on her, notably in the care of the bite on her wrist. When she finally does become a zombie, Wilton has a very troubling and haunted quality to her expression. It's very unsettling.

An element I find particularly fantastic, is that the film doesn't follow the heroes that will save the world from this breakout. It follows the average people who attempt to survive, but don't really have the skills set to properly defend themselves. They are ill-equiped to fight and have a hard time using weapons such as guns, even though they play lots of video games. The interesting bit is that we see a group of people that are much better and more heroic. Yvonne and her group are shown in a miror image that reflect our heroes with their much better dooplegangers. Yvonne reappears to save them at the end accompanied by a military force that always reminded me of UNIT. All in all, even though we follow the "losers", they are wonderful characters to which we become very attached.

The film starts in a very normal way without horror references. It gives the audience the chance to be acquainted with the characters, that are presented, I must say, very efficiently. I like that the film is set in a very suburban backdrop instead of the touristy parts of London. The people that appear working and living in the opening credits can be seen as zombies throughout the film. This segment presents life as being, for most people, mundane, mindless and repetitive and most of us are staggering through life like, well, zombies. What struck me the most was the scene in the bus. Not having a car, I was sitting in a bus recently and realized how much bus rides really look like that...it's uncanny.

The first inkling of zombies occurs in a wonderfully mirrored scene of the first morning. As the breakout progresses, our protagonist carries about his routine without noticing the trashed cars or the pool of blood he slipped in. It slowly comes to his attention, but something always distracts him just before he realizes. The place of the media in this film is rather interesting. In the beginning Shaun sees various clips of television shows, notably the news channel, which is a good portal to explain the events. Many of the same shows reappear at the end of the film and we see how they are affected by the zombie crisis. Like many of the characters in the film, even though they are living through a traumatic and life threatening experience, they are still wrapped up in their little problems. The woman on Trisha is still dealing with her relationship with her husband and the main characters are still having tiffs in this potentially fatal situation. This is particularly apparent during the stand off in the pub. It's rather ridiculous to be fighting over who's in love with whom and who's jealous of whom when very real dangers are all around them.

What I love about the films these actors/writers/directors give us is that no matter how outrageous and silly the situation, there is always heart to it. Their works are very versatile; amidst the hilarious moments, they never shy away from dramatic and touching scenes. Fundamentally, the characters feel real and no matter how silly or ridiculous the situation, there is always a sense of truth.

From the beginning, the sense of humour is clealry that of Pegg and Wright with a little twist of Frost. The extremely witty dialogue and fast pace editing make for a brilliant film. Many scenes are mirrored throughout the film and many moments are self referencing. A lot of the dialogue is premonitory. There are many examples of premonitions during the film, such as Ed saying "Next time I see him (Pete), he's dead." which of course he is and when Pete says "You wanna live like an animal, then why don't you go live in the shed?!" in the end, Ed does just that as a zombie. However, the most complete moment is Ed's plan of what to do with Shaun post breakup. He basically lays out the entire film in that instant. He says that "we'll have a bloody mary first thing" (the next morning they find a girl in the garden called Mary), "bite the king's head" (reference to Phillip), a couple (David and Dianne), little princess (Liz), stagger back here (impersonate zombies to get to the Winchester), bar for shots (reference to the riffle). Now, how's that for a slice of fried gold?

Shaun of the Dead is the first film in the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, sometimes called the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. Basically, the only thing that links these three films together is the inclusion of a scene in which one of the characters eats a different flavour of Cornetto ice cream. In Shaun of the Dead, Ed borrows Edgar Wright's hangover remedy by enjoying a red strawberry Cornetto. In Hot Fuzz, there is a scene involving a classic blue Cornetto and allegedly, the yet to be made next installment will feature a green mint chocolat chip Cornetto.  

Shaun of the Dead is chock-full of details. Everything that is significant is red. This color appears here and there in the film: the red car, the red headband, the red button for the lift at the end. These are all objects that are of importance to the characters or the story. There is a lot of stuff going on in the background; you could easily watch this film without even looking at the main characters. Many great zombie moments happen in the background while other things are going on. Another zombie detail is that all of them are wearing very muted colors, like beiges, greys and browns.

For Spaced fans, there are a few references here and there. Some appear in the form of a joke reprised from the series and others are more subtile. If you look closely at some of the scenes near the pub, like the one in the picture to the left, Tyres appears as one of the zombies. Another nod to Spaced is the short conversation between Shaun and Yvonne, played by Jessica (Hynes) Stevenson. Their conversation really feels as if Tim and Daisy moved on and are catching up.

Tarantino most visibly marked the beginning of a new generation of filmmakers that have consumed large amounts of films, video games and comics. The influence of this immense baggage of knowledge seeps in through their work. In this and other works, both Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, who co-wrote Shaun of the Dead, include references to many zombie and horror films. Now, I'm a total scaredy cat. I still have nightmares of Doctor Who episodes I've seen 3 years ago, so I’m not a great connoisseur of horror and zombie films. However, according to what I could gather from extra features and such, the film draws a lot of inspiration from Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) as well as a few more. The title automatically tips off that the film pokes fun at the genre. However, this film must not be confused with a spoof. Being a comedy, it's easy to think it's a mockery of these films. Shaun of the Dead is not making fun of this genre, but rather paying hommage to it. It's a comedy in which there are zombies. The characters themselves are comical and sometimes silly, but the zombies themselves are never really ridiculous. They are very real source of danger and some bits are even frightening.

The DVD has a lot of really fun extras. It features the trailer, photo galleries, bloopers, deleted scenes and extended bits of the tv shows, which are hilarious. There are also two entertaining commentary tracks, plus a storyboard and Zomb-o-meter track. What I particularly like are the plot holes explained via comic strips by Oscar Wright. Some extras expose the special effects while others are just fun tidbits. It's definetly a DVD worth getting and exploring. If the impending doom of World War Z happened tomorrow, how would you survive?

Self Preservation Society

No one in Europe has seen a heist like The Italian Job (1969). Indeed this film inspires a form of rivalry or competition between Britain and the rest of Europe. From the beginning, the story pits "our lads" against "their lads" and so, allows itself to showcase the brilliance of the British and poke fun at the Italians. This is why it is often referred to as a eurosceptic film.

Fresh off the success of Alfie (1966), Michael Caine joins the cast of The Italian Job as the determined Charlier Croker, a recently released crook with big plans. This character is often categorized as a post-war antihero. He is not a typical hero in the sens that he is a criminal, but he and the rest of the crew are shown in a positive and likable light. Charlie's style and charisma swiftly takes the audience in and allows you to relate with this band of thieves. This is of course an iconic role for Caine and his performance is positively charming.

On the other hand, we have the prestigious Mr. Bridger, played by Noel Coward. His importance in the world of organized crime is sensed immediately. He is treated like royalty and expects everything from his jobs on the go to his accommodations in prison to be just right. Many of his scenes are accompanied by a wonderful piece of classical music which adds a very pompous and often hilarious effect. Coward was at the end of a long career and unfortunately, was having trouble remembering his lines. Thus, some of the script was cut down, but I don't think it shows very much in the finished product. His long time partner, Graham Payn, took a small role so he could be next to him if there was a problem. There is a deep personal relationship between Coward and the film's director Peter Collinson. Collinson is a kind Hollywood orphan, born of parents that were in the business and didn't really want him. When Coward met this sad little boy, he took him on as his godson. Coward later started Collinson off in the film making business and they remained very close. So, for Collinson, to include Coward in this film was like showing him that he had made it. Unfortunately, Coward died soon after making the film and so it is touching that this film would be his last.

What I find unique in this film is the presence of many great comedic actors taking on various small roles. The great talent of these actors makes even the smallest of parts buzz with personality. Most of the crew involved in the heist have very little to say, but their personalities are very distinctive. In the one or two moments they are highlighted, you get a clear idea of what they are like. The technical side of the operation is run by Prof. Peach played by Benny Hill. His love of big women, though not to the comical taste of everyone, makes him out to be a silly comic relief character. His sister, Miss Peach, is played brilliantly by Irene Handl. Though the character is short lived, Handl's impeccable comic timing makes her memorable. Maggie Blye plays the american Lorna, which honestly doesn't really accomplish much in the film. Her character is mainly there to be pretty and appear as some form of love interest for Charlie. Rossano Brazzi, an Italian film star, has a cameo appearance as Beckerman. His interventions are very interesting since most of his scenes are film projections.

The wonderful Italian actor Raf Vallone appears as the film's villain, even though technically speaking, the main characters are villains as well. You get a feel for the Italian mobsters right from the beginning. Even though they are killing people and destroying cars, there is an elegance and class to it. Their actions are not done at random; there is a method to it and a respect. I find this particularly shows at the beginning when they throw a wreath down the mountain after killing Beckerman.

Interestingly, Peter Collinson would mention his wife, Hazel, in some way or another, in each of his films for luck. Sometimes he would hang a picture of her in a scene or have someone mention her name. In the Italian Job, when Charlie takes out a crow bar from under his bed, he says to it: "Hazel, my lovely". 

The film opens in the picturesque swerving mountains of Turin. The wonderful ballad that accompanies the scene evokes a calm romantic car ride, which makes it especially surprising when the car crashes. The scene is really pertinent since it does foreshadow the events that happen towards the end of the film. The song even appears again as Charlie and the others are driving down the same road and get stopped by the mob. There are many great moments in the film, but there is a delightful scene between Caine and John Clive when Charlie returns to a garage to get his car. This has a slightly different feel than the rest of the film, mainly because it is mostly improvised. There is a real energy and dynamism to the scene that gives off a sketch vibe and is very funny. Because it is improvised, the scene is not particularly well-lit since the crew didn't know where the actors were going to be. A scene that remains a coup de coeur for me is the "funeral". It's incredibly creative to hold a "funeral" to get out of prison and speak with his crew. Mr. Bridger gives a wonderful speech about great aunt Nelly. 

Also very intriguing, the prison scenes were shot in an unused Irish prison that has since been transformed into a museum. Apparently, it was a slightly eerie place that still had some markings on the walls from past prisoners. It was a very economical shoot. Practically every scene that was shot was used in the final cut. I enjoy that the film rarely translates what is said in Italian. The characters' body language and the context is information enough to grasp what they are saying.The explosion of the van in the test run sequence really ended up being much bigger than anticipated. A quick escape had to be made afterwards so as not to get into trouble. I guess the famous line "You were only suppose to blow the bloddy doors off!" is really appropriate.

Besides the actors, the many classic cars featured in the film are characters themselves. Honestly, this is the best advertisement Mini Coopers could have ever gotten. The blue, red and white Mini Coopers have reached iconic status. It's a shame the company didn't want to be involved in the production. You can hear many hearts breaking as many classic cars are crushed and destroyed during the course of the film. Luckily, theses cars were junkyard finds that were motorless and dented on the sides that weren't shot. However, these scenes are nothing without the fantastic stunt team lead by Rémy Julienne. This film required a lot of stunt driving through hallways, cafés, down flights of stairs and on rooftops, so I tip my hat to those drivers that made it look effortless. Interestingly, there is very little music throughout the chase scene except at the very end when "Get a Bloomin' Move On (The Self Preservation Society)" chimes it with a sound very different from the rest of the music in the film. It's a wonderful song full of cockney slang that I don't even come close to understanding and adds a lot of fun at the end of the film.

In terms of the heist itself, the plan on paper sounds more intricate than it looks when executed. The traffic jam in Turin is impressive, mainly because some parts of it is real. Certain parts of the streets were blocked off and so the normal flow of traffic streamed into the square and caused the jam that we see on screen. Around 50 to 100 cars were used for the scenes. At the time, Turin had one of the most complexe traffic technology in Europe. As for the actual technical side of the traffic jam, I'm not 100% sure of how it works. I'm sure you if you understand europeen technology from the sixties, it probably makes sens. What's surprising is that the rest of the plan is essentially a smash and grab job. A) Ambush truck, B) Beat up cops, C) Steal gold. You may be thinking: but why doesn't anyone have guns? Well, at the time it was very rare in Britain for criminals to have guns. Something that struck me is how little security surrounds the transportation of 4 Million worth in gold: A few gards and a fragile looking lock that broke with very little difficulty. It seems a little careless doesn't it? Nonetheless, the heist is very entertaining and cleverly done.

The film litteraly has a clifthanger ending. Originally, the ending was designed to be a set up for a sequel that was never made. However, some of the elements that were meant for this sequel, found their way into the 2003 version of The Italian Job. The film would possibly be more satisfying if it had ended a few minutes earlier on the high of the succesful heist, but this ending is not entirely bad. It is simply another challenge that the clever Charlie will have to face. We head off, while they stay in this very uncomfortable perdicament and hope that the Charlie thinks of something.

The Special Collector's Edition DVD includes some nice extras. It features deleted scenes (well, one) as well as a commentary track for them (well, it), the original and the re-release trailer, and a commentary track with producer Michael Deeley and author Matthew Field. Unfortunately, the producer seems to have some trouble recollecting some information and often needs egging on from Field to talk. Thus, most of the precise insight comes from Field. By no means is The Italian Job an accurate picture of the world of crime, but it is a brilliant British classic full of wit and fun.