Movie review: Slaughterhouse-Five

January 29th, 2008

Make way, Jonathan Ross, I’m coming after you.

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) dir. George Roy Hill
Starring: Michael Sacks, Valerie Perrine, Ron Leibman
Adapted from the novel ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ by Kurt Vonnegut

Rating 4/5
Yes jam Yes jam Yes jam Yes jam No jam

Here’s an interesting one. I bought this DVD as part of a box set, without having seen it, because the book had been described for several years as “unfilmable”, and then they made a film of it. It had come top of some ‘top ten’ kind of listing of such films. Then I forgot about it for a couple of years. Then I read the book and, some time later still, watched the film.

We should start with why it’s unfilmable. Aside from the fact that a good quarter of the book involves the author speaking directly to the reader, often about the process of writing the book itself, it is one of the most disjointed storylines imaginable. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, has an unusual affliction where his conscious mind is able to slide in and out of any moment in his life. He skids backwards and forward as the fancy takes him, revisiting the bits he likes. His connection to the ‘present’, whatever that means, is tenuous.

Billy Pilgrim’s life is not an easy one. Drafted into the US Army while still relatively young, he is taken hostage by Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. After the war he marries a woman he hates and watches his children grow up, working as an orthodontist. He is abducted by aliens who force him to mate with his favourite B-movie actress. The various events that take place in these three very different phases of his life are muddled around in the book as Billy slides around between them. You are probably starting to see why this was described as ‘unfilmable’.

So what of the film? Made from a book like this it could easily be messy, but it flows remarkably well. But it’s hard to tell how much of it would still have made sense if I hadn’t read the book first. Certainly the film would not have made so much sense if it hadn’t come from such a well-written novel, and even then, some of the rougher edges have been carefully smoothed off to shoehorn its strange plotline onto the screen.

As a film, it’s certainly not comfortable viewing all the way through, but its various depictions of the firebombing of Dresden and alien worlds work remarkably well, and the occasional shot of a naked young actress is also quite welcome. But the real wonder here is the performance from the various lead actors – the lead three or four characters are remarkably well played, understated to offset the rather outlandish plot line, and it’s strange that the people playing them have sunk into relative obscurity.

All in all, a brave and largely successful attempt at some pretty bizarre subject matter. Funny and surprising, it’s definitely worth a shot and another easy four jams.

This film on IMDB

Entry Filed under: Chris,Movie review

9 Comments

  • 1. Kevil  |  January 29th, 2008 at 18:34

    All I can say is… parp.

  • 2. Chris  |  January 29th, 2008 at 19:33

    You’ve been missing from The Beans for a whole year and that’s it? That’s all you can say?

  • 3. Ian Mac Mac Mac Mac McIver  |  January 30th, 2008 at 07:20

    I can say more than that. I would say that sounds intriguing because I read ‘Breakfast of Champions’ by Vonnegut ages ago which had a similar sort of narrative where the author is involved in the story, and then they said that was unfilmable, and then they made a bloody film out of it! They recently said that about Atonement by Ian McKewan and then, woah, they made a film.

    I think it’s just a way of getting a little extra publicity. We should write a book, claim it to be so difficult to film it could never be done… and then shoot it in me mam’s cellar 😀

  • 4. Chris  |  January 30th, 2008 at 11:29

    Never read Breakfast of Champions, though I’d like to. That style is his thing, I think – I also read Timequake by him and it had the same sort of thing going on.

    He makes a cameo appearance in Slaughterhouse Five (the book), where a random soldier says a line and then the text says “That was me. I said that.”

    So is it a one-off return or should there be more of this tripe, dependant of course on whether I ever watch another film?

  • 5. Ian Mac Mac Mac Mac McIver  |  January 30th, 2008 at 11:54

    They should come and go as they please. Never be tied down. Use the force. We wanna be free! We wanna be free to… to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time. That’s what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna have a good time.

    We’re gonna have a party!!!!

  • 6. Kevil  |  January 30th, 2008 at 16:19

    parp.

  • 7. Ian Mac Mac Mac Mac McIver  |  January 30th, 2008 at 16:58

    Nice input there Kevin.

  • 8. Chris  |  January 30th, 2008 at 17:19

    Nice movie speech, Ian, but it would have been improved by a gospel choir coming in halfway through with “I don’t wanna lose you now!” and some big brass stuff.

    Maybe not now, but in the early 90s that would have been ace. You should have done that then.

  • 9. Ian Mac Mac Mac Mac McIver  |  January 31st, 2008 at 09:01

    I should have done that then yes. Had I had access to such a website and be gifted with the skills I have now *audience laughs* I’m sure it would have fit like a glove. Speaking of gloves I was coming out of a strip joint last night *audience laughs* no, no, let me finish… 🙂


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