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Ravenous
Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities
Propaganda
In 1847, the USA was a land of pioneers, of gold starved Americans making their way west. It was a period of manifest destiny, the inevitability of the country extending its boundaries, stretching out its arms and consuming all the land it could. Captain John Boyd (Guy Pearce) has become both a hero and a victim during this period of relentless consumption... in ways he could never have imagined. Boyd's journey to hell begins when an act of cowardice during a horrific Mexico/USA war battle earns him banishment to a desolate military outpost, a way station for western travellers in the barren and icy Sierra Nevada mountains in California.
Upon his arrival he is greeted by a small, motley group of soldiers, including his commanding officer, Hart (Jeffrey Jones), a man who has pretty much given up on life; Toffler (Jeremy Davies), the fort's personal emissary to the Lord; Knox (Stephen Spinella), the doctor who never met a bottle of whiskey he didn't like; Reich (Neal McDonough), the no-nonsense soldier of the group; and the over-medicated Cleaves (David Arquette), a cook whose meals are inspired more by peyote than culinary ambitions.
Into this cold, bleak and bizarre world staggers a stranger, Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle), a half-starved Scot who had been travelling with a group of settlers until they became snowbound. Seeking refuge in a cave, they soon ran out of food - and were forced to consume one another. Colqhoun barely escaped becoming an hors d'oeuvre himself.
Colqhoun's tale has ramifications beyond cannibalism and the will to survive. It involves an old Indian myth called Weendigo, which states that a man who eats the flesh of another steals that person's strength, spirit and very essence. His hunger becomes an insatiable craving: the more he eats, the more he wants, and the stronger he becomes. There can never be enough, and death is the only escape.
Boyd and the others soon get up close and personal with the Weendigo legend after discovering that Colqhoun holds an incredible secret, one that eventually will present Boyd with the ultimate carnivorous conundrum: whether to eat dinner or be dinner. It's feast or famine for this beleaguered soldier: will he die a lonely hero's death... or become a cannibalistic abomination - happy, strong and glowing with health?
Bon appetit!
Persons of interest
- Guy Pearce .... Captain John Boyd
- Robert Carlyle .... Colonel Ives/FW Colqhoun
- David Arquette .... Private Cleaves
- Jeremy Davies .... Private Toffler
- Jeffrey Jones .... Colonel Hart
- John Spencer .... General Slauson
- Stephen Spinella .... Major Knox
- Neal McDonough .... Private Reich
- Joseph Runningfox .... George
- Bill Brochtrup .... Lindus
- Sheila Tousey .... Martha
- David Heyman .... Mr Janus
- Tim Van Rellim .... Mr MacCready
- Miezi Sungu .... Jones
- Abel Woolrich .... Borracho
- Kate Mestitz .... Mrs MacCready
- Ted Griffin .... Screenwriter
- Antonia Bird .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
Hmmm...
I, as you know, am a canny vegetable, able to make sense of the most senseless things imaginable. I didn't quite get the hang of Ravenous. At the beginning you think it's a docu-drama about the Mexico/USA war. Wrong! That's just a gory intro to the real story which is a docu-drama about soldiers in a frontier fort. Wrong! It's an adventure mystery about... wrong! It's a... wrong!
What this film is about is... supernatural gore. Some mystic mumbo jumbo (does anyone know if the Weendigo is a valid Indian nation cultural artefact?) in an isolated spot, some scary bits, lots of ewww bits. Your basic horror story. With orange blood. What is it with American blood? Is it too much McDonald's? Not enough iron? Not enough fibre? Why isn't it red like everyone else's?
</rant>
The story ambles along at a suitably 19th century pace, the characters are... well, see the Propaganda, the gore is gory, the horror is not very horrible (Cannibalism? Only if you're a soccer team crashing in the Andes), the performances are a little off centre (ie I wasn't sure if that was the script or the directing)... you get the picture.
Ravenous is a little movie which you can watch and enjoy at a superficial level, but don't expect your brain to be needed. Switch it off and save a few neurons.
And what was happening with the weather?
Media intelligence (DVD)
- Commentaries:
- Antonia Bird
- Robert Carlyle, Ted Griffin, Jeffrey Jones
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
- Stills galleries
Security censorship classification
MA 15+ (Medium level violence)
Surveillance time
108 minutes (1:48 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
DVD rental: 3 October 2001
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