In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Saturday, 4 January 2020

Zardoz (1974)

Dir. John Boorman's futuristic fantasy is a cinematic marvel; that doesn't mean it's good, just that it's a damned pretty film and as bonkers as it is daring.
It stars Sean Connery as an exterminator named Zed, whose job is to cull the human breeding population so that his god, the titular Zardoz, will be appeased. But when Zed crosses a dividing line and mingles with a closed society of aimless immortals, his presence disrupts their colourful dark age.
The phrase 'dazzle with brilliance or baffle with bullshit' has rarely seemed so apt. Its playful philosophy and eccentricities are entertaining for a while, but what's most perplexing is how something so concerned with creativity and colour can be so obtusely boring and routine for long periods of time. Even so, I'm glad it exists because such diversity enriches the cinematic landscape.

2½ memory images out of 5

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