All you need is a leather jacket, a whip, a fedora, and some stubble...

It is Indiana Jones Week here at the Middlebrow Film Society! As the world knows, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens on Thursday (you can’t pick up a can of Dr. Pepper without being reminded). In the past few weeks I have really cracked the whip and spent some quality time with everyone’s favorite archeologist (sorry Louis Leakey). Be sure to check the site each day: there will be reviews of Indy’s three prior adventures as well as essays on the cultural impact of Dr. Jones. Everything culminates with my authoratative review of the latest installment at the end of the week. Be sure to share your thoughts, memories, and predictions on the comments pages. I am overly excited, in fact, I am attempting to keep a five o’clock shadow for the entire week.

Let’s start back at the very beginning. The year was 1935 (or 1981 if you have a crummy imagination) and the movie was…

INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
From the moment that the Paramount logo fades to reveal a South American mountain it is clear that IJATROTLA is a classic. There is no moment in the entire film that does not feel carefully planed and wonderfully executed. Viewers who return to this film will find that most it is emblazoned in your memory exactly as it appears. This is a sign of truly iconic filmmaking. Those of us who viewed IJATROTLA as children will find that the movie is even more impressive from a more mature perspective.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are film geeks and their love of the Golden Age of Hollywood is clear in much of their early work (The Star Wars movies pay clear homage to Akira Kurosawa and John Huston). With IJATROTLA, the filmmakers have used a period piece to celebrate the movies of that same era. The result is some of the best film noir imagery to be captured on color film. Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones first enters the picture as a shadow that slowly reveals itself. The contrast between light and dark on screen, which was a hallmark of the noir genre, is used, with great skill, to heighten suspense just it did seventy years ago. Indy and Karen Allen’s hard boiled (and hard drinking) Marion fit perfectly along side of the noir characters of the 1930s.

The status of IJATROTLA as a summer blockbuster (it was the highest grossing movie of 1981) may cause some to forget that it is also a great comedy. Borrowing liberally from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and the Marx Brother’s Lucas and Spielberg have worked some serious laughs into their action adventure movie. Almost every comedic bit requires no dialogue at all (Indy shooting the crafty swordsman, the Hitler hailing monkey, the nun chucks that turn into a coat hanger etc.) and is shot with such care and precision that the effect is gut busting.

Perhaps the most commendable aspect of IJATROTLA is its extreme cinematic economy. After a quick, and unforgettable, opening sequence (the whole “You throw me the idol, I’ll throw you the whip” part) to establish the character, the movie’s trajectory is set up in a matter of minutes (in case you forgot, Dr. Jones must beat the Nazi’s to the rediscovery of the Ark of the Covenant, which holds the Ten Commandments and can melt your face). Each segment of the film holds tightly to this plot line which creates a film that can literally be described as “non-stop fun.” IJATROTLA is a genre film, so very little has to be explained to the audience. There is no question that Indiana Jones is a hero and Karen Allen’s Marion is utterly ravishing. Utilizing Nazi villians is genius because no audience member needs a lengthy rationale for hating them. The result is a lean action/comedy/romance machine that clocks in at an hour and forty five minutes.

The legend goes like this: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are on the beach in Hawaii in the late 70’s (a nice image for all the ladies out there I’m sure). Spielberg confesses that he would like to helm a James Bond picture. Lucas suggests that they create something of their own. Fast forward a couple of years and you have Indiana Jones out running a giant boulder straight into our hearts. A movie like this, one not based on comic book, old movie, TV show or video game, is a rarity in 21st century Hollywood (The Matrix is the last of this ilk to come to mind). Our understanding of Indiana Jones is not tied to a previous experience; his appeal is not based on nostalgia. It would be nice if more studios allowed creative filmmakers to actually invent worlds and characters for us to enjoy. This would save us from the endless cycle of remakes, spin-offs, and sequels.

Speaking of sequels, is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom a worthy follow up to this masterwork? Is that mine cart chase still thrilling? Is Short Round as annoying as you remember? The answers to these questions and more will be answered tomorrow as Indiana Jones Week continues.