Fictional Friday: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

    I insist, you must listen to my favourite soundtrack from the movie while reading this article. Ah, there we go. Isn't this music catchy and magical? Isn't this movie poster beautiful and magical? Yes, yes, this movie is magical. The 7th voyage of Sinbad (1958) freely adapts the tale from One Thousand and One Nights: Sinbad is blown off course and arrives on a mysterious island, home to Cyclops and other monsters. There, they rescue the magician Sokurah and leave his magic lamp behind. Desperate to get it back, Sokurah forces Sinbad to go back to the island by shrinking the princess, claiming he only misses one ingredient to make the potion that will turn the princess back to her normal size, ingredient which can only be found on the terrible island.

 There's no time to breathe in this movie, it is packed with action from start to finish but most of all, it's packed with the beautiful monsters of stop-motion wizard Ray Harryhausen. I think my love for monsters, stop-motion and handmade special effects was born thanks to this specific movie, which left me craving for more adventures with Sinbad, and more monsters made by Harryhausen. Back in the days when special effects were not made with computers, Ray Harryhausen was the master of monster making. The main monster of the movie, the Cyclops, was absolutely groundbreaking for that time, and still is. And the dragon! And the battle between the two, oh my, how they feel like home! I can confidently say that in a new era of impressive CGI achievements that has become commonplace in practically every blockbuster made in Hollywood today, Harryhausen’s work, while admittedly a bit crude by today’s effects standards, is exponentially more likeable and tangible on-screen. Contemporary visual effects remain cold and impersonal for the most part and in comparison, Harryhausen’s finest moments represent the literal human touch lacking in today’s sci-fi and fantasy movies. Ray almost always earned the sense of wonder he set out to achieve. Can you believe it, he developed his own stop-motion animation technique that allowed for better interaction between live-action subjects and stop-motion animated models. It remained unnamed until The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, when it was finally given the name "Dynamation". Although it was not the first film in which Dynamation was used, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was the first to use the term in its promotional material, as you can see on the poster. For example, to make my personal favourite monster from the movie, the snake-woman, he combined the images of an actual snake, of the actress, and of a figure of the monster. Harryhausen’s attention to detail was legendary. Sequences that would last only minutes on-screen took months for him to painstakingly photograph, working by himself to command each creature’s movement-by-incremental-movement, imbued with life one frame at a time. It took 11 months to complete the stop-motion effects alone. The results of that exquisite patience consistently yielded some of the greatest, naturalistic creatures of the silver screen, and that irreplaceable talent prompted producer Charles H.Schneer to insure Ray’s hands for no less than one million dollars, an unheard of precaution at the time, even by today’s standards when it comes to special effects technicians.

 

 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad sparked a cycle towards fantasy films that lasted into the Sixties. In the wake of the success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, many other films emerged, such as Hercules (1959), The Thief of Baghdad (1961),  Jack the Giant Killer (1962), Lancelot and Guinevere (1963), and Ray Harryhausen's own Jason and the Argonauts (1963). The film also marked a shift in Ray Harryhausen's career. He went from making primarily science fiction movies to the fantasy films for which he is best known. Had The 7th Voyage of Sinbad not been a success, it seems certain we wouldn't have Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans (1981). The film would also have a lasting impact on various directors through the years, including Sam Raimi, John Landis, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. There should be little wonder that The 7th Voyage of Sinbad should be considered one of the greatest fantasy films of all time. Alongside Jason and the Argonauts, it is considered Ray Harryhausen's crowning achievement. It isn't a simple case that it features some of the most spectacular stop motion effects on film. It also benefited from a strong screenplay and good performances from its cast; The live action sequences having been shot in only three weeks and with a budget of only $65 000. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad truly is a triumph in artistry.

 As a lifetime lover of the cinema, less than a handful of films truly changed my perspective between before watching the movie, and emerging two hours later as a different person. I don't know which movie gave the same experience to other people of my generation, but I was entranced by this 1958 masterpiece and still am every time I watch it.

Fictional Friday - The lesson of Time Bandits

    My parents never liked Disney and all the typical watered-down kids movie. Growing up, the only Disney tapes we had at home among the Tex Avery and Ghibli ones were Robin Hood, Mulan and The Jungle Book. I remember watching those again and again until the tape eventually broke, and being inspired by the wit of Robin Hood, the courage of Mulan and the joyful philosophy of Baloo. I didn't grow up with Disney princesses and I'm thankful for that. Instead, my parents made me watch all kinds of whimsical movies and some of them really contributed to build my personality and hence, the person that I am today. It's nothing new, the things we watch, read, play with or listen to as a kid define the adult we grow up to be. In this Fictional Friday column, I'd like to share all these fictional things, books, movies, games, that feel like home and contributed greatly in building the human that I am today. Mum, Dad, thank you.

My father passed down to me his love for the Monty Python at a very young age. He made me watch many of their movies and sketches before I even reached puberty, and some of them will forever remain among my all time favourites. British humour is the only one that cracks me up, and I owe everything to these guys. But there is one Monty Python who's got a really special place in my heart: Terry Gilliam. He's got an incredible universe, a very unique way of telling stories, inspired many other directors (I even think Tim Burton stole quite a lot from him) and thrilled my imagination. With Time Bandits (1981) I was hooked on an adventure like no other.

Most movies targeted at kids have a happy, sugar-coated ending with the good guys winning over the bad ones and everyone being happy. As I watched the adventures of Kevin — a 11 years old kid, barely older than I was  — unfold, it completely destroyed any preconceived idea the few Disney movies I had watched could have put in my head about happy endings for kid stories. The movie has barely started when Kevin is waken up by a group of time travelling dwarves, bursting out from his closet at night, chased by a terrifying giant glowing skull that happens to be the universe Supreme Being himself. This is already pretty intense, but things escalate even more when the odd party pushes back one of Kevin's bedroom walls and leaps off the edge of it into a bottomless abyss, with God's giant skull demanding them in a terrifying voice to return the time map they've stolen from him. This is how begins the story of Kevin and the six dwarves, who will use the stolen map to travel through space and time. They will cross paths with famous historical characters, such as Napoleon, Robin Hood, King Agamemnon and will even enjoy a short cruise on the Titanic itself. As the movie unfolds, the main issue becomes clear: the Supreme Being wants to get his map back, before the embodiment of  Evil seizes it and uses it to remake the universe in his image, in a better, more utilitarian version. The movie is packed with adventure, dark humour and I craved of living Kevin's adventures or something as magical, no matter how dreadful everything felt. In every situation throughout the movie, there's a terrible feeling of despair and hopelessness. No matter how good a character's intentions might be, no matter how noble they are, the universe never rewards any good deed and disappointment ensues.

 

I've always loved this movie for how magical and imagination-stimulating it is, but also because it tackles interesting subjects. First, the let-downs one encounters when maturing and understanding what the real world is like (definitely not all sugar-coated fairytales); it almost feels like Kevin is a kid lost in the dysfunctional world of adults and its heartless system, a bit like Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Maybe everything that happens is just in his head, as many of the characters he encounters are toys in his room, and this is just a way for him to cope with the abuse of his parents? And also at the same time, it raises metaphysical and philosophical questions. God is depicted as an absent being, leaving mankind to its own, managing a disorganized universe filled with lonely beings. In the final scene where God eventually defeats Evil with the help of Kevin and the bandits, Kevin is dismissed and gets back to the dread of his previous life with his awful, careless parents, in their house now engulfed in flames. Even worse, Kevin can't prevent his parents from touching a remnant of Evil and burst into a cloud of ashes, leaving Kevin orphaned. As the movie ends, it leaves the viewer with the conclusions that no good deed goes unpunished, no matter how well-meaning one's intentions are. It definitely had a huge impact on little 8 years old me, leaving me with one of my very first existential crisis, questioning the meaning of life and the universe. Maybe the universe isn't a harmonious construction indeed? Perhaps it is truly flawed? From that moment, I started to believe that there is no god, nothing, no salvation except our endless imagination. 

 

I'll leave you with this for today, a look inspired by the bandits, because I'm still dreaming on going on adventures with these guys. I can't guarantee I'll do a look inspired by each of the movies / games / books I'll be talking about here, but who knows!