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Vertiges

The Thing

John Carpenter
1982 - United States / Canada - 1h49
int. -12 ans

Screenings : tuesday 24 - 7:15 pm - 400 Coups - 5 - presented by Frédéric Mercier

Winter 1982. Twelve Americans are blocked in their scientific research station in the heart of the Antarctic. One day a dog runs towards them pursued by a Norwegian helicopter whose occupants seem to have gone mad and are shooting at the dog, before turning their guns on one of the American expedition members. They return fire and the two Norwegians are killed as their helicopter explodes. MacReady, a pilot, and Copper, a doctor, decide to go to the Norwegian base. They discover a terrible scene: no survivors, a completely deformed body and a block of ice that something, or someone, has been released from …

“When he started directing The Thing in 1982,John Carpenter was at the peak of his career. He had just seen critical and box office success with New York 1997 (1981) and was recognised as the master of horror film, which he had partially revolutionised in 1978 with Halloween by imposing the slasher code – which still applies today. He had a lot of leeway and considerable funding when he took on the remake of The Thing from Another World, directed by Christian Nyby and produced by Howard Hawks (who apparently also contributed artistically) in 1951. Confident and not worried about audience expectations, he made a shadowy and deeply dark film. When it was released in 1982, before the passion aroused the same year by Steven Spielberg's E.T., he realised that The Thing would be a failure and a misunderstood film. Reagan's America needed optimism and healthy mythological figures to shore up its empire. Carpenter's pessimism was not on the agenda. The film was a flop and brought laughter to incompetent American critics. Fortunately though, the 1980s brought not only the Reagan administration but also VHS and the development of video clubs. This meant that voracious film lovers could re-evaluate under-estimated gems. In film buff circles The Thing was soon seen as being one of Carpenter's better films, and even as his masterpiece. Some made a comparison with the appearance of AIDS, resonating as a sort of double meaning behind the film (curious contaminations and blood tests). The quality and audacity of the special effects, from the ingenious and at the time beginner Rob Bottin, finally hoisted the film to a reputation as a cult classic”. (Matthieu Santelli; Critikat)

CAST AND CREW

Cast : Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart
Screenplay : Bill Lancaster, John W. Campbell Jr.
Cinematography : Dean Cundey
Editing : Todd C. Ramsay
Music : Ennio Morricone

Production : Universal Pictures

French distributor : Universal