All_About_The_Thing

Recommendations

Info

have been the shadow on the wall, which would explain his creepy glance, but it may be nothing and we are misinterpreting what we see. The dog’s behaviour alters as soon as it enters the pen and sees the other animals. It slowly walks in and sits down, staring rigidly ahead. Clark is so puzzled he looks back as he is walking away. If the whole basis of the Thing’s success is camouflage why does it act this way here? This is one of the many instances where the film does not supply an answer, but because we now feel we are in a convincing world and because of the precision and the confidence of the film making we feel free to speculate. The film simply shows us what happens, it doesn’t make an active effort to encourage our analysis. It is a pure form of cinema because it’s all description and there are few, if any, internal thoughts for us to consider. Because the novel (which does it much better) has been the dominant form of storytelling for so long, films are saturated with internal thoughts. When a film that is well made simply refuses to follow this line, it is very refreshing. It lends itself to subtle ambiguity. When the dog enters the kennel it may be the first time that this particular manifestation of the Thing has encountered other dogs and it may be unsure if it can fool them. Thing-beings tend to behave with a hive mentality in which all the constituent parts work together for convenience sake and form a whole. It is easy to imagine the different parts that together create the impression of a dog may be reacting to an intimidating situation and that it might be having difficulty coordinating itself as a whole. Literally, 31
trying not to go to pieces. Although, considering what we see later (with Norris) Things do not like to split apart. The Thing is accepted by the dogs, however, and they only begin barking and growling after it has started to change. Above all, one has the impression that instinct is taking over. As with humans the Thing is a logical being that doesn’t always act in its own best interests. It is a complex organism. This scene is covered in the same way as the rest of the film. The style of the camera work and the editing do not change significantly and there is no musical accompaniment. It covers something that is quite extraordinary in a style that is low-key. We now feel we are witnessing something instead of having it presented to us. As the transformation begins we watch the dogs react. It is similar to the way in which the film focused on the group of men after the Norwegian-thing was unveiled. Reactions are carefully shown in this film, even in the action scenes. The Thing’s transformations are intensely physical events. It can improvise brilliantly, presumably by re-arranging itself into forms it has previously assumed, although it does seem to have certain stock favourites which probably relate to an original, if there is such a thing. It uses tentacles to control the victims and it seems to prefer using crab-like legs to move around. It can produce sharp teeth when needed but generally only appears to do this for defence. These implements are not there simply for effect, but serve a practical purpose. They feel like the implements of a living breathing creature, not just a special effect. As an animal lover I am easily offended even by fake animal cruelty, but I find this scene less offensive than the sequence in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where a 32
Page 1 and 2: Bennings Blair Childs Clark Copper
Page 3 and 4: Dedicated to Pam Morris & Marcia Ki
Page 5 and 6: Introduction The Thing is a terrifi
Page 7 and 8: What it does describe is the person
Page 9 and 10: All About THE THING The credits app
Page 11 and 12: these blanks are arranged that make
Page 13 and 14: MacReady is by himself, alone in hi
Page 15 and 16: someone. It would, of course, have
Page 17 and 18: and was still idealistic, he was re
Page 19 and 20: Windows by contrast is excitable. H
Page 21 and 22: With the exception of Fuchs none of
Page 23 and 24: hardly even notice them. They carry
Page 25 and 26: And then comes one of the great sho
Page 27 and 28: a fascinating image, a snapshot of
Page 29 and 30: times when he isn’t thinking that
Page 31 and 32: We don’t get a clear view of the
Page 33: To have had Blair talk about what h
Page 37 and 38: not attack immediately. On this occ
Page 39 and 40: decision later. In this situation M
Page 41 and 42: normally it would call attention to
Page 43 and 44: and biological. When the Thing assi
Page 45 and 46: at the same pace. We cut to a shot
Page 47 and 48: It is the first time we have seen M
Page 49 and 50: Blair quietly looks at Childs and w
Page 51 and 52: characters’s heads. The irony is
Page 53 and 54: If we do remember at some point tha
Page 55 and 56: formed these as we saw nothing of t
Page 57 and 58: Windows seems to think that Benning
Page 59 and 60: Mac strides in going straight for t
Page 61 and 62: movie-audience luxury of a comforta
Page 63 and 64: confirm our suspicions it adds to o
Page 65 and 66: have been a discussion of potential
Page 67 and 68: feeling of control even during thes
Page 69 and 70: Blair emphasises that Clark should
Page 71 and 72: accompanied. It’s risky but at th
Page 73 and 74: is enough to tell us he is perfectl
Page 75 and 76: time. His own natural suspect is Co
Page 77 and 78: When the argument dies down Garry h
Page 79 and 80: character’s exact location. It al
Page 81 and 82: In the next shot it is night again,
Page 83 and 84: to take the syringe himself, Childs
Page 85 and 86:
progress is in keeping with his cha
Page 87 and 88:
scenes feel even more observational
Page 89 and 90:
the white snow at night and the bla
Page 91 and 92:
the biggest immediate threat to the
Page 93 and 94:
The shots of them nailing the doors
Page 95 and 96:
expression and position reflect how
Page 97 and 98:
There is something moving about the
Page 99 and 100:
a type rarely seen. It understands
Page 101 and 102:
longer to sway the mind. In some wa
Page 103 and 104:
appearance. It is rather like a puf
Page 105 and 106:
102 We move in on MacReady. The cam
Page 107 and 108:
mind. The possibility that in his q
Page 109 and 110:
106 As Mac describes what he intend
Page 111 and 112:
108 Whereas Windows was afraid of t
Page 113 and 114:
to land in front of him, looking se
Page 115 and 116:
performs the test and it proves Gar
Page 117 and 118:
movement but Childs doesn’t sudde
Page 119 and 120:
the beginning of the film and is us
Page 121 and 122:
unaccompanied by music). We leave t
Page 123 and 124:
the Thing out into the open so they
Page 125 and 126:
122 When Garry goes to inspect the
Page 127 and 128:
same direction it removes the repet
Page 129 and 130:
126 Even the explosions seem to mat
Page 131 and 132:
128 At the same time, because of th
Page 133 and 134:
except we can’t because he has si
Page 135:
memory works. Rooms were a differen
show all

All_About_The_Thing

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?