King Kong (1933) Film Review

King Kong can be linked to multiple genres such as adventure, horror and science fiction. It was directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Shoesack (Figure 1 IMDb, 2019) and was written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman. It was fully released in the USA by the 7^th of April 1933 and then 10 days later released in the UK on the 17^th of April 1933.

Figure 1

This is set during 1933, where a film director (Carl Denham) needs to go on an expedition to create his new film. His agent (Charles Weston) refuses to hire an actress for him as he considers the whole idea being too dangerous. Therefore, Carl goes out to find someone who would be suitable to play the role; which is where he comes across Ann Darrow. After talking he eventually convinces her to take the role and join him in the adventure.

While travelling Ann meets Jack Driscoll who is the first mate and they are instantly attracted to each other. After weeks of travelling, they arrive at an island surrounded by fog with the sound of drumming in the distance. When they got onto the island, they are met with the natives who are about to hand over a girl as a sacrifice. The chief spots them and approaches, he takes interest in Ann due to her appearance. Carl interjects and says they will return tomorrow to get better acquainted. That evening the natives capture Ann to use her as a sacrifice instead. Kong comes to take Ann, while Carl, Jack and some of the other men go after them to save her. Jack eventually saves Ann and they escape back to the village with Kong chasing after them. Carl throws a gas bomb at Kong and it knocks him out.

Back at New York Carl, Jack and Ann present Kong to an audience, Kong gets angry at the flashing from the camera and escapes. During his rampage he captures Ann again and carries her to the top of the Empire State Building. The military send out many planes and while attacking he gets shot multiple times and eventually falls to his death. Lastly Carl says “It wasn’t the airplanes; it was the beauty that killed the beast.” Which is the most popular quote from the film.

Within this film there’s two different environments (as shown in the figures 2 and 3), these contrast from each other as one has more of a natural background from the other. The city comes across brighter due to all of the artificial lighting, which can link to how Kong lashed out. Alongside, all of the different sounds and the crowds of people.

Figure 2

Figure 3

This film is the most cultural significant film that first used stop motion, which at time drew a lot of attention. It is noticeable that the story of King Kong had such an impact on audiences, “King Kong is a character that has been retold and re-imagined so many different times” (rotten tomatoes, 2019) This suggests that the majority of people now would know of the character King Kong, whether they have watch any of the variations of the films or not. With this popularity people can perceive the 1933 version in many different ways. “There's a touch of racism that would be criticized today” (Theguardian.com, 2019) During the time this film was made; not only was the great depression a significant thing but also there was a lot of racism therefore, people could perceive this film in having underlining racist connections. One example being that Kong’s escape in New York, with the disaster he created could be linked to the rise in people from various races working within the cities. On the other hand, some audiences do not see the underlying notes due to the major key themes. Adventure being one of them as it connects to the childlike engagement within exploring and adventure, especially to the audience members who have not had much experience in travelling to different countries.

Another point is that this storyline can be linked to modern folk tales. “The story, like Frankenstein and Dracula, has taken on the significance of a modern folk tale” (rotten tomatoes,2019) This is because it is noticeable that there are morals within the story, one being ‘when we try to force nature into serving our needs, nature turn against us.’ Today this could be linked to global warming as over a multitude of years we have taken advantage of nature and now it is fighting back. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that even today King Kong is still a significant film and will be for many years in the future.

Bibliography
Rotten Tomatoes. (2019). King Kong (1933). [online] Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1011615_king_kong [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].
Theguardian.com. (2019). King Kong | Film | The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/36134/king.kong-review [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].

Illustration List
Figure 1 IMDb. (2019). King Kong (1933). [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/mediaviewer/rm3978610176 [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].
Figure 2 IMDb. (2019). King Kong (1933). [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/mediaviewer/rm3017684480 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
Figure 3 IMDb. (2019). King Kong (1933). [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/mediaviewer/rm3678574592 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].