THE ADVENTURES OF HUCK FINN
A film review by Jean Yves Desbiens
Copyright 1993 Jean Yves Desbiens
I saw the movie in a preview viewing last night; it opens Friday.
This is my first review ever, so bear with me a little :-).
I was ready to hate this movie; imagine a story on slavery, hypocrisy, child abuse, Mark Twains legacy reduced to a pile of harmless cliches by the great civilising influence ;-) of Disney. But this was not the case--I actually liked this movie. I had not read the book, but knew about its dark moments and talked with people who had read it before seeing it. Since it is based on a well-known book that I haven't read, I will take for granted that they haven't changed the story, save some cleaning in language; those in know will soon correct me if I am wrong.
There are some problems with this movie: the acting of the main characters is sometimes a bit forced, the kid that plays Huck seems to be camera-conscious, the dialogues are squeaky-clean (Disney label picture), and of course the word Negro is not used by anybody in this movie even though it would have been heard all the time in its timeframe (but it is seen many times on a poster so they didn't go for total PC). The characterisation of the characters is also weak, but is mainly because the book could hardly fit in a 1-hour 45-minute time slot (this is already as long as any kid is expected to stay put for a movie). A "greater" more adult movie adaptation of the book would last at least 2 hours and 30 minutes and seeing as the main actor is a child, not many adults would want to see it and no child could see it. Still, the movie seems a bit rushed. Indeed the action never stops a moment even when the situations would call for such a pause--no time for grieving in this film.
So what is good about this movie? Well, actually it's the identification of us with the child, his desire for liberty, to play, to live and not have to worry about violence and other things, but being confronted with it nevertheless. Indeed, Huck is the rebel within us all, the one that would want to just drift down life's river without a care, doing as he pleases, but there are cares down this river, choices have to be made and dangers circumvented. Indeed, it's implied by the book and movie that the search for freedom is not easy and that our freedom and safety may come at the expense of others. Last but not least, freedom from society is harder to accomplish than merely running away from it; it permeates everything and always seam to catch up with us along the way; its better to face the facts and rid our minds off those ideas implanted in it and it is that that really permits Jim, the slave that Huck has befriended to be finally free. Jim goes against all the stereotypes that pervaded that era: he is physically powerful, but gentle and with a subtle way of putting his idea across, he longs to be free (but won't rebel openly), he will wait for the right time to continue his journey. Jim is like the Mississippi River, powerful but gentle, trapped within its banks until rain comes and it spills over the banks. The Mississippi, in fact, is the main character in this movie--it's never very far away.
As for performances, King played by Jason Robards is great, Huck's father also turns in a great show in his evil ways, the kid that does Huck is most of the time good; as for Jim played by another actor that I don't remember the name of, his acting is uneven but still decent, as is all the cast.
Yes there are philosophical undertones to the movie (or is it just me? :-)), but as the title suggests, this movie is at its base an adventure towards a place where freedom and dreams lies down a mighty river with the countless dangers of human nature spread along the way. As such, it works pretty well, as I already said; the compression of everything in so little time pretty much makes it a non-stop ride with humour and danger stalking every step. And to my great relief, the pipe-smoking Huck is still there (there will be outcry about that one I am sure). This film is violent but unlike other movies it is not graphic. People do get hurt and even our heroes gets hurt--violence is not glorious here; it is a sort of disease that pervades the whole area, it's apparent that this is the case (an America=gratuitous-violence allusion is even made as a sarcastic joke). That is why I think this movie, while violent, sometimes scary for kids, is highly recommended by me for them, even adults who will want see a nice adaptation of a classic book can enjoy this movie.
So recapitulating, this is a movie parents should be taking kids to. It is violent, scary, but also humourous, action-filled, and even thought provoking. Ideally, parents should set up this movie before viewing with some explanations about what was going on (but this is probably to much to ask); a discussion should also follow the viewing, answering the many questions the children will certainly have about what they have seen. I know that this demands some effort and that TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES demand no efforts at all (although there the violence is seen as a fun thing if you see through their ninja oat mumbo-jumbo), but this will be rewarding. The theater was filled with kids and their parents when I went there and there was very little talking by them (5-15 years mostly). Imagine, 400 kids riveted for an hour and forty-five minutes; it is not an easy feat. This movie should do well if the reaction to this preview is any indication--even applause at the end! As for the adults, find the child within and you will enjoy Huck Finn, I sure did (but I read rec.arts.disney so I am biased :-).
Rating on a scale of one to ten: 9 for kids, 7 for adults.
-- Jean-Yves Desbiens d40937@info.polymtl.ca Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal Can .
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