Willard

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After watching this film, one question came to my mind: Why the hell wasn't this movie a success?!
The general atmosphere of this film is quite dark which the aspect of the settings stresses. Indeed, the mansion in which Willard lives is imposing, austere and light hardly gets into it. The light used isn't flattering to the characters, above all for the mother who almost looks like a living dead, and seems to reveal the personality of the characters. About his work setting, here too it happens to be very inhospitable, without personal comfort and it's in a pale and dirty green: the worst place to work in! All that surrounds Willard give the impression of a life without a possible way out, he's trapped into this life and that is not cheering!
We can feel the entire movie long that the director wanted to pay homage to the Great Mr Hitchcock. Indeed, we can find many references to "PSYCHO" (the imposing and retro mansion, the bad-tempered mother who belittles her son, the ever changing personality of the protagonist.) but also to "THE BIRDS" (humans attacked by animals, the frightening atmosphere).
About the rhythm of the movie, it's a bit slow in the beginning, when presenting the different characters, but it goes faster and faster as the film goes on, which shows very well the rising of anger and madness in Willard.
Now let's talk about the main character! He's perfectly interpreted by Crispin Glover whose way of acting is worthy of the magnificent performance of Anthony Perkins in "PSYCHO". He easily changes from shyness to resentment or murder madness. Physically speaking, there's a will to give him an old-fashioned style in the way he dresses and with the dark colours of his clothes, which make him look like a pariah. Much emotion comes from the way Crispin Glover acts and the viewer feel very easily close to this atypical character, this feeling being accentuated by the use of large angles that brings him nearer to the audience who will quickly pity him.

The entire movie long, we can feel the will to make the rats threatening, except for Socrates. The difference of colours seems to reflect the rats' personality: the white representing the kindness and the dark brown the ones who kill. The lights on them are quite dark in order to make them seem more menacing. Moreover, they're more caught in a glimpse than clearly seen which tends to raise the stress of the viewer. These rats seems to be the symbol of the rising anger which transforms into madness because of their increasing number in the house.
Willard's mother is very much like the one in "PSYCHO" except the fact that she's alive (at least in a part of the film.). Since her husband's death, she belittles he son as much as she can, even changing his name, and does him many reproaches. Because she hardly leaves her room (because she's ill), we can often hear her speaking to her son without her being seen, which emphasizes the reference to Alfred Hitchcock's cult movie.
The character of the boss, marvellously incarnated by Lee Ermey, even bad to Willard seems quite intelligent as he knows how to make his way to what he wants and even is a bit sadistic sometimes. He's above all the one who pushes Willard into murder as he kills his only friend and fires him from the manufacture founded by his father. However, when he dies (no! no! I won't tell you how!) the viewer can feel his stupidity, which stresses Willard's victory on him.
Horror seems to establish itself naturally, partly because of the mother and the boss characters that harden Willard's life. The special effects are really well made, in particular thanks to the use of animatronics that can't be seen if you don't know it! Moreover, even if it's not gore, the expression of aggressiveness is very well shown by some blood spurts when the rodents attack and which seem likely.
One of the best scenes is one where the roles are reversed in the cat and mouse game and we can see the rats, that are very numerous, hunting a cat and kill it. This can be the symbol that even an insignificant person, when numerous, can be stronger than their predators.
Socrates excepted, Catherine seems to be the only positive element in Willard's life. Indeed, she's the only seductive, even though it's only about friendly seduction, and hospitable element around. She's the only one who tries to understand him and become his friend but, as he's not used to that kind of behaviour towards him, he's very blundering with Catherine and fails to reach the hands hold out to him.
To finish, the music goes very well with this marvellous movie and its crucial moments. The use of accordion in the orchestra for the principal theme reinforces the pariah side of the protagonist, this being not really frequent in a thriller with horrific tendencies.
To sum up, it's a movie in the same line as all the "hitchcockian" movies but with some horror parts, which integrate very well. In spite of the slow rhythm in the beginning, it's very easy to get into the movie and feel the same feelings as this protagonist out of the ordinary. Even though it's not known enough (!!!), this film is a MASTERPIECE of the genre!

Official Website : http://www.willardmovie.com/

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