‘Let us be thankful we have commerce. Buy more. Buy more now. Buy. And be happy...’
One of the more difficult things about writing a film review is that opinions are fluid. My relationship with any film is liable to change over time. Providing instant feedback on something is tough and can even be counterproductive. I write this as the credits have just rolled on THX 1138, George Lucas’ bleak and dystopian directorial debut, and to be honest, I don’t know what to think about it…
THX (Robert Duvall) rebels against the strict future authoritarian society in which he lives. He is accompanied by his roommate and lover LUH (Maggie McOmie) and the elusive SEN (Donald Pleasence).
Lucas, who wrote the screenplay alongside Walter Murch, borrows liberally from classic dystopian texts Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. That being said, the world he crafts here feels hauntingly unique and unsettlingly prescient. The ever-present drone of computerised voices sprouting seemingly nonsense phrases is both unnerving and strangely familiar and while the plot is often incomprehensible, there is no denying the quality of the visual spectacle nor the groundbreaking use of sound. It helps that Duvall is as reliable as ever and also by the fact that Pleasence’s slightly off-kilter acting style fits the film perfectly.
THX 1138 is a strange almost experimental film but it is also oddly hypnotic. Well worth checking out.