into the west

Wandering through our county town Chichester, recently, I came upon an interesting plaque. I was about to enter the Halifax building society – or bank or whatever they like to call themselves these days – when I saw the memorial.

The commemoration was for the poet William Collins, who was born at this address in 1721. Now regarded as one of the greatest poets of the 18th century, Collins’ attempts at fame and fortune actually left him in debt at the time. He also suffered fits of depression. Tragically, Collins died insane at age 38 in Chichester. What a terrible state of affairs. Why does publishing do this to some of us? There must be a better way.

Anyway, I mentioned Collins to some of the staff inside the building. ‘What poet?’ they asked. Then someone remembered a plaque had been put on the wall. Next minute, some of the workers were outside, viewing it. I encouraged them to write poetry, and they smiled.

‘Humour the customer,’ they were probably thinking, ‘he might be one of those mad poet fellers.’ I don’t blame them. (Photo: Clive Price)

I love almost any film featuring Liam Neeson. He’s become like an Irish ‘John Wayne’. And I mean that in the best possible sense. He is a reliable, quality actor who brings strength and stability to movies – just like The Duke did in his heyday.

So when it came to watching The Grey with The Last Son Of Krypton, I was overjoyed. I got the Guinness out of the fridge and poured it, until that beautiful blonde head appeared. With glass in hand, and the lights turned low, I sat back to be spellbound once again by Neeson’s Celtic powers.

DESOLATE PLACE

The basic idea is that Neeson is an armed security guard called Ottway, patrolling the perimeter of an oil installation in Alaska. His job is to keep wolves, not people, from attacking the complex and its workers. It’s a thankless task, in a desolate place, which also sums up the state of Ottway’s soul. ‘A job at the end of the world,’ is how he puts it. Ottway has clearly lost someone he loved, which also pushes him to the edge.

On a flight back to civilisation, the plane goes down and Ottway becomes leader of a group of survivors. But now the boot is on the other foot, and they find themselves within the wolves’ perimeter, as it were.

Interestingly, at this point in the film, the wolves take on an otherworldly appearance, as if they represent more than just wild creatures protecting their territory. In the face of this almost supernatural threat, rough and ready oil workers are themselves transformed. ‘Men unfit for mankind’ – as Ottway calls them – shed their blokey independence and work together for their survival in the face of an untamed force.

That’s as far as I’ll go in terms of the plot, so as not to spoil the cinematic experience for you. Let me just add a few more observations. First, the action kept me on the edge of my seat, just like when I first saw Alien – so it wasn’t a surprise when I saw Ridley Scott’s name in the credits. Second, there is a fair bit of theological debate in the dialogue – this is a bloke’s movie with brains as well as brawn. Third, initially I was disappointed with the ending, but this is one of those films where the journey is more important than the destination.

If you bear all that in mind, you’ll enjoy the ride.

FACE DEMONS

So what about the wolves? Are they our mortal enemy? Somehow, I don’t think the film is actually about them, not as wolves per se. These aren’t just wild dogs looking for some grub. As one of Ottway’s companions cries out to the creatures in the darkness around their makeshift camp, ‘You’re not the animals. We’re the animals’.

As well as being a man’s movie, The Grey is a meditation on the journey to the final frontier. We will have to face some demons along the way. (Image: Universal Studios www.universalstudiosentertainment.com)

Okay. I admit it. I sat and watched a Justin Timberlake film. Let me explain. The Last Son Of Krypton had hired out a couple of movies, and said he was putting In Time on the DVD. Seeing as he was paying, I thought I’d at least see what Timberlake’s sci-fi adventure fantasy was like. It was actually quite good.

The film is a blend of Robin Hood, Bonnie And Clyde and Logan’s Run. Now stay with me on this one. The premise is that time has become the world’s currency, and it runs out when you reach age 25. After that, people beg, steal, borrow or buy extra hours, months and years.

SOCIAL SPECTRUM

But that’s just one layer of the story. Another layer is the way society has become structured so that everyone knows their place. There’s the ghetto and there’s the elite. Social engineering makes the world go round.

I won’t give the whole game away. But suffice to say that fate brings together Will Salas (Timberlake) and Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) from two vastly different ends of the social spectrum. Their mission in life takes on messianic proportions as they decide to do something about the injustice of their time-driven, ordered universe.

The movie made me think. How much of our own personal lives are engineered by others, without our say-so and beyond our control? I thought of my own schooldays and how our mathematics teacher would stare at me and sneer, ‘Price, you’ll never pass your maths exam’. He said this so often, it became a deadly mantra, a dark spell over me. 

OUTSIDE FORCES

When the day of our maths exam came, I fell to pieces. My paper was a mess. I handed in my chaotic equations, having shed enough sweat to fill a lake. Later, when the results came through, I got a ‘B’. To this day, I don’t know how that happened. But I’d defeated my maths teacher, and he was speechless when he saw me.

We all need breaks in life like that. There are far too many outside forces trying to remake and remould our essence. One or two folk might be deliberately wicked, but often perhaps it’s just the way life throws things at us.

The Christ of Scripture saw us drowning in this ocean of control. So he offered liberation and abundant life, to lift us up and take us beyond time. No more manipulation. Just freedom.