- This essay will inevitably contain spoilers!
'THE STATUE' (1971)
- A review by Richard Harrison (2010)
It is the job of the critic to elucidate a work of art- to unravel the
complex strands of potential meaning within it in order to provide
insight for an audience who may be less obviously erudite (or
obsessive) than the critic in question. Thus, as a critic, one searches
for the telling facets of (in my case) a film in order to illuminate
the audience in the way one might shine a torch into a darkened room-
there may be a questionable amount to be revealed, but it is my
personal vocation to reveal it all the same. However, in certain cases
one shines the torch into the darkened room only to reveal nothingness-
the search for artistic interest being a fruitless one. Unfortunately,
a case in point is the 1971 film The Statue, which, despite a
very respectable cast, fails miserably on almost every cinematic count.
The Statue has a pretty basic premise- Professor Alex Bolt
(played by the ever-debonair David Niven) has invented ‘Unispeak’- a
new language aimed at bringing the world together and eradicating
language barriers- and, as a result, is being honoured with a statue to
be erected in Grosvenor Square in London. His sculptress wife indeed
creates said statue- but it is a nude likeness of her husband, complete
with one particularly large body part. That would be a bad enough
premise for any film, but The Statue plumbs the depths of
vulgarity in occupying most of its next hour of screen time with Bolt’s
search for the man whose “likeness” was used to model the statue’s most
private of private parts. This leads him to pursue a variety of middle
aged men and persuade them to disrobe in front of his camera- an
astonishing denouement which is as surprising as it is unerotic. Within
the fabric of this tawdry tapestry the only bright spots are provided
by British comedians (from an enjoyably prominent role for John Cleese
to no less pleasing brief cameos from Tim Brooke-Taylor as the police
art expert and Graham Chapman as a newsreader) and cult actor Robert
Vaughn (post U.N.C.L.E.)
As the main character, Niven meanders through the film like a traveller
lost in a foreign locale without a map, his looks of utter bewilderment
growing in frequency as the film drags on. Despite what Simon Sheridan
says in his accompanying sleevenotes, it is hard to imagine an actor
like Dirk Bogarde agreeing to participate in such an unartistic
cinematic fiasco. Sheridan’s point is that a film like The Night
Porter masquerades as “art” (and so is ‘acceptable’) whereas The
Statue doesn’t (and isn’t). Even Sheridan though struggles to find
some positive element, however. ‘The Statue still manages to
showcase Niven’s unquestionable star quality’ is the best he can
muster. The big question thus raised is why Niven accepted the role in
the first place. Insight is provided by Deborah Kerr (in one of the
extra features) who states that ‘because of that horror he [Niven] had
of not working, he accepted parts and…movies that really weren’t worthy
of him.’ That the suave and self-effacing Niven was driven to such a
Fate as The Statue turns the film’s farce into Greek tragedy.
However, given that the film seems to capture the general zeitgeist of
the early 1970s British cinema (which was seemingly awash with
sexploitation films), The Statue is perhaps more interesting as
a chronicle of the time rather than as a worthwhile piece of
filmmaking, but there is still nothing to commend it- the music is
execrable, the plot developments clunky and risible, the whole concept
misguided. With such a pedigree it would, for once, seemingly be hard
to recommend this new Odeon Entertainment release. However, the hidden
gem is the extra feature- a 50 minute Granada documentary from 1983
entitled Conversations With David Niven which utilises archive
interviews to weave the actor’s life story. Throughout the clips Niven
is charming, modest, amusing, and never less than entertaining, the
clips themselves charting the career exploits of a man who is much more
than the sum of his films.
Exactly how many people purchase DVDs for their extra features rather
than the “main attraction” is debatable, but one thing that isn’t is
that although The Statue is a dreadful film it is an essential
purchase for any David Niven fan, or cineaste full stop, simply for the
extra feature which is compelling in every respect.
The Statue is available on DVD
from Odeon Entertainment.
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