Week 9 (Part 1): Deliverance!

Deliverance is John Boorman's genre-bending 1972 film about four businessmen from Atlanta that go canoeing in backwoods Georgia. Starring both Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds, Deliverance blends elements of comedy, horror, adventure and documentary. The result is truly mesmerizing. I've rarely seen a film that is gruesome, transfixing, and uplifting all at the same time.

As the characters go further and further down the river, one can't help but think of themes elucidated in Heart of Darkness (and to a correlative extent Apocalypse Now). After just one night at camp, their city-sheltered naivete is shattered by two mountain men, who proceed to maim, rape and kill the four businessmen ... although not necessarily in that order. They slowly descend from innocent excitement to desperation and near-lunacy.

Reynolds' character is one of the most interesting I've seen in any movie. He's supposedly the most rugged of the four travelers, but as we come to learn, the gap between him and the grizzled natives is only slightly narrower than the other three. If this isn't Burt Reynolds' best role (and despite being a fan of "Archer," I have not yet seen Gator), I don't know what is.

Deliverance works on all levels. There are famous moments that we've all heard of (e.g. the dueling banjos, "squeal like a pig"), that are made more horrifying and bizarre because of the seemingly tranquil, pristine backdrop of the untouched Georgia wilderness against which they take place. And on that note, the film is beautifully shot. The early scenes, in particular, do a great job immersing the viewer in nature, almost like a documentary:

Deliverance did not win Best Picture because it was 1972, and it was up against The Godfather. That's not particularly fair. It's an excellent, unique film that holds up very well. Score: 8.3.